BEAUTY : Trend – Young Skins

INSPIRATION : Teen bracelets

I was at Pure yesterday and spotted a teen girl wearing the cutest, eye-catching array of bracelets.  Thought they were quite inspiring. 

 

RESEARCH SWATCH : 16-17 year olds talk about their lifestyle

Sample : 10

Age : 16-17 / female 

Profile : Boarding school 

Location : York

 

WHAT ARE YOUR TOP 3 FASHION BRANDS?

Although top of the list are high street names such as Zara, Top Shop and H&M, I was really surprised to see how many the high end and luxury labels were also referenced such as Chloe, YSL, Balenciaga, Gucci, Vivienne Westwood and even Alexandar Wang.  Although the latter are mainly ‘desire’ brands, my trustee intern confirmed that several of her schoolfriends actually owned pieces by these brands as well.  Not only is this age group really fashion savvy, but they are also entering the designer world at an execptionally young age.

TELL ME ABOUT YOUR BEAUTY ROUTINE?

Most of those interviewed had some kind of beauty routine going – notably cleanse, tone and moisturise. There seemed to be little interest  in using products with SPF – although some did mention that their moisturisers already had SPF in them.  They are not concerned with wrinkles and aging yet.  All girls wore make-up daily.

ARE THERE ANY BEAUTY PRODUCTS YOU CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT?

Everyone responded with makeup as the must-have beauty product (no mention of skincare or accessories such as a hair brush or hair straighteners).  Again, I was surprised by the grown up selection of brands : Mac was the unanimous winner for this group, and for the other choices, think premium department store beauty and you get the picture.  One girl considered Elemis her beauty essential – an interesting answer given this brand is targeted at an older market, plus it doesn’t have the glitz and glamour of a beautiful fashion brand and/or aspirational ad campaigns behind it – this is possibly a brand handed down from mother to daughter?  

DO YOU FEEL HAPPY WITH YOUR BODY IMAGE?

The girls were generally contented with their body image which was nice to discover (although how much anyone would reveal about this personal issue in a quick snapshot survey is hard to know!). 

SIZE 10 OR SIZE 0?

70% would rather be size 10, 10% would like to be size 0 and 20% were kind of in the middle ie not as small as size 0, but not as big as size 10.  

WHAT MAGAZINES DO YOU READ?

Grazia is where these girls turn to to get their fix of fashion and beauty.  Other popular publications include Elle, Heat, Closer and OK; older target media such as Vogue and Tatler were read by several.

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVOURITE TV PROGRAMMES?

The Hills, Gossip Girl, soaps such as Home&Away, Hollyoaks and Neighbours, plus re-runs of Friends and SATC.  Clearly everyone has SKY at home.

WHAT ARE YOUR THREE FAVOURITE MUSIC BANDS?

I have never felt so out of the music loop as I have after reading the responses to this question. Chris Brown was the clear winner, and brands mentioned twice or more included Avril Lavigne, The kooks and Rihanna. Less familiar to me, but seemingly popular amongst this set are Tegan&Sarah, Danity Kane, The Long Blondes, Sean Kingston, Sarah Bareilles, City and Colour and One Night Only.

WHAT 3 WEBSITES DO YOU LOOK AT MOST?

Top of the list is Facebook – it’s also the preferred social networking site amongst these girls – who’ve generally gone off MySpace.  They search using Google, but if they want to read the news they will go to MSN.  Other popular destinations include online fashion sites such as Net-a-Porter, ASOS, TopShop and Zara – these are more for browsing than purchasing, as buying online is considered risky by some, plus the fact that you can’t try before you buy is a put off.  Some are purchasing from Ebay. Hotmail is still the favourite email provider and apparently they don’t IM that much – texting and Facebook pretty much covers it.

HOW IMPORTANT IS YOUR MOBILE PHONE TO YOU?

No major surprises here but these girls can’t live without their mobile phones to keep in touch with their friends.  Functions used most are ringing, texting and sending photos.  Popular designs have been the Prada and Armani phones and new on the wish-list is the Samsung Tocco.  Apparently apple iphones were cool when they first launched but momentum hasn’t kept up and there was less interest with the new version which launched recently (the reason for this was unclear other than a general feeling that they did not live up to expectation).  Actually, when it comes to apple – the ipod is king to these teenage girls – followed by the apple macs and the iphone last.

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INSIGHT : 4 Random questions for my 17 year old intern

My name is Lydia, I’m 17 and I live in York. This week I have come to London to do work experience for Jess at FashionBarn, and she has asked me to write a bit about my life.  She gave me a list of random lifestyle questions to choose from, and here are the four which I chose to answer.

What do I do in my spare time?

Generally in my sparetime I hang out with my friends by going to the cinema and shopping in town. At school I study drama, so something I like doing when I have free time is going to the theatre. Even in my short visit here I’m going to see the Lion King, which I am really looking forward to. I also study art and have a big passion for fashion so I spend most of my time shopping, reading magazines, surfing the internet researching fashion schools, and drawing designs.

Jess wanted to know whether me and my friends like to hang out in coffee shops such as Starbucks, but we only really walk around and go to each others houses.

Who do I admire and not admire?

I watch a lot of TV and one of my favourite programs is The Hills. I really admire Lauren Conrad who is a fahsion student in LA and interns for Teen Vogue. I think I admire her alot because of her lifestyle and what she’s doing within fashion. She is a good example of what can be achieved in the fashion industry and I really admire her for that. Another celebrity I admire is Ashlee Simpson. I think she seems like she has fun and I like her music. Although she has had plastic surgery I think she is a genuine person who isn’t afraid to be herself.

Someone I don’t admire is Amy Winehouse purely because of how she lives and how she let her fame affect her life. However, I really like her music.

What brands do you like and desire?

At my school most of my friends and myself really like Vivienne Westwood jewellery. Although it’s been around for a while we are still wearing it and think is really chic and cool. Another brand I like is Ugg Australia, although there has been debates on whether they look good or not, I find mine really good for winter to keep warm and love wearing them.  Some girls at school have Chanel bags and Balenciaga bags are also popular.

Another brand I think is cool is a shop called Octopus. I go there when I want to buy a gift for one of my friends or sister because they do quite mad and funky stuff and its a good place to go to buy a random gift.  Benefit make-up is a brand which I don’t particularly wear alot of but I love the brand because I think the packaging and advertising is really fun and bright and all their products have cool names.

If I gave you £100 to deck out your fridge, what would you fill it with?

I love chocolate and especially Galaxy so I would buy alot of that. I would have fruit such as bananas, apples and strawberries because these are also good to have with a chocolate fondue with friends as well as a healthy snack. I eat alot of chicken, in sandwiches and on its own even mixed with pasta and also tuna for another sandwich filler. I would also buy pasta and sauces to go with them because thats mainly what I live off when I’m busy with school work and need a quick meal. I would buy yoghurts too, especially Muller Light ones, my favourite being strawberry and toffee flavour. For drinks I would buy apple juice and Innocent smoothies, I also have recently become a fan of lemon juice.

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