Holiday Clothes

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Nooreen and I are jetting off to Thailand this Friday (inshallah) and we are so excited! I have been shopping for my holiday and can't wait to blog my outfits when I get back. I thought it might be cool to share my outifits/ideas from my last holiday in Dubai.

I must admit I am not a fan of ‘really high’ temperatures as it can be a nightmare to dress in. I opted for linen most days in Dubai. These trousers I am in love with, my brown linen Aladdin style gamese hareems! These are great substitute for a skirt as they hide the shape which allows you to pair up with a shorter top.

I Struggled to find hareems in linen online (those trousers were bought years ago from France). However I looked online and found these stunners! (click here)

This whole outfit above is ideal with a thin black top underneath to cover arms, it really hides physique as well as look updated and elegant.

The Hijab I am wearing is actually a sarong which I have double tied lightly with a thin piece hijab, its a pretty light fabric and helps my head to keep cool.

My second outfit is a kaftan top (one of my favs), this is thin/light and worn over a thin top looks modest. I have paired this up with black linens and double tied a hijab. These tops are hard to find so I have scoped a few out; I am loving Colleen's range (click here) and Next (click here). The colours are awesome!

Pairing kaftans with linen trousers and thin sweat tops really works, its splashes so much colour and perfect for beach weather. The challenge however is findig a thin top to wear underneath. The tops I have are actually from the UAE, they are pretty similar to 'Skin' tops sports people wear under football tops (see here). Primark and Sports direct tend to have them too (Look out for them).

Saving the best till last – here comes the Maxi Dresses! These are suited to all and are now bursting in the high street. The trick with them is to find a matching thin top for under and a dress long enough to hit the floor (for all the tall ladies like me, Miss Selfridges and Mango tend to have really long dresses), if too long use a loose belt to pull up slightly. Boohoo at the moment have a great range, I am loving the orange (click here) and patterned (click here). Both are under £30!

Hope some of the ideas have helped some of you with planning your holiday wear! Look out for our Thai blog in a couple of weeks :)

Happy Holidays

The world we live in: black boy murdered for wearing a hoodie... woman murdered for being Muslim

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We've just seen a black teenager murdered in Florida for 'looking suspicious' - carrying a bottle of ice tea and some skittles - because he was wearing a hoodie. And in shocking and disgusting news, now an Iraqi woman has died in California after being found beaten up with a note left next to her reading "go back to your country, terrorist".

In the same way that Trayvon Martin looked like many of the kids running around innocently anywhere in America or in London, Shaima Alawadi looked like any of us. It may or may not have been her hijab which put her up as a target, but it's sad that institutional racism clearly still exists, and Islamaphobia clearly exists.

Shaima was a mother of 5 and it's heart-breaking to read about both of these stories in our news. It's even  more heartbreaking to see that Trayvon's killer has not even been arrested yet - will the same injustice happen to Shaima, and then over and over again?

People are so quick to share a pretty video about a killer in Africa, but when there is clear injustice going on in their own back gardens, it's dismissed. I urge everyone to share this information so people are aware of what is going on in this world we live in - ignorance is not bliss.

Read full story at the Huffington Post
Sign petition for Trayvon Martin

Skincare Part II - Sensitive Skin

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Nadyah wrote a nice little post the other day about moisturisers and I just wanted to add to that. I've always had problems with buying moisturisers as my skin is super-sensitive. Anything I put on it - it reacts. That's turned out to be a blessing actually, as I've always stayed away from using foundation or heavy make-up, which in turn has always allowed my skin to breathe and stopping it from clogging up. I rarely get spots, but do often get dry skin and psoriasis, especially in winter.

How do I manage this? Natural products. I am a true believer in looking after what you put both in and on your body, and anyone who really knows me knows that I am crazy about natural products. For example, in terms of haircare, I could (and will in a future blog post!) write about how ingredients in most of the shampoos and conditioners that you see in the shops are actually harming the health of your hair (especially if you do not have straight hair!!), and I've become obsessive about reading labels on products. In terms of face products, I normally use a moisturiser, a night cream, an eye cream and my only rule is keep it as natural as I can.

I LOVE Neal's Yard Remedies. Their products are mostly organic. For the last couple of years I've been using not just their moisturisers, but also their face serums which are amazing (serum goes on before the moisturiser). They are quite expensive (£40.50-£43.50 for 30ml) but you only need the tiniest bit each morning and it feels amazing on your skin. I've tried the Wild Rose Beauty Elixir, the Brightening Serum and I'm currently using the Soothing Starflower Daily Essence. The Wild Rose one is probably my favourite, but to be honest they are all great.

They have a great selection of moisturisers too - their Wild Rose one has an SPF of 30. I've always struggled with sun protection as the chemicals in most of them do not go well on my skin - especially on my face - so this is perfect. Sun protection IS important, even for us brown-skinned people, and not just when we are on holiday. And for nighttime, their Beauty Sleep Concentrate is amazing to replenish your skin while you catch up on your zzzs! I would definitely invest in a night cream as well a daily moisturiser as your skin does a lot of healing at night, and needs something thicker.

I have also used Neal's Yard's eye creams and gels, but they are relatively expensive and I've found others which seem to be just as effective - I'm currently using Green People's version here.

If you have sensitive skin like me, just take a look at what you're putting on your face.  Read the label. Anything you find in Superdrugs which promises it's great for sensitive skin probably has a bunch of chemicals in it - just try going natural and see if it makes a difference :)

Skincare – Potions & Lotions

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Choosing the right moisturiser for some girls can be such a difficult and frustrating decision! Sitting happily in the late 20’s category, I have found myself everyday becoming paranoid about dark circles and fine lines! Alhamdilah I do think I have nothing to worry about as often or not people think I am in my early 20’s (whoop! Best compliment a lady could ever get!).

I worked in skincare for over 5 years (part-time), and must have tested and trailed every brand from ‘Witch to Lancôme’ to ‘Vaseline and Bio-Oil’.

I do think when you are in your late 20’s that it is really hard to find something which suits, as you don’t want anti-wrinkle creams as they literally stretch/pull your skin (which can’t be a good thing!).

However you do want to catch any premature fine lines and perhaps slow down the process of ageing skin.

I must say the skincare creams I swear by are Boots No7! It’s the only stuff I use as I find it so luxurious.

I use the -

No7 Protect & Perfect – Beauty Serum (click here) £19.50

Reveal younger looking skin with No7 Protect & Perfect Beauty Serum. This powerful blend of protecting and renewing ingredients helps reduce the appearance of pores, smoothing lines and wrinkles in 4 weeks.

Yes! It works; I have watched expression lines fade because of this! I use this day and night before I moisturise, all you need is a dollop the size of a 5p coin and smooth over the areas that make you paranoid. Skin serums are amazing and I do think they are a must! I remember when working at Boots years ago how the serum was out of stock for ages as the shelves kept getting cleared! I don’t think it was anticipated how much of a success the serum would be.

Next,

No7 Protect & Perfect – Day Cream SPF 15 (click here) £21

No7 Protect & Perfect Day Cream visibly improves fine lines and first

signs of ageing and now contains ultra UV-Ageing Protection.

I LOVE how this feels on my skin, it’s so creamy and light, the danger here is using too much at one time, it can’t be helped as it feels fab!

Lastly…

No7 Protect & Perfect – Night Cream (click here) £22

No7 Protect & Perfect Night Cream helps to provide hydrated, smoother revitalised skin

At night I can smoother my face with this! You must go into a Boots store and try some on your skin, the texture is immense. It feels like a treat every night!

Note – at Boots they do 2 types of protect and perfect creams, one is an intense one (gold), avoid this as it’s for an older lady so wouldn’t suit a younger group. If you are in your early 20’s I would say keep it simple, literally ‘Simple’ (moisturiser), as there is no need to indulge quite yet (enjoy your youth!) ;-)

Also remember No7 are always on 3 for 2 and if you’re lucky you can have a £5 off voucher too! So be tactical when buying! You can get a an awesome offer at the right time!

NYC Part II: Standing in the spot where Malcolm X was assassinated

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Not too much fashion in this blog - but hopefully interesting to you guys nonetheless! Those of you who live in London may have heard about the biggg Malcolm X event at SOAS University two weeks ago – it was insanely packed out, with hundreds of people lining up outside, not able to get in. The chair of the event was on the Board of Directors at the Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial in New York, which is sited at the Audubon Ballroom where he was assassinated. I've previously been to the Malcolm X Masjid on another New York trip on 116^th street in Harlem, but as I was heading to NYC anyway a few days after the talk, I had to stop by the Memorial.

And what an experience! Standing in the spot where Malcolm X gave many of his speeches and where he last stood was pretty surreal. Malcolm X is such a big figure in both black and Islamic history, and he often doesn't get the credit he really deserves. If - at all - his legacy is taught in history classes at schools, it's normally as a contrast and comparison to the non-violent teachings of Martin Luther King - an unfair mis-focus on his true and final beliefs. But to be standing in the building where he spoke his final words was both incredibly empowering and humbling at the same time.

When we walked in, we met Paul who was working at the front desk. Once he found out we were from London, he left his post and offered to show us around. He first took us outside and showed us the ballroom from the exterior – where historical photos show the famous sign that has since been torn down. The building itself was close to being completely destroyed after Columbia University brought it, but eventually agreed to preserve part of it. Paul also showed us the park across the road, where police would normally gather every time Malcolm had a speech in the venue. Significantly, on the day of his last ever speech, there were no police to be seen. Go figure.

Historical photo of the outside of the ballroom

Inside, in the moments before his death, he stood onto the stage and greeted the crowd, there was an altercation somewhere in the crowd. While everyone's attention was caught, others took their opportunity to shoot at Malcolm.

Standing in the spot where Malcolm X would give his speeches from

Malcolm being carried out on a stretcher after being shot

I had taken a friend who works with me, and who didn’t really know much about the Malcolm X story but Paul broke it down to her -  everything from his association with the Nation of Islam and what they believed in, and the part of his life where he realized the Nation leader Elijah Muhammad had been sleeping with other women and had fathered many children, and then his conversion to sunni Islam and the El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz part of his life. For anyone who hasn't yet read Malcolm X's autobiography, I urge you to - his story is simply fascinating.

Artwork inside

From the 'Freedom Sisters' exhibition that is currently running

The Malcolm X mosque - this was originally a Nation of Islam mosque where Malcolm preached, but later became a Sunni mosque

It was an awesome experience and something a little bit different from the typical tourist spots on a NY trip... anyone ever visiting the Big Apple.. I highly recommend it. They also have an exhibition called 'Freedom Sisters' running at the moment, all about the women who made an impact on the fight for freedom from slavery. You may know about Rosa Parks, but there are other women such as Harriet Tubman who escaped slavery but then made the trip back south to free her family and then others, and C. Delores Tucker who was the first female and first black secretary of state. Slavery may not exist in the same way as it once did, but civil and human rights are still an issue in many communities and societies, and we can learn from both these women and the incredible life of Malcolm X.

Betty’s a good Muslim woman and wife. You see, Islam is the only religion that gives both husband and wife a true understanding of what love is. The Western “love” concept, you take it apart, is really lust. But love transcends just the physical. Love is disposition, behavior, attitude, thoughts, likes, dislike – these things make a beautiful woman, a beautiful wife. This is the beauty that never fades.

-       Malcolm X – The Autobiography of Malcolm X