Update & Tag | I HEART RAMADAN TAG!

Hello everybody! I hope you’re well on this fine Friday! Now as you know this is predominantly a beauty blog, however I do like to type up the odd update post now and again, and after watching this tag on YouTube by the lovely ‘bubblegumhijab’ I thought I would do it too! But first of all it’s only right to give y’all some information on what Ramadan is and why Muslims fast etc.

WHAT IS RAMADAN?

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, which moves forward by around 10 days each year. It is one of the most significant months for Muslims, as it was the month in which the Quran (the holy book) was reviled to our Prophet Muhammed (peace and blessings be upon him.) Muslims fast from dawn till dusk, and the fasting is not just limited to food and water, but to profanity, bad actions, backbiting, time wasting, smoking – anything that is excessive and ill-natured. Is Ramadan a month of dieting and losing weight? No…infact Ramadan shouldn’t be about the food or the lack of it, but everything we do gain whilst fasting – which is often the realisation that we are incredibly blessed to have the CHOICE to fast whilst millions really do starve day in day out, every month of the year. For many Muslims, myself included it is our favourite time of the year! We cut down on procrastination and devote our time to bettering ourselves, helping others and learning more about our religion as well as asking for forgiveness from Allah.

I understand that you can’t eat food – but WHY CAN’T YOU DRINK WATER?!

Ok I get this a lot. Now the question I have is…do you really understand why we abstain from eating food?

Let me start with a statistic - there are 842 million people who do not have enough to eat. I’ll just let that colossal number sink in for a moment…. 842 MILLION people that wake up each day, not knowing if they’ll have any food for themselves or their families. Every minute 5 Children die of malnutrition (statistic from  Unicef.)

If you’re reading this, you’re more blessed than you realise because you have access to the internet, which means electricity, which means light switches and running water and probably a fridge that keeps your food for longer and a freezer that holds ice-cream! We are very blessed and extremely sheltered from the harsh conditions that millions have to endure each and every day. SO many people go without a morsel of food for days, let alone three meals, two snacks and regular access to fresh running water!

So one of the reasons why we do a full fast of food AND water is so that we can FEEL what it would be like to not have those basic necessities that we all take for granted. You might think that you don’t need to feel it yourself to be empathetic, but believe me until you have fasted for a week with no food or water during daylight hours, you will not be able to understand even one eighth of the hardship the poor go through!

Ramadan is the time for us to truly appreciate how much we have, and to step away from this materialistic, money driven society in order to focus on what is important. Our sacrifice is tiny and insignificant compared to what those 842 million people are faced with….and yes, yes you too COULD fast if you put your mind to it, I promise! (On a side note, the elderly, ill and pregnant Muslims do not fast for obvious reasons).

I wanted to start this tag off with a bit of information because I think it’s important to talk and explain about my beliefs and my faith. Furthermore I have NO problems with anyone asking any questions because it’s human nature to be curious about what one is not used to, or doesn’t understand. So please feel free to contact me, if you’d like to know anything else or have any questions – I’d much rather that, than assumptions which is what our biased western media feeds us day in day out!

For further information and a more visual guide check out two of my favourite Youtubers explain! Amena and the very funny Tazzy Phe

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Now on to the tag!

1. When do you start getting excited about Ramadan?

Probably the month before it’s going to start! Recently I’ve been lucky to be away from school and studying which means I have more time during the day to take advantage of fasting. I also try to cut down my working hours and just making these arrangements for Ramadan makes me excited for the upcoming month!

2. What is your favourite Ramadan Memory?

It’s got to be when I was younger and started fasting, during first school (back when fasts were only 8 hours long!) and feeling so proud for keeping a fast. Even though I didn’t truly understand why we fasted, it made me feel so important and mature haha.

3. Does your family have any Ramadan Tradition?

Yes we always make a fruit salad to eat straight after we open our fast with dates and water ^_^ The half an hour before opening your fast is the most testing period I think, because you can smell the food and literally feel it haha but feeding a fasting person comes with so much reward, so it’s all worth it! We also all read maghrib salah together (which is the evening/sunset prayer) as a family, all in one line and that’s such a lovely feeling.

It has also become somewhat of a tradition to help out with our community radio station! ‘Ramadan FM’ which anyone in the world can listen to here. I believe it all began  4 years ago and it’s such a blessing to have! Not only do you learn so much from the shows (and they cover everything Youth, health, charity) but it also brings together the community, and people from all cultures too ^_^

4. What is your favourite Ramadan Food?

Well as a family I think we’re pretty good in that we don’t overload with the fried food. So probably the fruit salad! The funny thing is we always say we will make it after Ramadan too but we never really do, so we love having it daily for a month.

5. When you're fasting in the day do you think about food?

Not until the last hour or two! Like I said especially when preparing the food, then you have little choice to really. But it’s really important to utilize the time we have in Ramadan because it could be our last and we have no idea, so instead of wasting time with thinking about food, read some duas and do good because everything good you do in this month is rewarded multiple times.

6. Besides water and dates what do you break your fast with?

Fruit salad and occasionally pakoreh which is a fried potato dish/starter type thing.

7. What do you eat for suhoor?

We used to eat parateh a lot! But now we tend to have egg and toast, porridge, cereal etc. Especially as the time between sunset-sunrise is so short (only around 4.5/5 hours) we’ve barely digested our iftaar (fast opening) when it’s time to eat again! So it’s important to stock up on water and keep food healthy and not overly heavy so you wake up with a sick feeling.

8. What is your least favourite thing about Ramadan?

Ohh this is a tough one because I can’t think of anything I don’t enjoy about the month?! Hmmm if I HAD to pick something it would be the constant question of ‘you can drink water right?’….but you all probably know that by now if you’ve read the little info bit haha! It’s something I guess you have to try yourself before you understand/realise that it IS possible, but y’know it can be a bit repetitive.

9. One thing that makes you happiest at Ramadan?

The constant feeling of peace. It’s because you’re dedicating so much more time and effort to Islam and you’re learning so much more as well as being rewarded constantly for fasting and it’s just the most amazing feeling being content and worry free. It’s like a retreat that lasts for a whole month!

10. One tip that you can give to people that are fasting?

Life is too short to spent most of Ramadan sleeping which is tempting to do with the long fasts, but this Ramadan try to push yourself a little further and set a goal that you really want to achieve. It’ll help you be productive and make the most of the time you have. One of mine personally is to listen to as much Quran as possible in order to improve my Tajwed. Also don’t binge on snack food in the time you do have to eat because your body will appreciate you fuelling it with things that give long lasting energy – bananas is a good example!

Thankyou again to the lovely bubblehijab for creating this tag! I tag anyone participating in Ramadan and wish you all a wonderful month! To my non-Muslims followers/readers I hope you learnt something new ^_^

Thanks for reading!

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Update & Tag | I HEART RAMADAN TAG!

Hello everybody! I hope you’re well on this fine Friday! Now as you know this is predominantly a beauty blog, however I do like to type up the odd update post now and again, and after watching this tag on YouTube by the lovely ‘bubblegumhijab’ I thought I would do it too! But first of all it’s only right to give y’all some information on what Ramadan is and why Muslims fast etc.

Review & Swatches | L.A Girl Pro. Conceal HD Concealer–Medium Beige, Pure Beige, Fawn, Warm Honey, Toast and Beautiful Bronze

Hello everybody! You may have seen my first Beautyjoint haul here and I had such a good experience that I placed another order! I purchased 6 of the L.A Girl HD concealers, a NYX blusher in ‘spice’ and a Jordana mascara. HOWEVER - update, the price from that site has increased a little and so has the shipping price, so I recommend you pick them up from here instead, cause the whole vast range is easily available. They kindly threw in a full sized Duo lash glue which I was chuffed about too! So why pick up so many concealers you ask?…

Firstly they’re incredibly affordable, although the price has gone up slightly. Secondly I had heard a lot of people talk about these, mainly for the variety of shades available – I mean sure you can get the same amount of shades from a high end brand but can you afford to pay £20+ for each concealer? Personally – nope! So these were a real bargain ^_^

After playing with them for a fortnight or two I want to share some high quality swatches because they’re pretty difficult to find on the internet! Also a brief description of each shade. I haven’t used every shade yet, but I purchased two for concealing, two for correcting and two for contouring. They haven’t all lived up to the reasons I picked them up, but I’ll talk about why with the swatches.

L-R: Medium Beige, Pure Beige, Fawn, Warm Honey, Toast and Beautiful Bronze

As you can see I’ve managed to pick a real mix of shades! You get 8g of concealer which is pretty standard, if not a little more than others such as the Rimmel wake me up which has a gram less. The packaging is useful in the sense that it has a brush, so can be applied onto the skin straight from the package.

Medium Beige & Pure Beige

Starting with the lightest shades of the bunch, Medium Beige is darker than my skin tone and would be a good match for NC40. Its fantastic for someone with yellow undertones, and dark circles that don’t need heavy concealing as this is a ‘corrector and concealer in one’ type of product. Personally I need a darker shade of corrector, which is a little more thick and creamy to truly correct my very dark circles.

To read my post on how I conceal very dark under-eye circles click here.

 Pure Beige is the closest match to my skin tone, and a good concealer for blemishes. I was hoping this would be a good highlight shade, but it’s not light enough unfortunately so my next shop at beautyjoint will be picking some of the lighter colours! It is light enough to layer on top of a darker corrector shade however and I will be making use of this.

Fawn & Warm Honey

These are the two shades I picked up with correcting in mind. Fawn is the most orange shade of the bunch and actually reminds me of a turmeric mask when applied. The issue I have with this colour is it doesn’t provide enough coverage with one layer, and so you have to layer it up to get a decent coverage, and then apply a brighter/skin tone match on top so you don’t look bizarre. And then of course there is creasing and it’s just a bit of a faff. So pretty disappointed with Fawn as I hoped it would be a great corrector for my very dark circles, but its a bit of a waste unfortunately.

Warm Honey is a good corrector shade for skin tones of NC40+  it’s not too orange like Fawn, but it’s also effective with disguising dark circles. I haven’t tried this as a corrector myself yet, but it looks more promising than the first!

Toast & Beautiful Bronze

These were the two shades I was most excited about, and they haven’t disappointed! For a long lasting contour, it’s essential to layer cream and powder products together. Similarly for a natural looking contour, cream is best alone as powder can appear quite harsh on the skin.

So I have been testing out Toast, and I love it! It’s a slightly cool toned dark brown, and the applicator brush makes it amazingly easy to get chiselled cheekbones, as you can apply a thin line. The trick with this is to NOT over blend! I use this with either my E.L.F Stipple brush, or the RT sponge. Personally I think the sponge is best for contouring. With the bouncing of a damp sponge, the colour stays in the place you put it, which obviously is what you want for a contour! If over blended, my cheeks do end up looking a bit orange, so again don’t over-apply and be sure to have a damp sponge to hand!

  Beautiful Bronze is another shade I haven’t used yet, but from swatching it you can see it is a lot warmer than toast. This could work as a contour if used VERY CAREFULLY, but I think I’ll use this as a cream bronzer instead as it’s better for warming up the face, rather than adding definition due to its warmth.

Tips For Using The Concealers

• Most people like to apply their foundation first, and then their concealer – with these do it the reverse way around. I applied my CC cream, and then was testing out the correctorish shades and then the lightest shades on top and by the time it had all dried and set it – there was a great big orange mess on my face ._. so do your correcting, concealing etc. first and then add foundation to the cheeks etc. to eradicate the orangeness!
• Be careful when squeezing because sometimes it takes a while for a bit to come out and then BAM loads comes out!
• These provide medium coverage, but can be layered up so a little tip is to not wait too long between adding the layers, (30 seconds should be good) as when the first layer is dry, if you add another it will cake up!
• If you have shades for under the eyes, it might be more comfortable to squeeze some on the back of your hand and then apply with the fingers rather than using the brush as it can be a little uncomfortable.

I hope those swatches were helpful to anyone wanting to purchase these! I will do another round if I am brave enough to pick up some of the lighter shades (which do tend to run on the pink side according to swatches, but the lovely girls on Instagram have recommended me some shades so we shall see ^_^)

Since writing this I ordered the shade CREAMY BEIGE which I use for highlighting! Read the review of that here.

Thanks for reading!

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Review & Swatches | L.A Girl Pro. Conceal HD Concealer–Medium Beige, Pure Beige, Fawn, Warm Honey, Toast and Beautiful Bronze

Hello everybody! You may have seen my first Beautyjoint haul here and I had such a good experience that I placed another order! I purchased 6 of the L.A Girl HD concealers, a NYX blusher in ‘spice’ and a Jordana mascara. HOWEVER - update, the price from that site has increased a little and so has the shipping price, so I recommend you pick them up from here instead, cause the whole vast range is easily available. They kindly threw in a full sized Duo lash glue which I was chuffed about too! So why pick up so many concealers you ask?…

Haul | Primark! June 2014

Hello! Ahhhh another good ol’ Primark haul! I visited Primark twice in June, once specifically for shoes as I hadn’t gone to London prepared, and the second time as a general shop :)

These shoes cost only £6 each, and are perfect for the summertime. They are extremely flat, and so aren’t super comfortable for a lot of walking but for a few hours out they’re lovely and go well with skirts, dresses and jeans. Unfortunately for me I am a 5.5 in Primark….and yes there is no five and a half so I have to go up to a size 6 which can be a little uncomfy as they do rub a little.. but for the price I can’t complain. I also love how the strap goes diagonally across the feet, just the little details ^_^

I also picked these up for a tenner, which oddly fit me better than the ones above.  I like the gold strap detailing, and the zip at the back. The point is classy and the colour makes them super versatile. I wore these to a wedding the other day and loved how comfortable I was the whole evening! I’m normally balancing in heels, a good 3 or 4 inches taller than everyone else and so feeling uncomfortable and awkward, these are perfect for any occasion ^_^

Finally from the shoe department I picked up a pair of heels, they’re not super tall and they’re fairly comfortable. I won’t get a lot of use out of these, but I did need a pair for my shoe wardrobe,on those odd occasions where one does need heels x)

The bracelets at Primark right now are so pretty! You get 6 or £2 and there are three different packs to choose from. Sorry I couldn’t get a better photo of the second set, but  check these out for sure next time you’re in a Primark. I’d expect to see these in an accessorize, the quality is great and I love how there is gold detailing mixed among the coloured threads.

A pair of super cheap and cheerful sunnies, ones that I can just chuck into my handbag and not worry about them being broken. These were only a quid, and even came with a cute little fabric case for it!

One of my favourite purchases have to be this bag. Its a pretty huge, leather look spacious bag which will be brilliant for Uni. The only thing I’m a tad worried about is that it won’t be strong enough to hold folders, a laptop etc. but I’ll try and get an extra lining sewn in which should hopefully help the thing straps!

The small gold detailing makes the bag look more expensive (only £9 by the way) and I was pretty shocked to see a VERY similar bag in Lily Pebble’s latest haul from Zara! They even included a small tablet pouch in which will be very useful for keeping things like lipbalm, a pen, keys etc. in as the depth of the bag means it could be easy for small things to get lost – and now they don’t have too!

Can you tell I love bags? I’m defo a bags over shoes kinda girl haha.

Finally I picked up this really cute bed cover, for only £12 and I adore the neutral colours and the cute Aztec elephant print. It’s one of those reversible types, so you can switch it up by flipping the duvet over ^_^

And that is about it aside from basics like leggings, socks and other things that are standard! Have you bought anything from Primarni recently?  

Thanks so much for reading!

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Haul | Primark! June 2014

Hello! Ahhhh another good ol’ Primark haul! I visited Primark twice in June, once specifically for shoes as I hadn’t gone to London prepared, and the second time as a general shop :)