My gosh, what a wonderful year Killer Fashion has had! It’s always fun to reminisce on all that happened in the past 12 months, and so here is my Year in Review for 2016! Thank you again to my wonderful readers & visitors, my little love bugs as I’ve nicknamed you. This year I surpassed both 300K and 400K, closing in on the half-million mark! And the best thing about this, is that the stats are all down to you and your clicks! You know that I love writing blog posts, and I’ll keep doing so as long as you keep reading and liking my work – so thank you!
Every year I’m excited to find out what my top most-read posts are on the blog, and funnily enough my Steal His Style: Conor McGregor was the most popular post this year, meaning it has hit the top spot for two years in a row! Dubbed the King of Dublin, Conor McGregor is still very much an influential figure and this stylish Irish mixed martial arts fighter continues to help my little blog become more noticed. I’m delighted that every day I log on to Killer Fashion and see that this post is at the top of my stats, for a journalistic blogger who works a full-time job in a small country, that is a big thing for me! Hopefully one day, The Notorious himself will see it! Coming in as my second most-read and most-popular is the beauty review for Lancôme Grandiôse Liner & Extrême Mascara! I’m ecstatic about this because these two product are genuinely some of my favourite makeup pieces I’ve used. The eyeliner is so easy to use, glides on and allows you to create winged looks with ease. Sadly, I’ve finished mine but I’ll definitely be replacing it with another very soon! Then there’s the mascara, this is by far one of the best mascaras I’ve ever used and it creates such a great dramatic eye look that you’ll never want to use another mascara! In very close third, was my tanning review for bBold Smart Mousse. As you may remember this was the first time I’d ever used fake tan. I was curious but also wanted to even out my skin tone, and with this instant tanning mousse I was easily able to achieve that. Results on the first go, I highly recommend it!
The calendar year is always full of award ceremonies, and one of my favourite type of blog posts to write are the Best Dressed reports. From the film & movie awards including the Screen Actor’s Guild, Golden Globes and the Oscars to the musical numbers like the Grammy’s to the People’s Choice, the BRITs, the ACMs and CMAs, and the various MTV awards – there are so many dates to remember. Sometimes it’s a little hard to keep up with it all, considering I love to really write-up on the fashion, but at the end of the day I know you readers enjoy the posts. Below are a few of my favourite looks from this year, by the gorgeous gals who’ve hit the red carpet.
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- Vanessa Hudgens
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- Barbara Meier
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- Kara Tointon
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- Diane Guerrero
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- Nicole Trunfio
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- Priyanka Chopra
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- Saoirse Ronan
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- Blake Lively
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- Karolina Kurkova
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- Alesha Dixon
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- Blake Lively
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- Blake Lively
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- Bella Hadid
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- Josephine Skriver
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- Janelle Monáe
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- Beyoncé
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- Giuliana Rancic
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- Hayley Orrantia
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- Carrie Underwood
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- Hannah Davis
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- Neelam Gill
Spring is a great time for bloggers with plenty of product launches and previews taking place. This year was a big step up on the calendar for invites, and to kick the year off was the Thomas Sabo SS16 press event held in The Marker Hotel that was all #AboutLove and in time for Valentine’s Day. In early February, I attended the Ireland launch of Organic Surge, a new skincare brand that boasts certified-organic products, and personally I loved their brightening serum. Later that month, the ALEX AND ANI launch took place in my favourite nail salon, Tropical Popical. It was such a fun event, and I was delighted to see myself and the girls had been featured in the official video of the launch too! Events and launches have become so lush and beautiful, and the Lancôme launch for the Juicy Shaker was one gorgeous event!
2016 was also a big year for us Irish, and especially so for my family as we celebrated the Easter Rising’s 100th anniversary. The year came with a lot of special events for this centenary, and that included attending the deBláca 1916 Easter Lily collection launch at which I was honoured to read out Joseph Mary Plunkett’s last letter to his beloved wife Grace Gifford. My family and I were also invited to numerous events during the Easter weekend, where I got to wear gorgeous dresses by Chicwish.
Fashion press previews were also in full swing, and with the Dresses.ie SS16 and later the Boohoo.com SS16, I sure had plenty to talk about on the blog! In April I also attended the Chupi SS16 launch, by Irish designer Chupi Sweetman, held in Powerscourt Town Centre. It was a fabulous way to learn more about the brand and introduce it to you all, and I’ve since become quite the fan of Chupi too!
April also marks a bittersweet month for me, and this year I decided to write about my Mam and how her loss had affected me, but also how fashion and my blog had helped me. Six Years On, Four Years Reflecting was the first big post I’d written on this subject as April always marks the birthday of Killer Fashion but also the passing of my Mam. I’m proud of what I wrote, how I wrote it and I’m thankful for all of the kind & lovely messages I received at the time of publishing, and thereafter.
This year I also upped the game with my blog themed posts, pushing myself to write more on the Wedding Wednesday. I worked with some brands for the series’ too, including Thomas Sabo, Dresses.ie and Boohoo.com, giving my readers a nice variety of jewellery and dresses to choose from for upcoming weddings. In 2017, I’ll actually have two more to attend and you know I’ll push out even more for that series in the run up to the weddings next September!
2016 was also a great year for introducing me to new brands and getting to learn about those I was already in the know of. James Read Tan was definitely a new brand for me, and after meeting the James Read at the event with Callan & Co. and Burrell PR, and testing out the Gradual Day Tan Body, I was a fan! Similarly, Rampley & Co. was a new menswear brand that approached me to work with them, and I happily did so writing up my honest review on one of their gorgeous silk pocket squares. Coconut Lane were also a new brand to approach me, having me join their Coconut Queens and become a brand ambassador for their fashion, accessories & homeware brand! As I mentioned, I love to learn more about brands, especially Irish brands and with Magee 1866 I did exactly that! The Irish heritage brand was celebrating its 150th anniversary this year, inviting me to their breakfast event to view their new capsule collection. Later in the year I also attended their celebratory party that was a wonderful evening of fashion.
September posts were all about beauty & skincare, with reviews and write ups on the Paese Cosmetics Long Cover Fluid Foundation & Rice Powder, the Yves Saint Laurent Vernis À Lèvres Vinyl Cream beauty look following an exclusive event with Fred Létailléur, the PAYOT Radiance Basics Travel Kit and the Timeless Beauty Trend: Smokey Eyes and Nude Lips. What can I say, I love a good distraction and I sure do love makeup! Following the wedding I attended in Portugal, October was a hard month on the heart & mind and a little makeover can make a difference as the team at PREEN Hair & Beauty proved. Two days of hair treatments helped turn my frown upside down and the post-breakup blues. The shorter length and the copper colour were definitely reasons to smile.
In October, I brought back my Pink October Month where the blog changed colours from its classic black, white & red to pink, and I popped up a post per day for one full week on all the beauty, skincare and fashion products you could buy that benefit breast cancer organisations around the world. This series is close to my heart, and regardless of what type of cancer month it is, I’ll happily support the charities & organisations that do great work to help benefit those who suffer from cancer and their families. I had also attended the ARC Cancer Support Centre fashion show in early April, at which my friend Niamh O’Donoghue walked the runway as one of the ARC Angels.
As the Winter season rolled in, I made a big effort to get the Christmas Gift Guides up in time – and I really do hope they helped some of you! I also made sure to include some pieces on party season looks, with Boohoo.com and Paese Cosmetics.
The year would never have been so big, bold and beautiful without my wonderful friends, and the PR agencies whom I’ve worked with. My bestie babes have all done so amazingly well this year too; Filomena of Enhance What’s Yours was interviewed by Stellar Magazine with her article feature on the front cover as well as speaking at TEDxGalway, while working her way up the career ladder, and pushing on her brilliant niche in the blogosphere for her blog posts discussing sex, men, health, fitness and beauty; Kassi of Just Kassi kickstarted the year with her engagement, celebrated her 1 year blog birthday for Just Kassi, working with brands and living the jet-setting life as she flew to Greece & London on numerous occasions and always looked fab; Mei Ling of Darling Buds of Mei turned 21, and that was a big deal for us all, she also then began her student work placement while juggling modelling, blogging & attending events, she worked with brands, won the Silver Award at the Irish Blog Awards 2016 for Best Fashion Blog, and was listed on Goss.ie as one of the Top 100 Irish Digital Influencers of 2016; and Lorna of Fashion Boss worked hard on her blog with numerous events each week, collaborating with brands for posts and outfits, travelling across the country as well as going on a stellar summer vacay, winning the Bronze Award at the Irish Blog Awards 2016 for Best Fashion Blog, featured in Stellar Magazine and on Goss.ie as one of the Top 100 Irish Digital Influencers of 2016, and most recently on television as a stylist for TV3’s Ireland: AM! Gosh, I sure have some amazing best friends there!
And I do have so many other amazing friends who helped make 2016 a year to remember, and I love them all! Big shout out to the following PR agencies whom I’ve worked with this year, and who invited me to any of the many events I attended this year too. It’s extremely generous of you and your clients to gift us with anything, but some of you had gone above & beyond to ensure great friendships and a love for the brands. Revolve Marketing & PR, Burrell Marketing & Publicity, Róisín Tierney-Crowe & the L’Óreal UK Group, Hunter Communications Dublin, Yellow Machine PR & Creative Agency, Rachel Dalton Communications, Harris Public Relations, Market Match PR, Distinct Distribution, Baluba Creative Consultancy, Buck & Hound, Elevate PR Agency and The Publicity Loft; and a thank you to the following brands too; Thomas Sabo, Boohoo.com, PrettyLittleThing.com, Weir & Sons, Magee 1866, ALEX AND ANI, & Other Stories, Watch Station International, Moss Cottage and beauty brands Kiehl’s, Lancôme, Yves Saint Laurent, Urban Decay, The Body Shop and Paese Cosmetics.
The Killer Fashion year in review wouldn’t be complete without a look back at my favourite outfits I’ve worn throughout the year, and as well a reminder of my favourite products. From my favourite jewellery brand, Thomas Sabo, to my undying love for Yves Saint Laurent and my continuous use of Lancôme & Urban Decay to my favourite Buffalo Riviera pumps and that ASOS dress I wore to the wedding in Portugal… Thank you for all of your kind compliments, and to the brands for their generosity.
So there you have it! This year was bittersweet but still very fantastic, and in the words of Taylor Swift, “We had a beautiful, magic love affair. What a sad, beautiful, tragic love affair.” I’d like to say another massive thank you to all of my visitors from over 150 countries who have stopped by Killer Fashion this year. I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, enjoy, stay safe & drink responsibly – see you in 2017!
Images © Nirina Plunkett
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