October Update/ Smoky Not Smudgy

Hello everyone, I hope you’re all doing fantastically. I am officially under University pressure again and I almost didn’t see it coming? The first week into Uni was very relaxed and then bam it’s been a month already - time is f l y i n g!


Uni and Dissertation
I have to say though that I am enjoying my course SO much, third year is by far the most interesting and after almost every lecture or seminar I leave feeling knowledge satisfied, y’know? Dissertation wise I have a lot to do, a LOT, but I’ve decided on my topic: Procrastination and wellbeing. I’m sure I’m not alone when I say that procrastination is the bane of my life and I’m interested in looking into what extet it impacts students. Also I am loving the familiar drive to Uni again, I have a soft spot for those 40 minute journeys in which I can just not stress about anything in particular. I don’t think it’s quite serene enough to be called ‘me time’ but I think you get my drift!

Makeup Challenge and lipstick of the week
So if you read this post you will know that I have decided to withhold from buying makeup till my 21st Birthday, which was roughly 8 months away. There is now 205 days left and although there have been a few occasions where I’ve longingly gazed at an email informing me of a great promotion, I am happy to report that for the most part it has been an easy ride so far. Once you stop buying makeup and actually look at what you own you realise just how much you own and how much variety you have. I have thoroughly enjoyed shopping my stash so far! Also I am overwhelmed with the positive response and feedback to my ‘lipstick of the week’ posts - thankyou so much ladies! I’ve even inspired a few other lovely bloggers to do the same (either cut down spending or LOTW) and that makes me soooo happy! I am now into week 4 of my LOTW, and I am loving the challenge of pushing myself out of my comfortable mauves/nudes/dustypinks etc.

Smoky Not Smudgy
This year was the third time that I attended the SNS charity event at Imperial College University and it was a lovely familiar experience. This year was certainly quieter I felt, however the hard work and effort that the volunteers from the Uni had put in did not go amiss! This was the first year that I got to attend the fashion show, filled with inspiring designers of modest fashion. It was so lovely to get a tonne of inspiration from the show as modest dressing is something that I am starting to enjoy more and more. In fact in the last few weeks I’ve massively enjoyed adding key pieces to my wardrobe and in general looking more put together. My style used to be very much ‘if its comfy I’m wearing it’ but now I have a more sophisticated vibe and I’m diggin it! Anyways above is a little collage of some of my favourite piece! Info of the designers can be found on the SNS site here.

Also my favourite room...the food room!!! Look at that chocolate fountain and those marshmallows *heart eyed emoji*. The best part of SNS for me personally was to be able to meet two lovely readers of my blog. It was so nice to meet people who enjoy reading my blog :’)

Honestly it has been an exhausting month and I don’t expect November to get any better with one major assignment due in two weeks and lots to think about for post-grad..how has your October been?

I’ve also been rubbish at taking photos as you can tell! I will try and fix this next month.

Thank-you for reading ♥

Bloglovin' | Tweet Me | Instagram | Facebook

October Update/ Smoky Not Smudgy

Hello everyone, I hope you’re all doing fantastically. I am officially under University pressure again and I almost didn’t see it coming? The first week into Uni was very relaxed and then bam it’s been a month already - time is f l y i n g!

Part 2 - Smoky Not Smudgy - KDivision, Natura, Jawhara Jewellery and more ^_^

Part two and the final post on Smoky not Smudgy 2014! Read part 1 here

K Devision | Website

This was without a doubt the most creative and interesting stall my sister and I came across! It is run by the sweetest girl ever, she was so friendly and answered all our queries with patience. I was SO intrigued by how everything was made! It is essentially a laser cut company which produces personalised items such as chopping boards, wooden spoons, weddings invites (such a cool idea!) and the most unique and clever notebooks I have ever seen! I couldn’t decide if I loved the notebooks or the OOTD hangers more - which is something all you #fbloggers NEED because who doesn’t want a personalised OOTD hanger?? What I especially love is that the prices are so reasonable, I’m used to seeing personalised items come at high costs but not at K Devision!

Nelly and Khadz | Website

This quirky little stall caught our attention first because of how beautiful the pins glistened and the because it was filled with all sorts of quirky nick-nacks. We got chatting to the two owners - Nelly and Khadz and we found out that their business was actually very new. They sell beautiful pins, organic skincare and makeup, gift sets, leather purses, mirrors and clothing. Of course after spotting the ‘lets make up’ mirrors I had to purchase one! I’m really impressed without their website, it’s clear professional and best of all there is an offer on at the moment where you can get £10 off when you spend £20! Bargain ^_^

Jawhara Jewellery | Instagram

Another stunning jewellery store, just look at the detail! I really thought these pieces were breath-taking, especially the necklace in the above photo! It was a pleasure meeting the lovely owner, and we stood admiring the stunning pieces for a long time. If you check out the IG page you can see how pretty they look on people and I also loved the display here. All the pieces would make such beautiful unique gifts as they’re hand made - loved them!

 

Vintage Hijab Collection | Website

By far the COOLEST display of hijabs in the whole building! Couldn’t stop marvelling at the creativity of the display and the quality of the hijabs are wonderful too.

The Natural Stuff | Facebook

I really like the name of this brand, its pretty neat. In fact if I was to start a company selling soaps, body butters and gift sets it would be something along these lines! And how pretty is the soap? All hand made and all natural. Seeing the number of women who have set about making their own range of skincare and body-care is really inspiring, and from ‘The Natural Stuff’ I loved their gift set range the most. They have put together great sets, displayed beautifully and again priced well.

Shasmin Accessories | Facebook

One of the most sparkly and glamorous stalls there - how beautiful is this head piece? Shasmin has accessories nailed, didn’t get much time to speak to them as it was always busy around that stall but they have some great quality pieces. If you’re got an asian wedding approaching and are stuck, I point you here!

Natura Cosmetics | Facebook

And finally we have the awesome brand that is Natura Cosmetics! Another natural kinda brand run by a student! which is pretty amazing. I mean I find it tricky running a little blog along side doing a degree too haha. I adored this stand, LOOK AT THAT MOSTACHE SIGN! It’s really nice to see natural brands catering for their male customers too and as 2014 has certainly been the year of the beard - I imagine this is quite popular ^_^ The packaging and range looks professional and I’ve seen lots of excellent reviews of this brand! I purchased the lip scrub and I’m really enjoying it.

And finally since this is a beauty blog I thought I’d show you a few snaps of the makeup room they had there! This is from the beautiful Annam’s collection as she was the makeup artist there and it was such a HUGE pleasure to finally meet her!! Check out her youtube channel here she’s well worth subbing too ^_^

Another highlight for sure was the scrummy chocolate foundation, the lady running the whole thing was so lovely and eating warm waffles drizzled in chocolate and topped with cream GAH too good!! The lovely lady was also selling this beautiful little rings and I picked up two, as they were only £2 each. I wasn’t expecting much, knowing that cheap jewellery tends to go green after a while but amazingly this ring has changed colour at all and it looks ever so pretty on my less than feminine fingers!

Overall it was a fantastic event. The organisers did a great job and there was plenty to see and lots of lovely bloggers and vloggers to meet! If I could change one thing about it, I would request that the fashion shows be later in the day rather than one hour into the event. Sadly we missed both because of a train delay in the morning and the last one was a little late for us as we were traveling for over an hour after the event and didn’t want to hang around too long. Aside from that the day was a success and they amazingly raised a total of £12,860.49! Amaaaazing ^_^

I hope you enjoyed reading these posts! I’m not used to event blogging, and probably put too many photos in but I had to give credit where it’s due! I think all these businesses are amazing, seeing all the lovely ladies was so inspiring and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

Thank-you for reading ♥

 Follow Via Bloglovin' | Tweet Me | Follow on Instagram | Like The Blushing Giraffe on Facebook

Part 2 - Smoky Not Smudgy - KDivision, Natura, Jawhara Jewellery and more ^_^

Part two and the final post on Smoky not Smudgy 2014! Read part 1 here

Smoky Not Smudgy part 1 - Hijab Bowtique, Samia’s Treasures, Hijab Candy and more!

First things first I am SO sorry this post is weeks late! I blame that on taking over 300 photos and not having the time nor head space to sort through them until the holidays. So a word of warning - this post is extremely picture heavy! So picture heavy infact that I’ve split it into two. Enjoy!

Smoky not Smudgy is an annual charity event hosted by the ISOC at Imperial College London. This was their 7th year running and it was truly wonderful. It’s a female only event, for women to come together, have a shop and browse at the bazaar and attend workshops about makeup and skincare and there is a fashion show too! Very exciting!

I’ll go through a stall at a time with as much info as I can find. They I’ll finish with a little conclusion of the event ^_^ I hope you enjoy discovering some wonderful companies! And by the way, after a year of using Instagram as a blogger, going to this event was literally like hoping into Instagram and walking around the accounts, buying things and gazing at beautiful things! Also meeting some truly fantastic people, super talented, kind and finally putting the people to their accounts. It was very bizarre in some ways, but such a great experience too.

Hijab Bowtique | Website

This was the first stall my sister and I visited and it really started the day off to a great start. Hijab Bowtique is run by three sisters, and they had a brilliant offer on which actually still extends to their website! 4 plain scarves for £10. And plain include the lace styles and the bobbles. Fellow scarf lovers let me tell you there isn’t a colour you wanted that isn’t in their selection! They also offer free delivery in the UK for orders over £35. Basically your one stop shop for hijabs, the quality of the scarves are great and apart from one printed scarf in my collection right now, I’m pretty obsessed with plain ones, including the ones picked up here.

 

Crown Therapy | Instagram

This stand was laid out fantastically. The set out, the ‘samples’ and ‘try me’ pots were displayed so well it almost looked like a shop display and the professionalism yet friendly faces were really wonderful! Crown therapy provide hair and body products for both genders - made from entirely natural ingredients. So it’s definitely a brand for you natural skincare lovers to check out! There are products for hair growth, toners, face scrubs, face masks and even serums! I believe you can order through their Instagram page which is @crowntherapy (linked above) and also check out some of their customers opinions and experiences with the products too.

 

Romeesa London | Instagram

Aren’t these some of the most stunning jewellery pieces you have seen in your life?? Romeesa London provide bespoke and handcrafted jewellery pieces, and also bridal bouquets too. They use pearls, Swarovski and some other semi precious stones. Seeing the stand covered in the stunning pieces and bouquets was such a stunning sight. Definitely a company to like on facebook for the future because each piece is made with the most breath taking care and elegance ^_^

 

Samia’s Treasures | Website

Next up is one of my favourite hijab stores ever! I have ordered from this company twice before SNS so it was so lovely meeting the owner and her daughter - they actually knew who I was! Which was so surprising and heart warming at the same time. When I first discovered their site I was thrilled because they have good quality hijabs for decent prices and offers on too. What I also love about this company is how affordable their pins and bonnets are - you can stock up on all essentials and some new things (like those voluminsing scrunchies) for so much cheaper than other stores. Especially their HEART pins!! Love em’ -I will always turn to this site when I need to restock. Oh and they also stock the Dina Torkia collection which is super luxurious!

 

Hijab Candy | Website

Hijab candy is a company I’ve been aware of for years thanks to the video Dina did reviewing them! Its run by two lovely sisters and they’re doing an incredible job, on their site you can buy scarves - with their own collection too, clothing - scarves, maxi dresses, kimonos and more for really reasonable prices and I’m not just saying that you know how much I love a bargain, pins, storage and so much more. The quirky and unique prints really stood out to me and last year I had the pleasure of seeing the stall in person. This year after chatting to the sisters via IG, it was SO nice meeting them in person and I can honestly say I felt so at home by their stall. They’re literally the nicest, most down to earth sweet people and it was such a pleasure meeting them! And look at how gorgeous their pieces are ^_^ check out their site and social media!

 

Pretty Little Bakes | Facebook Page

LET THERE BE CAKEEEE! Sorry if your stomach is rumbling right now, but I just couldn’t resist sharing these beautiful photos! Check out their facebook page if you’re based in London because the detail is amazing and they’re perfect for giving someone an extra special yummy treat.

And that is the end of part 1! I will publish part 2 in the morning ^_^ I hope you enjoyed having a flick through some of the awesome companies that were at this years S’N’S event.

Thank-you for reading ♥

 Follow Via Bloglovin' | Tweet Me | Follow on Instagram | Like The Blushing Giraffe on Facebook

Smoky Not Smudgy part 1 - Hijab Bowtique, Samia’s Treasures, Hijab Candy and more!

First things first I am SO sorry this post is weeks late! I blame that on taking over 300 photos and not having the time nor head space to sort through them until the holidays. So a word of warning - this post is extremely picture heavy! So picture heavy infact that I’ve split it into two. Enjoy!

Smoky not Smudgy is an annual charity event hosted by the ISOC at Imperial College London. This was their 7th year running and it was truly wonderful. It’s a female only event, for women to come together, have a shop and browse at the bazaar and attend workshops about makeup and skincare and there is a fashion show too! Very exciting!