Zariel

NEW WEBSITE!

2015-08-21T14:26:00.001-07:00

Some exciting things are happening. We have now moved to our very own website which will start off as a continuation of this blog, with a shop to follow. That is the intention, but will still take some time before it actually takes off. In the mean time, please follow us on our new site to keep up to date with all our posts. You can also follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and soon we will make videos for the website on Youtube too.

www.lebeautyhaul.co.uk

Hope to see you all there!

xo

Boots series #2 No7 skincare - my picks | Ayesha

2015-08-06T05:02:00.001-07:00

You know sometimes Boots do an offer where you can get £5 off No7 skincare and £3 off their makeup? Sometimes I wish they did this voucher for other brands too - but hey ho. I enjoy £5 off their skincare, because I think their skincare is very good.

My skin is combination: dry cheeks and an oily T-zone. My skin is also a little bit dehydrated but I am trialling a product by Kiehls (blog post coming soon!) to target that dehydration. On my right cheek, I used to suffer from something that I am unsure what it was but it resembled scales (as in a dragon or a fish or something) and no matter how much cream I applied, the scales wouldn't go away! I am slightly digressing so I will do another blog post on how I de-scaled myself.

Here is my current line-up of No7 skincare products.

Now, my most favourite No7 product is the radiance exfoliator (on the right). It actually does what it says on the tin. After using this, my skin looked so much brighter! It literally transformed. It doesn't have too many beads in it, so it is less harsh than some other scrubs out there, but nevertheless does a good job. I tend to use this every 3 days or so.

The cleansing lotion (middle) is great at removing all traces of face makeup, but I haven't used it on eye makeup. I'm a bit unsure about whether or not to so I decided against the risk. It leaves me skin feeling clean and soft, without a hint of tightness. Some cleansers are very harsh and strip your skin of its natural oils, hence the tight feeling, so this one is a lovely choice to go for.

Finally the toner (left). I do like this toner to make sure every last trace of makeup has gone from my face. Despite liking it, I don't see the point of toners in general. I have heard lots about them and how they get your skin "ready" for moisturisation but I've not noticed any difference! Oh well.

Here's a cuteness break as this is a bit of a wordy post! I love owls, and baby ones in particular. In fact, babies and mini things in general.

image from pinterest

In the past I have tried their eye make-up remover which is a good dupe for Lancome's Bi-Facil remover. It felt very gentle and removed all traces of makeup. It is also oil-based and does leave an oily residue, but I quite like this feeling of extra moisturisation!

I have also used the essential moisture moisturiser which melted into my skin and lasted a long time. It is quite a rich cream so it would definitely suit drier skin times, without making your skin look shiny.

Lastly, and I almost forgot about this, I have also used their hot cloth cleanser. Now, I've not tried the Liz Earle version to compare, but this one is lovely and even comes with its own muslin cloth. The most noticeable thing, like the cleansing lotion mentioned above, is that it doesn't leave my skin feeling tight as some cleansers usually have in the past.

Hope you found this useful! Let me know in the comments what you use your No7 vouchers for!

Boots series #1 New things by Collection | Ayesha

2015-08-05T09:34:00.002-07:00

Hi all!

School's out for summer! It's actually been 2 and a half weeks, but again I find myself being too busy to post.

Anyway, after perusing the shelves at Boots many times these past weeks, today I found myself drawn to the Collection section. The only thing I buy from them is a clear mascara which I use as a brow setting gel, and tend to walk away thinking the other things wouldn't have staying power or be pigmented enough. However, just look at these:

I don't know why, but I have never seen these before! I was SO impressed by the swatches. They felt very soft and were highly pigmented, so much so that they would give the Naked palette by Urban Decay a run for their money. There were three palettes in total. One was called Nude which had lighter pinks and browns; Nude Bronze which is the one I bought; and Nude Grey which had cooler toned neutrals like greys, taupes and cooler shades of brown.

The shadow sticks in particular made me literally say "wow" as I applied them; they are way more intense than they look in the pictures. The one labelled VB is called 'Vintage Blush' and is a pink shade with gold undertones. V is called 'Vanilla Sky' and is a very light shade of gold; almost like platinum. This looks like liquid gold.

Another thing to note is that when I wanted to clean the shadow sticks off my hand, a baby wipe just didn't work. They claim to be waterproof and long lasting which I now believe! However, I have very oily eyelids so I will test them out to see their true longevity.

If you are into shimmery shades then these will be for you. The Nude Bronze palette is definitely all shimmer, however I am unsure about whether the other ones contain some matte shades!

There are some other new things by Collection here.

All in all, on first impression, I am super impressed and as everything is less than £5 each, it is definitely worth it!

Which palette or shadow sticks would you go for?

The post-work Bond Street experience | Ayesha

2015-06-14T13:01:00.002-07:00

I've been commuting from SE London to Hertfordshire for about 6 months now, and every single day I pass Bond Street on the Jubilee line to and from my journey. Never before had it occurred to me that I could actually hop off and be in Selfridges 5 minutes later...until last Friday.

Now, this is not a means for me to go there every Friday after work. A teacher's salary is not enough anyway and I have too much housework to catch up on. #wouldn'tmakeagoodhousewife

On this occasion, however, I intended to leave work at 4pm with a slightly untidy desk to pick up a free Origins Drink-Up overnight mask from John Lewis, an offer that was floating around on Facebook. I went straight there, then to Boots to pick up something boring that I had run out of... until I saw that Make Up For Ever had arrived in Debenhams. My pace quickened... then I went to Selfridges... and here is the damage. (Not including the boring thing from Boots!)

I'll go through each product in turn with a little mini review on some of the ones I have tried out.

Starting at the bottom, in the bottom picture:

1. Origins Drink-Up Intensive Overnight mask.

This was the freebie from John Lewis. I have heard many amazing reviews on it and have thought about purchasing it on a number of occasions but refraining because I make my homemade chickpea flour mask anyway. I have to say I'm slightly disappointed with this one. It did make my skin feel a bit softer but nothing amazingly different to the overall look and complexion of it. Maybe it is only meant to be for hydration? I'm not sure, and perhaps I have to use it regularly twice a week to see an improvement over time.

2. Make Up For Ever Mist and Fix spray

I got a mini version of this to try. It is meant to be a make-up setter spray to help everything stay in place. I will test this out and let you know what I think when I do!

3. Make Up For Ever Aqua Cream in 15.

This is a lovely taupe-brown shimmery (but not overly so) cream-based eyeshadow that claims to be waterproof and long-lasting. I put it on around 12pm today and by 7.30pm there was only a very slight crease that you could only see if you looked really closely. This 7.5 hours also included an hour's worth of sweaty exercise outdoors, and my eyelids are also naturally quite oily, so I can definitely attest to its longevity. I am looking forward to creating easy, not too overpowering smoky eyes with this!

4. Max Factor Creme Blush in Soft Candy

I love this. It looks really scary and bright in the pot but when you apply it to skin, it makes it look really naturally flushed. You can apply as little or as much as you like because it's quite buildable.

5. Charlotte Tilbury Lip Cheat pencil in Pillow Talk

Ok so now we get to the more exciting stuff. This is a lip liner but is apparently very long lasting. You should see Charlotte Tilbury's makeup videos on Youtube where she shows you how to apply all of her products. Amazing! I have yet to try this on, but I will let you know my thoughts later.

6. Charlotte Tilbury Filmstar Bronze and Glow

Ok... this is the most exciting thing and yet also the most damaging to my bank account. Someone from the counter tried this on me and I was sold. The packaging is also so lovely - it seems to just glow. There are 2 compartments - the 'sculpt' side is a bronzer and then the 'highlight' side is self-explanatory. I have never been into bronzer but this product just did something to my face, and the highlighter claims to have a 'candlelit glow'. I was a bit afraid she may have applied too much so I might have looked like an actual candle on my way home, but once I had arrived and checked the mirror in natural light it was very soft. I'm sold! I will have to use this for years before buying any other bronzer or highlighter though...

Despite all of this, I saw a palette by Dior on this website. The Selfridges picture does not do it any justice, look at the second site instead. There is a certain quality about it that I can't quite describe. Somebody has to stop me!

The Wishlist - Spring 2015 | Zahra

2015-04-26T08:42:00.000-07:00

I do love this series...

So what DO I want to buy?....

MAC

Eyeshadow

Mythology

Amber Lights

Honey Lust

Photo from Pinterest - 'Mythology'

Paint Pots

Groundwork

Lipstick

Brave

Mehr

Creme in your Coffee

Fresh Moroccan

Dark Side

Diva

Kinda Sexy

Morange

Photo - Temptalia - Mehr

Face

Studio Sculpt Foundation

Pro Longwear Concealer

'Gingerly' Blush

Cream Colour Base - 'Hush'

Gingerly

NARS

Eyeshadow

'Silk Road' Duo Eyeshadow

Face

All Day Luminous Foundation

'Gina' Blush

'Copacabana' Illuminator

'Gina' Blush

BOBBI BROWN

Eyes

Sparkle Eyeshadow in 'Cement'

There you have it

As you can see this is a very Nars - Mac heavy wishlist so um...oops

What's on your spring makeup wishlist?

Happy 1st Birthday Zariel!

2015-04-14T02:00:00.002-07:00

It's kind of crazy how fast a year has gone and how we've both managed to still get the motivation to blog.

Just going to say thank you to everyone that reads the blog and lets hope year 2 is even better!

Happy Birthday 'Zariel' :)

Spring chickens | Ayesha

2015-04-01T06:50:00.001-07:00

This post has absolutely nothing to do with chickens, FYI.

As Spring is in the air and the daffodils have grown (which makes me think, are daffodils a type of weed? It seems like they just spring out of nowhere!), the beauty world is also adjusting itself out of the warm, deeper winter colours to paler, pastel, and more fun and vibrant shades.

I dug out 10 of my favourite nail colours to wear during the spring.

They are all pointing to the middle shade - Chanel Rose Insolent - my favourite colour of the bunch!

As you can see, there are a mixture of colours including pink, coral, a pale blue, and even a mustard yellow thrown in there.

Essie polishes L-R: Chubby Cheeks (pale terracotta), Lovie Dovie (pure Barbie pink)

As I was applying them to my nails today, polish went everywhere. Look at Lovie Dovie's handle - that was all today! The rest went onto my clothes! There is a reason I am not a manicurist or a surgeon.

L-R: Chanel 489 Rose Insolent (it's not bright pink like it looks - it's a very wearable bubblegum pink) and No7 Gel-Look shine in Orange Spice (coral).

I'm actually really impressed by this particular range of No7 polishes. The formula is great AND they have a wide brush!

Topshop L-R: Peaches and Cream (pale peach), Obey (shimmery pale pink)

I didn't realise that Obey was a shimmery colour; I prefer the matte or gel-effect nails. However, it is still a pretty colour and really nice to layer over a pale colour.

Barry M polishes. L-R: Huckleberry (pale blue), Coconut (off-white), Lychee (beige/brown), Mustard (self explanatory!)

My favourite of the Barry M's here is most probably Huckleberry. I even wore it throughout the winter too. Mustard is one of those shades where you look at it and think, "how garish, that would suit nobody!" Maybe that's why I like it - it's so satisfying and surprisingly wearable, even for someone like me who prefers classic shades and looks.

So there you have it! Barry M are your best bet for really affordable nail polishes. The range of colours they have are amazing, the formulation is great and they last a good 4 days without chipping. However, Essie are my favourite brand overall because the formulation is just that much better than Barry M, but I also enjoy the wide brush that comes with it. It makes application seriously easy, especially if you are as clumsy as I am. Things just fall out of my hands.

What are your favourite colours for Spring?

Bake a cake in less than 2 MINUTES! | Ayesha

2015-03-31T07:51:00.000-07:00

Hello again! This is the beauty of being on holiday for 2 weeks - I actually have time to do pleasurable things like blogging!

A few weekends ago, my friend Katie came over. She is a fellow food fan like myself, and we decided to give a microwaveable cake a whirl. This is just a cake that you would normally bake in the oven, but instead, you bake it in the microwave.

We decided on a chocolate and peanut butter cake from Yammies Noshery. See it for yourself to believe it. Saliva ensues.

Left bowl - beaten eggs. Right bowl - butter and peanut butter combined.

Cocoa powder, flour and sugar combined with the peanut butter and butter mixture.

Microwave - breath was held for fear of explosion...

The finished deliciousness.

I am aware that I used a bowl and not a mug to bake this; the mugs I have are just too small.

Another thing to add is the recipe states to bake for up to 2 minutes. I did it for 2 minutes and the cake was slightly on the dry side. I would definitely only bake it for 1.5 minutes max as the cake will continue cooking while it's still hot, even when you have taken it out of the microwave. Despite being slightly dry, it was still moist and absolutely delicious! It fills a hole and it takes less than 10 minutes from prep time to baking to cooling. This yielded 3 generous slices, too. The best part is that all the ingredients are measured in SPOONS! I have yet to acquire some proper baking equipment so this was perfect for me, as I have spoons...

Have you baked anything in a microwave?

The 10 minute morning | Ayesha

2015-03-31T07:03:00.003-07:00

Let's be real - sometimes you don't have the best night's sleep in the world, and maybe you have an interview or something else where you need to look fresh-faced and presentable (I turned up to my wedding with only 3 hours of sleep the night before - a complete no-no!).

If you are somebody who:

A) Snoozes their alarm until they have practically no time left to get ready;
B) Commutes far away and has a limited time in the morning to spend getting ready;
C) Has small children;
D) Doesn't want to spend a lot of time doing their face;
(this list is not exhaustive)

Then this might be the thing for you!

First things first, try and do as much as you can the night before. This includes preparing something for breakfast e.g. porridge or even pouring cereal into a bowl with the spoon inside, so you can throw in some milk and wolf it down. I believe breakfast is a really important meal of the day; it controls your blood sugar level so that by mid morning you're not scrabbling for chocolate (although I appreciate this can still happen *ahem*).

Next, lay out the clothes you are going to wear so you don't need to think about them. I used to spend ages umming and ahhing over what to wear but if you do all of that umming and ahhing the night before, you've saved yourself a heap of time.

Finally, lay out all your makeup products. This is my favourite part of getting ready!

I use Bourjois Happy Light primer as a base first. It is super light and contains reflective particles to achieve a glowy look which also makes you look more awake. It also helps to keep your makeup on for longer.

I then reach for my foundation (sometimes I skip this if I reallllyyy don't have time and just use concealer). I use Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua because it's also very light, has sheer-medium coverage and spread it on areas I need it most with my fingers.

I use Rimmel Wake Me Up concealer under my eyes and around the nose. This particular concealer is my favourite as it also contains those reflective particles, is really liquidy so it blends very easily and does a great job at covering dark circles.

I blend this all together with a dusting of Bourjois Java Powder, which, you guess it, also contains these light reflecting particles! You're probably imagining that you may look like a Christmas tree complete with flashing lights after putting all this on, but trust me, you don't.

The remaining two products are totally optional, and can add them if you do have a bit more time. Topshop Glow Pot in Polished is a lovely luminous highlighter that looks really natural when you apply it.

The eyeshadow palette is by Stila called In the Light, and the shade which will enhance the overall glowiness of your face is the shade Kitten (top row, second shade from the left - the pale pink/champagne shade).

I only ever use fingers to apply my makeup unless I am applying blusher, powder or eyeshadow. I find that it blends into my skin more and takes up less of my time. This is just a personal preference though!

So set the timer on your phone for 5 minutes, throw it all on and let the products do the work for you!

Do you have any tips or product recommendations that save time and/or make you look super awake?

The Simpson effect - a DIY recipe for dry skin | Ayesha

2015-03-31T06:34:00.000-07:00

If the title hasn't intrigued you enough, take a look at this rather unflattering photo:

Yep, I've turned into a Simpson!

In all seriousness, this is a face mask that I experimented with recently. It is not a new idea or one that I have cooked up myself; it is a recipe that I found a number of years ago, then tried it with my cousin last year, and now I'm finally doing a blog post on it!

I had found that this face mask not only gave my skin the hydration boost it needed, but that it had completely softened it and my skin looked so bright and clear the following morning. This is what you need to make it:

2 tbsp chickpea flour (basin/gram flour)
1 tsp honey
Splash of milk
1 tsp turmeric powder

Combine all ingredients until it forms a paste, then spread over your entire face. Leave it on for 10-30 minutes then wash off with warm water. Before trying this out, I was worried that the turmeric would leave a yellow residue, but both times I have tried it, it hasn't left any colouring whatsoever. I have read that for some people it has, but nothing that a bit of makeup remover or toner can't get rid of!

The benefits

Turmeric is an age-old ingredient used in cooking and also for herbal medicinal use - did you know it can cure 99 diseases? It contains antiseptic properties, and I am not sure of the science behind it but it is very good for helping to control acne too. Another interesting thing is that I had a friend once whose baby came down with a cold; she spread turmeric over her baby's face and within 3 days the cold completely disappeared!

The chickpea flour is used as a gentle exfoliator. Flour in general is very good for buffing the skin which also adds to the glowiness afterwards.

Honey is also a natural antiseptic but I used it as the 'glue' to combine all the ingredients together. It is also super moisturising!

Milk is also a great moisturiser and I used it purely just to loosen up the mixture so it wasn't as thick. You could use water, but I wanted extra hydration.

I really enjoy these 'natural' things; did you know that I've started to add bicarbonate of soda to my toothpaste to whiten my teeth? It's a slow process, but it is working!

Have you tried any DIY beauty treatments? Let me know in the comments below!

The one with the metal recycling business - Episode 4 | Ayesha

2015-02-19T04:32:00.001-08:00

Welcome to Episode 4! I do have other blog post ideas which are more beauty related, and I will be typing those up too, but I have a lot of pent-up feelings which I need to get across. Hope you enjoy and/or learn something!

When I heard about this one, I wasn't immediately sold. In fact, let's just say I wasn't happy to meet anybody; I wanted to get married yet I wasn't prepared to go through the meetings. It felt like such a chore to dress up in Asian clothes, which make me feel uncomfortable and not myself anyway, to have to get to know complete strangers. I am generally a friendly and sociable person but it's a very different scenario when you're meeting people for the purpose of MARRIAGE! It felt so odd and unnatural.

I was a bit late coming downstairs to meet this family and they were already in the hallway greeting everybody. Awkwardness #1. Then, we all traipsed into the main living room and had a 'get to know you' conversation. I didn't like the look of the guy, but then I knew to get to know somebody before rejecting them; I had plenty of experience of people rejecting me before even getting to know me so I knew how hurtful it felt. After 10 minutes I went to the kitchen to get the juice, and yes I did walk around the room with a tray and serve it to them. Awkwardness #2. Nothing else comes to mind about this part of the meeting, so I'll just skip to when the man in question and myself had a chance to chat.

Now, we didn't really talk about a whole lot, to be honest. He learned that I graduated from my masters not too long ago and was working for the NHS. I learned he had set up his own metal recycling business. He then asked the following question:

Do you want to have children?

Me: (Thinking that this question is a bit premature...or was it? I have no idea). In the future, yes. What about you?

Him: Oh yeah, no less than a football team.

Me: How many children is that?

Him: 11.
Awkwardness #3.

Me: Seriously? Does your metal recycling business earn enough money to provide the kids with a good education, a big house with a bedroom for each of them, and with all the work you'll have to do while I'm raising them will you even be around to have a hand in actually being a good father to them?!

No, I did not actually say those words out loud. I wish I did. What I actually said was:

Me: That's a lot of children (nervously laughing).

Him: How many do you want?

Me: Umm... maybe just start off with 1 and see how that goes?

Lol

I seem to remember another snippet from this conversation, which put me off him even further. We were talking about work, and at the time I had a big ambition to get a doctorate in clinical psychology which meant 5 more committed years of university. He seemed to be put off by this and said he would want his wife to work 'part time'. Does he get to choose that? Really? He is not the first man I had met who thought that their wives should be part-timers. I found it so off-putting because to me, it felt like he was calling all the shots and being an ambitious person, I wasn't about to give up my ideas about my future to be a stranger's 'wife' and take care of 11 children. If life circumstantially became that way, I can understand that, but to be told first hand this is what he wants our life to be like, I didn't want any part of it.

I don't remember anything else about that day, and I don't even know why I was so incensed he would want 11 children. Everyone is entitled to those dreams but I guess I was so paranoid about maybe having to give up my life for my future husband that my thoughts just went crazy. I feel that he thought we weren't compatible either, because they didn't want to meet again. I was happily relieved but mentally exhausted as I knew I would have to go through it all again next weekend with the next person/weirdo.

More soon!

The one with the Mohawk - Episode 3 | Ayesha

2015-02-04T10:19:00.001-08:00

Now, this is an interesting one. I was already doubting our compatibility because I was told that they all dressed in "Islamic" gear bar the man in question. Now, the reason was not solely because of the dress; at the end of the day nobody can judge anyone based on what they wear or don't wear; but I've been brought up to believe that being spiritually muslim, praying, fasting and charity are of the utmost importance and modesty was for all sorts of things including wealth, not just dress. The reason I was put off was because I felt he may just be rebelling against his family and after his rebellion was over, may start dressing like that and expect that of me too. I am not one for that as I believe in choices and people treat things like that differently.

So the weekend came, and what a surprise he was! He looked so odd. Mohawk, biker jacket, so different from the rest of his family. His mum thought I was a younger sister and the girl they had come to see hadn't come downstairs yet, i.e she thought I looked young, not complaining about that! So the meeting went ok, we ate food then we had the opportunity to talk in the other room.

The conversation went something like this.

Me: where are you from?

Him: I'm from Bristol.

Me: Ah, ok.

Him: ... Do you know where Bristol is?

Me: yes (I drew a map in the air to demonstrate)

Him: good, because the last girl I met didn't know where it was, and I thought we wouldn't fit together because of that.

O...k?

Him: do you know how to drive?

Me: yes, I have to drive to get to work. What about you?

Him: yes but I don't really like to, I prefer motorcycles. So if we went on long journeys I would rather my wife drove.

Me: that's interesting. What else are you looking for?

Him: I would like someone who would, when shopping, look for the best price of something. So someone who... (He struggled to explain)

Me: like a bargain hunter?

Him: yes, bargain hunting! Are you a bargain hunter?

Me: (...) Well, it would depend on the item but I wouldn't pay silly money for something that wasn't worth it. My mums got a good eye though, maybe ill learn more from her.

So the conversation continued for a little while longer. It was ok, I thought he was a little weird though with the direct questions/statements but I suppose it's better that way. Actually, it wasn't the directness that was the problem, it was more the 'I like bargain hunters and drivers and for them to be able to know geographical locations in England.' It's making me laugh now actually just thinking about it.

I wasn't really interested in meeting again, because I just felt that on the whole, the family were just too different from mine. When they phoned, they actually wanted to meet again and the guy didnt want someone who covered her head. However, his mum said she would like me to. (As if they get to pick and choose what a woman wears and not? That's not how I've been brought up). My mum said I wouldn't feel comfortable in their family and his mum said 'ok she can just wear it when they come over to see family then.' I'm so glad my mum told her off and said its not about show, and that I really would not be comfortable at all there. They didn't seem to place as much importance on how many prayers I read. So, it ended.

More soon!

The one with the awkward name - Episode 2 | Ayesha

2015-02-04T09:09:00.001-08:00

Hi all!

Apologies for the delayed post, it has been a whirlwind of observations and other busy things going on! I am back for episode 2.

When we got the ominous phone call from a new rishta, the first thing that struck me was his name. It was the same as my dad's. Can you imagine the weirdness that would ensue if we got married? Some might think it silly but I was already put off. However, I still met him on the off chance I might like him, so they arrived bright eyed and bushy tailed on the following Saturday. Me, not so much.

My dad began his usual Uncle Phil style grilling, but he held up well. 1 point for that. However, his mum put me off slightly. She had a look about her where I knew I should steer clear. There is a word in my language called 'chalaak' - it means cunning and usually not in a good way. I've never been wrong about my gut feelings about people before, even if I sometimes don't listen to my gut, but I took a chance as I knew you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. Still, I couldn't shake it off the way she kept appraising me with those eyes. * shudders*. I became more put off with her when I asked him what he did, and insted of him answering himself, she jumped in for him. Hello, he has a voice! Let him speak! But nope, she answered and he kept schtum. That discouraged me from asking further because she just kept looking at me, it was SO unnerving.

After a few minutes, I had served them a drink and then we served some snacks. I was still being very quiet because what on earth do I say? They didn't seem to be my kind of people. After we had eaten my dad suggested "potential" and I go in the other room to get to know each other. Mrs chalaak said, "oh, whatever they want to talk about they can say in front of us." Then motioned with her hands for the 2 of us to speak in a patronising way. I was instantly mortified because what the hell? I saw my mums face all surprised but trying not to laugh. When neither of us said anything, (30 seconds seemed to last forever) she then said, "or you can go in the other room, whatever you're comfortable with!" Damn right I should be comfortable, as its my home!

Anyway, as we didn't move, my parents tactfully (contrary to her) suggested we sat at the table while everybody else sat on the sofas (still in the same room), so that we could talk. Sigh, what a short conversation it was. We exchanged 'how are you's' and 'what do you do's', then somehow very quickly we were talking about where we went to school and how I didn't enjoy being in a girls school because some people weren't that nice to me.

Needless to say they went home and we never saw them again. Was I saying too much about my school experience?! Anyway, I was glad. Number 2 down, whoever next. I was not looking forward to it, the way they seemed to be going.

The wedding series, Episode 1 | Ayesha

2015-01-18T10:16:00.003-08:00

Hi all!

I thought it might interest some of you on the story of my marriage. I am thinking of doing a series of posts on people I have met before meeting the person I am married to now. Some of the people I met, at the time, really hurt my feelings and made me feel quite bitter about the thought of marriage. I would have quite happily lived my entire life as a spinster had I not met Mr K. When I look back on them now I can see the funny side, though, and I wanted to share them with you. All of these people are friends or contacts of people we know well, and we met like suitors. I was so against meeting people this way, but when I think about it, it doesn't really matter how you meet a person because however you meet the person you click with, everything just falls into place.

I hope you find them entertaining to read. Everything is as it happened, and for anonymity reasons I will give them nicknames. I hope they read this and learn from their mistakes. Especially their mothers. :0

So, I will start off episode 1 right here.

The one who was an Athletic Doctor (AD)

AD was, and still probably is, a doctor of Cambridge graduation. He made it very clear that he was from Cambridge, and that all his patients loved him. Did I mention he studied from Cambridge and his patients loved him? No, I don't think I did, so I will repeat it for you many times in the 2 hours that we are together.

What are his interests? Well he loves to work out, and play sports. His wife should be equally as active and fit. Fair enough. I didn't make the cut, obviously. His mother said I wasn't athletic enough for him. He also bakes his own bread and doesn't drink tea and coffee as the chemicals in all those 3 things are detrimental to the body and boy did he make it clear when I said I loved to drink tea.

Fast forward a few months and we receive a phone call from AD's mother saying she had heard about me and would like to meet me. My mother recognised her voice and carried on talking, but AD's mum was completely oblivious. Her requirements for her son? Or rather, her son's requirements: the girl should be athletic. When she recognised my mother's voice, she promptly said her goodbyes and hung up the phone.

Stay tuned for the next episode!

Beauty Blogger Tag | Zahra

2015-01-18T07:17:00.001-08:00

We are on a ROLL

We were tagged by the ever so wonderful Beauty with Hajrah to do the beauty blogger tag
Sooo... instead of both of us, I'll just do it then :)

1. Is your hair naturally curly or straight?

Curly

2.What is your natural hair colour?

Black/very dark brown, although I do get medium brown streaky things in the summer

3. Do you dye it yourself or go to a salon?

I dye it myself

4. How often do you wash your hair?

About twice a week; dry shampoo is my saviour

5. Do you wear the same style every day or change it?

Change it

6. Do you do your own mani/pedi or go to a salon?

It's a DIY from me

7. How often to you change your nail polish?

Not very often considering I don't wear it a lot

8. Do you polish your toes in the winter, too or just in the summer?

Never done my toes- doesn't look right

9. How long does it take to put on your makeup?

10-15 minutes

10. What do you do first? Face or eyes?

Face

11. Do you "collect" makeup or just buy what you need when you need it?

I'm a collector

12. How often do you wear false eyelashes?
Never worn them but I'd like to wear them to the many weddings I'm going to this year

13. Do you do a full face of makeup every day?

Pretty much

14. Do you wear makeup when you are home alone (or with family)?

15. Will you leave the house without makeup?

Not really

16. How many high end products do you have?

35....

17. How often do you wash your makeup brushes?
Umm.....Well...I don't think this is REALLY important for me to answer..

18. Do you plan your OOTD every night or decide when you are getting dressed?

Decide when I'm getting dressed

19. How often do you change your handbag?

I've been using the same bag for like 7 months so...

20. What time do you get up & go to sleep?

School: 12am
7am
Weekend/holiday: 2am
11am

21. How often & when do you workout?

Every night pretty much (apart from weekends), at about 8/8:30

22. Left-handed or Right-handed?

Righty

23. How tall are you?

5ft5 (I think)

24. Do you speak a foreign language?
French, German, Spanish, Urdu (I'm not actually fluent in any of them though)

25. How many pets do you have?

Zero, wish I ad a cat though :'(

26. How often are you on Blogger?

Fairly often

27. Do you read the comments posted on blogs?

Yes, yes I do

28. Do you keep a list of products to try as you see other posts?

I try to, then I fail miserably and buy something completely different

29. How did you come up with your blog name?

My name begins with a 'Z' and my sister's nickname used to be 'Ariel' so 'Zariel' was formed

30. What kind of camera do you use for photographs?

An iPhone 5s (previously used a 4s)

31. How often do you clean your house? (Daily, weekly, other)

I kind of help my mum out on the few occasions I guess

32. What is your favourite colour?

Black, orange and gold

33. What is your favorite beauty/fashion magazine?

Any really- especially Vogue+Instyle

34. Do you swear?

Sometimes

35. What are you doing with the rest of your day?

Probably watching YouTube videos

There's a lot of people that I'd like to tag, so instead I'm going to be lazy and say that if you're reading this and you want to do it, feel free

Farewell people

The Liebster Awards | Zahra

2015-01-15T14:31:00.000-08:00

Hey

This is pretty exciting...

We (being my sister and I...I'm not Gollum...yet) were nominated by the lovely Perks Of Being Nazia for the Liebster Awards, so thank you! (no sarcasm...promise)

I nominate:

Keepitklassy

Sincerely Isabella

Life is worth the flight

Christine's Beauty and Makeup

The Glasgow Girl

The Beauty Bank

Beauty and Bites

Jessica's Beauty Desk

b-e-a-uty

Shy Strange Manic

Beauty With Hajrah

^^^

(who also tagged us both -my sister and I- to do the beauty blogger tag, so thank you!)

Onto the questions!

1. Why did you start blogging?

-I really liked reading and I've always kind of wanted to write....plus I just wanted to show my amazing haul in my first post.

2. If you had to only use one makeup product for the rest of your life, what would it be and why?

-Collection Lasting Perfection concealer- it covers pretty much EVERYTHING.

3.Who are your favourite youtubers?

-This could take a while...The British crew (Zoella, Tanya Burr, ThatcerJoe, Niomi Smart, Marcus Butler etc etc) umm.. Michelle Phan, Tyler Oakley, Connor Franta, Troye Sivan.

4. What was the last song you listened to?

-Drake-'Pound Cake'

5. Is your hair naturally curly or straight?

-Curly

6. Favourite makeup brand?

-Narrowed down to 3:

MAC

Topshop (does that even count?)

Soap and Glory

7. What are you wearing now?

-A green t-shirt and leopard print pajama bottoms

8. When was the last time you went shopping?

-About a week ago *don't sing it* *do not sing it* *sings it*

9. What was the last present you received?

-Christmas presents from my friends (I can't remember what it was-it was mid-December)

10. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

-Graduated from uni with a degree I like and either getting a job in London or New York or LA in a flat with a couple of cats or travelling around the world with a few friends.

11. Who is your fashioned inspired by?

-Anyone, literally anyone; people on the streets, people on TV, people on YouTube...anyone

My questions:

1. Who are your favourte youtubers?

2. Waffles or pancakes?

3. What is your holy grail makeup item?

4. If you could move to anywhere in the world, where would it be?

5. What was your life ambition as a kid?

6. Favourite Disney film?

7. Trainers or boots?

8. Do you have any pets, if so, what are they?

9. What nail colour are you wearing right now?

10. Top 3 makeup brands?

11. Dream house would be..?

The Rules:

1. Link the person you were nominated by

2. Answer the questions the nominator asked

3. Nominate 11 other bloggers with less than 200 followers

4. Create 11 questions the nominees can answer

5. Notify nominees-social media/blogs

Thank you :)

'FITTING' Into the New Year | Zahra

2015-01-14T10:02:00.003-08:00

New Year, New Me

*looks up to first line*

*sighs*

I'm not going to lie, I HATE that phrase-'new year, new me'- I don't think it really means anything; you should be a 'new you' at any time of the year, regardless of what everyone else says, just do it sooner rather than later which is something I wished I did.

Ok, rant over.

This year (so far anyway) I've decided to start on one of my NY's resolutions-losing weight.

For me, my weight's been a big issue, I never really thought anything of it for years but over the past year or so, being a teenager and all, I naturally became very self-conscious and not very confident. Also, health problems relating to weight in my family is pretty common so I figured it would be better to get it down now and be happy or be 30 and crying into a tub of Ben & Jerry's 'Cookie Dough' ice-cream with 3 screaming kids around me.

So to start off I used my bed cover thing (that you put over your duvet to make it look prettier) as an exercise mat, an old t-shirt and some floral leggings. I then ventured into Primark and picked up a mat (£2 I'll have you know!), some running shorts and a running shirt/ top thing.

I've been watching Blogilates (aka, youtube's most amazing fitness person ever!)

But seriously, if she was in the Ancient Greek period, she'd probably be a Goddess! (here's my GCSE Classics coming through)

This has got to be my favourite video of her's, it's an all body workout, and let me tell you that it is PAINFUL.

I've already noticed a bit of a weight drop considering I haven't really changed my diet either, just drinking a bit more water and we're only 2 weeks into the year.

I'm hoping that I'll actually be able to maintain my everyday workout for the rest of the year, as it's already become a bit of a habit!

Girl Online and fitness update | Ayesha

2015-01-11T03:49:00.002-08:00

Hi all!

My potatoes are taking too long to cook, so I thought I would jump on here to use up some of the time. It's been a while again!

First of all, happy new year. Hope everybody had a great break and are raring to go.

I downloaded Girl Online, a story by Zoe Sugg (Zoella) as an audiobook and I have been listening to it on my way to work. It's all a bit too cupcakes and sugar for me (says the girl who loved the Shopaholic series), but I still find it a guilty pleasure to listen to. There is a section on new years resolutions and how the main character achieves them all. Now, I am not one for NYR as 1. I find them hard to stick at, and 2. I believe that if you want to do something, you should do it there and then without delay. I started motivating myself to lose weight before the Christmas holidays, much to the amusement of my parents (well, mainly my dad) who would make comments about how I'm "not allowed to have another teaspoon of the cream pudding", ha ha very funny. In all honesty it has been incredibly difficult. I did, however, exercise every other day on the treadmill and I feel better for doing so. When I measured my waist yesterday, I saw that I had lost a whole inch since November!! That has really boosted my confidence and I only have 2 inches to go until I'm happy. My risk of getting diabetes will always be there as it runs in my family, but I'm doing everything I can to prevent it.

This weekend, I've been feeling quite cranky much to the bemusement of my husband. I did apologise to him. We woke up relatively early for a Sunday (8am!) and I suggested we went out for a walk as it was looking sunny outside. There is a park opposite where we live which includes a woodland area, children's play park, a local nature reserve and a canal. It was beautiful and I felt so much better for it. We walked for about an hour and a half. However, I should have known this, but I didn't eat any food before we left or bring a snack to eat while we were walking so that did not automatically fix the crankiness. Coffee and some cereal when I came back did the trick.

Here are some pictures of the park:

What do you like to do to let off steam?

My 2014 Favouties | Zahra

2015-01-07T09:11:00.003-08:00

Wearing

Cardigan- Urban Outfitters (old)

T-shirt- ASOS

Scarf- I have no idea-sorry

Lips- Sleek 'Birthday Suit' lip cream (really drying)

Things mentioned...

-Collection 'Lasting Perfection' (shade cool medium 2)

-Soap and Glory 'Peach Party' blush

-Max Factor 'Masterpiece Max' mascara

-Mac eyeshadows- 'Woodwinked'+'Satin Taupe'

-Topshop lippes (all of them)

-Real Techniques 'Expert Face Brush'

-L'Oreal Superliner

-Mac 'Shanghai Spice' lipstick

-Rimmel 'Wake Me Up' foundation (shade 200-soft beige)

-Mac 'Studio Finish' concealer (shade NW25)

-Soap and Glory

-Tony and Guy sea salt spray

-Sophie Kinsella

-Topshop boots

Am I Just Shy or is it....Social Anxiety? | Zahra

2015-01-04T04:21:00.000-08:00

Some links:

Moodjuice

NHS

Help guide

Being shy is a natural thing, I mean there's shy to be polite or just out of nerves, but then there's the shy that takes over you.

Naturally I'm a very shy person.

At school, I'm the person with the report (that you get after every term) that always has something on the lines of 'Zahra's a very good student but is very shy and doesn't participate a lot during lessons.' I guess I could actually take that as criticism because they are sort of criticising my personality- I can't help that I've just grown up to be shy.

For me (school wise) English and the lessons where the teacher just picks on anyone to answer a question are the worst. The question picking because I think I'm scared of people judging me for how I phrase it or if I get the answer wrong. English is probably worse- I like the subject itself, but the bits where you actually have to participate, yeah I don't like those.

Recently, I had to do a presentation on hobbies/interests etc... and I was so, so nervous to the pint that I was tempted to take a couple of days off school just so I didn't have to do it. It's kind of the same concept when it comes to reading out loud; when I know it's my turn soon I'm crapping myself (not literally!) and I'm constantly thinking about stuttering (which I often do) and speaking SUPER quietly (again, oftenly done-'oftenly' isn't a word is it?)

Sometimes it gets to the point if, I'm in public, where I have to tell myself that I'm probably never going to see these people again and just walk if someone is just near me. Ordering things at a restaurant of cafe (basically just Starbucks or Costa tbh) is kind of a big deal too- I have to mentally prepare answers for things that are basically a yes/no answer eg.

staff: 'do you want cream on that?'

me: *OMG umm, what if I seem rude, what if they don't have any left and they ask me for something else*

'uhh, yeah.. please'

*no that was too forced, just smile and pretend nothing happened*

I don't think I do suffer from social anxiety, or maybe just very mildly, but I do know that I am a very shy person around a lot of people and you know, I can't help that that's just how I've grown up, but I do hope that it doesn't affect my life anymore than it already does.

I do wish that I could do things confidently and talk openly with people, and have conversations with random people.

If you suffer from social anxiety, or like me, you're very shy, what do you do to try and combat it (if you can)?

And if you can't, maybe try making one of your resolutions to not give a *'fish'* what people think and to talk without feeling like you're about to die.

To be honest I only like the sky of this picture :') - From Google

On a happier note, I will leave you with this picture of a cat

Siberian Forest Cat- Creds to Google

When I move into my own house, I'm getting this cat, end of.

WELCOME TO 2015! | Zahra

2014-12-31T16:07:00.000-08:00

Hi.

Hope you all had a really good Christmas and ate loads of food and spent time with great people :)

It hasn't really occurred to me how we've already reached the end of 2014, I'm pretty sure I started secondary school like 2 minutes ago or something, but OMG has time flown by.

But really, this year has gone so quickly and so many good things have come out of it:

~I started a blog with my sister

~I started youtube

~I feel extremely happy (most of the time) *cringes*

~I went on holiday (even if it did get so hot I cried)

There have been a few bad things though...*'The Haircut'*...but to be honest this year's just been positive and full of sunshines and rainbows.

Next year I have some resolutions that I am DETERMINED to accomplish because I think nearly everyone makes a list and ten goes 'oh I'll start tomorrow' but in reality they never get round to it.

Well....Here's the list:

Dress size 10-12/8-10
Drink more water
Do NOT overeat
Eat clean- maybe try being a vegetarian
Be happy :)
Keep working- don't get distracted
Try something more adventurous and new
Enjoy myself
Save money (pfft, that's really likely)
Be more active on YouTube and ze blog
Look after my skin more
Finish 'The Book' (the one I'm currently writing)
Be more confident
Read more
Don't be scared to wear dark/ bright lipsticks (random but true)

These are most of them, I would include them all but I have a feeling that this would be a very long post and I don't want to bore you all to death, so technically I'm doing you a favour.

Maybe this post has given you some inspiration as to what to add to your lists.

Tell me what your New Year's Resolutions are in the comments :)

Happy New Year, hope it's a good'un

And yes that is my writing that I can't read

Merry Christmas | 2014

2014-12-25T12:19:00.001-08:00

This post is purely just to say...

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Picture from Google.

The healthy blog post | Ayesha

2014-12-21T11:04:00.001-08:00

It's been a whirlwind of commuting and working some long days in the run-up to the holidays, which is why I haven't posted in a while! Hello again!

This isn't something I like to talk about much, but I'm in serious need of motivation to do some exercise and cut down on chocolate. Where we lived before, it was just over a mile away to work which meant I was able to get in about an hour a day of walking. The weight I had before dropped off quite quickly, and motivated by this, I even did extra toning exercises in the evening. I lost about 3 inches on my waist and I didn't even have to try very hard! Then, the summer holidays came. Now, I still kept active by doing some sort of exercise, but I did also meet friends and have the odd coffee from Starbucks. 2 WEEKS LATER, yes, 2 weeks, I had expanded and some of my clothes felt tighter on me. I couldn't believe it. I'm really conscious of weight as diabetes and high blood pressure run in my family and if I want to have a baby, I need to be at a healthy weight to reduce the risk of gestational diabetes, which could cause lots of problems later in life.

It's been hard trying to shift the extra weight I've put on and since I've been commuting on the trains, I am not getting the exercise I got before. This has resulted in me feeling quite sluggish and not as confident as before, but it's helped me understand my body more. I am somebody who puts on weight very quickly. It's easy for someone to say, "oh, go on, a slice won't hurt!" but this is the most frustrating thing, because it does hurt and I start expanding dramatically. What also annoys me is when people say "oh, but you're fine, you don't need to exercise!" Everyone knows what their limits are and a way I have felt really good about myself is when I've exercised and felt stronger because of it. Exercise isn't just about losing weight, it's about keeping fit and it does your body an amazing amount of justice.

I can't stand calorie counting, and want to enjoy life, and food is a big part of that. This is why I need some serious motivation to cut back on the more calorific fatty things and introduce more exercise. My husband and I generally eat quite healthily, but we both have a sweet tooth. A day cannot go by where we don't have a cookie or something after eating some food. It's like someone who loves to smoke a cigarette after their meals; I never understood it until now - sweet things are my vice.

What is going to change is my outlook. I love eating sweet things and instead of having a massive slice of cake, or a whole bar of chocolate, I'll just have a bit. My husband and I have started what we call "1 bad thing a day" and we wait until we are together to eat that bad thing. It means we still get the fix we need but without going overboard.

The other thing is to keep up with healthy eating and fitness blogs. I discovered Blogilates a while back but every time I visit her site or YouTube page, I feel all the more motivated. She posts all sorts of videos on ways to make food more healthy without sacrificing on taste, and also loads of exercise videos. I've downloaded her beginner's workout plan which gives you a daily exercise video to do. Something like this will help keep me motivated and get into a good habit of exercising daily. The great thing is that her videos are actually a lot of fun and really short - 10 minutes maximum!

So, here's to trying. Wish me luck!

*Just to point out that in no way am I trying to tell anybody that they should give up sweet things or lose weight themselves. This is purely about me and what I need to do to make myself feel like I did before the summer holidays, and to avoid weight-related problems that run in my family. You do what you want!*

The Wishlist- Winter 2014| Zahra

2014-12-05T11:55:00.002-08:00

I just want pretty much everything ok?

On the CT wishlist, I have quite the number of wants (so quite frankly, everything) but I've managed to narrow it down to 5 which is....MINDBLOWING....yep

Charlotte Tilbury

1. Eyeshadow Quads:

The Dolce Vita

The Golden Goddess

The Dolce Vita- Charlotte Tilbury website

Lipsticks:

Glastonberry (ha ha, very funny)

Very Victoria

Love Liberty

Glastonberry- Selfridges website

MAC

.........(please stop increasing your prices by 50p, that would be greatly appreciated thanks)

1. Eyeshadows in:

All that glitters

Amber Lights

Bronze

Patina

Cranberry

15 eyeshadows palette-warm

Amber Lights- Mac website

2. Lippies in:

Creme Cup

Dark Side

Show Orchid

Hang Up

Russian Red

Snob

Show Orchid- Mac website

3. Lip Pencils:

Spice

Whirl

Nightmoth

Brick

Nightmoth- Mac website

YSL

Rouge pur couture lipstick: 205

Rouge Pur Couture 205- Selfridges

Nars

Ingrid Lipstick

Tanya Burr Instagram- Ingrid Lipstick

Mekong Eyeshadow

Mekong- Selfridges website

Et voila.

My MAHUSIVE wishlist.....this could take a few hundred £££...

Charlotte Tilbury Vintage Vamp review

Can I also just mention that Mockingjay is an amazing film and if you haven't already, go see it and brig me the cat!

Capiche

My GCSE Art Project 2014 | Zahra

2014-11-18T09:31:00.000-08:00

Right now. I'm currently in year 10 and I'm starting my GCSEs *sigh* which means a bigger increase in workload and the difficulty of it.

Now this isn't a post to say how hard school is, but to just show you my ideas for one of my GCSE art projects.

(photos from Pinterest/tumblr)

As you can see, my inspiration is very Arab/Indian inspired, purely because the topic I've chosen revolves around is culture and light. I feel that I like the Arabic culture more than my own purely because it's different but still quite similar.

I've chosen artist too: Annika Sylte

I chose her because some of her drawings I feel are easily associated and compatible with wat I'm planning to do with my project.

I like the way she's incorporated different elements into her art but it still looks put together eg. the henna on the bright yellow hair.

I'm not sure when I'll be done with my project (at the rate tat I'm going, I'm sure it will be quite a while) but I hope to keep you up to date wit it as art is one of my favourite subjects.