Yearly Archives: 2013

Style

Follow Friday: Gary Pepper Girl Nicole Warne

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Nicole Warne

Gary Pepper Girl Nicole Warne has an arresting array of photos on Instagram

Jumah mubarak my lovelies! I hope you are all having an amazing Friday inshallah. I typically share Follow Friday on a Muslim on Instagram who captures my attention. However, given the amazingly beautiful photographs on Nicole Warne’s Instagram, I had to share her with you. Nicole Warne is the founder of an online vintage store called Gary Pepper. She has a visual diary of her travels as an online fashionista. It mixes colors and nature in a way that can be translated for any hijabi who wants to brighten up her look. Her easy breezy style is easy to draw from and accessible. You can find pieces inspired by her in your local Forever 21, but it is how she mixes her pieces that makes her a knockout.

I love being swept away on her travels through her native Australia and her treks to fashion weeks all over the globe. You can find her on Instagram at garypeppergirl. Make sure to follow her for inspiration on fashion, travels, and just plain beautiful photography.

Style

Hijabi Find: Non See Through Maxi Skirts!

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Mango Maxi Skirt

Mango Maxi Skirt

Is just me, or does it seem like all the recent offering of maxi skirts are completely or partially see through? I know some of you lovely readers are crafty enough to sew your own linings, but what about the sewing challenged (like myself)? I often have to recruit my mom or a tailor to sew an extra lining for me for maxi skirts I purchase at places like Forever 21, Target, or Sears. I mean it seems like everything from tops to bottoms are purposefully see through. While some companies have wised up that see through is no good (see Lululemon’s see through yoga pant recall), it seems like a fashion that is not going away. What is a hijabi to do?

Well I have some awesome news. There are lightweight satin maxi skirts now available at Mango stores right now that are not see through. They come in a variety of fun bright colors that you can wear all spring and summer long. Just make sure to thank me when you are strutting your stuff (see through free)!

Life

Patience in Islam

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Patience

Patience in Islam is not only a virtue, its something we should actively cultivate.

As a mom, it’s hard to see your child throw fits, go to Daddy instead of you, or even be sick. In those times, I really try to remember that sabr (patience) is a quality adored by our Creator. In the holy Quran Allah (swt) states:

“And We will surely test you with something of fear and hunger and a loss of wealth and lives and fruits, but give good tidings to the patient” (Qur’an, 2:155)

While it is not easy to be patient, just realize that nothing good comes from being impatient. If you are late for work, bemoaning all the traffic lights turning red will not change the fact that you are late. It took me a long time to realize that while I could not change my circumstances, I had the ability to change my reaction to those circumstances.

Even with that knowledge, I know I am still not perfect. Sabr is not just enduring what befalls you quietly. It is a delayed gratification. If you can delay your instinct for instant gratification, Allah (swt) will reward you if not in this life, then the hereafter.

I recently moved to a suburban area and we only had one car. So instead of my commute being 6 minutes, it was a whopping 60 minutes with public transportation. While taking that, I would sit and think how unfair it was that my contemporaries all had cars and I was needlessly suffering. However, I had to remind myself that I made a choice not to purchase a brand new car because of ribah (interest which is forbidden in Islam) and I needed to have sabr to save for a used car.

I carried this internal dialogue for 1 year. But Alh, Allah (swt) is merciful and instead of having to wait any longer, my mother in law bought a car for our family. Do you see how Allah (swt) tests you even if you have a good intention to obey him? Trials bring you closer to God while punishments push you away from God. I felt guilty for even entertaining such “woe is me” thoughts.

We can never be grateful enough to God for our blessings. Even with our trials, it’s nothing compared to others. What about our sisters and brothers in war torn countries? Or in poverty? Or worried about feeding their children?

With this in mind, let us make dua that we have sabr jameel inshallah so that we can please our lord. It is a virtue that helps us complete our faith. After all, the Prophet (saws) said:

“Patience is half of faith (īmān).”

Beauty

Perfect Pout

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hot pink and red lipstick looks

Get bold this spring with bright lips.

Spring is the perfect time to change up your winter beauty routine and try something different. I know I have been stuck in a beauty rut all winter because my eyeliner pencil is almost a nub and my nude lipstick is all but gone. Since I am definitely more of a smoky eye with nude lips kind of hijabi, I knew I wanted to change it up for spring. I started wearing brighter lip colors. While it may seem scary, it helps to tone down the makeup every where else. I also like to go sheer with a gloss at first so I can get used to seeing my lips with so much color.

Another good way to make sure your lips don’t get smeary is to use lip liner. The Joker look is just not pretty. Let me know your own lip tricks in the comments!

Style

Savvy Hijabi: Affordable Maxi Skirt

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Peach Maxi Skirt

Hjabi Friendly Maxi Skirt

Spring is almost here which means hijabis are starting to tuck away their knee high boots and thinking about long, floaty, maxi skirts in colorful pastels. One of the things that is challenging for curvy hijabis is how to wear a pleated maxi skirt without adding extra bulk.

One way that curvy hijabis can sport the pleated maxi skirt is to wear a high waisted pleated skirt versus one that is pleated down to the hem. This way, you get graceful drapes below with pleats that define your hourglass shape. I found the perfect pleated maxi skirt at JCPenney from the Buffalo Jeans collection. Another bonus is that it is fully lined versus other maxi skirts that only have a mid length lining (I always find this to be super annoying). One thing to note is that this skirt still needs a slip because the lining is too sheer for hijabis.

For $35, I think this skirt is not just cute, but it’s a steal!

Style

Winter to Spring

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Winter to Spring

Get a head start on spring fashions with some of your winter pieces

Are you at a loss on how to transition to spring? Are you also on a tight budget? One easy way to transition to spring is to use pink accents to brighten up your winter neutral pieces. If you have a cute winter cardigan, pair it with an easy breezy maxi skirt and some spring shoes and you are ready to get out and enjoy spring!

Beauty

Hijabi Obsession: Angels On Bare Skin By Lush

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AngelsonBareSkin

Get glowy skin with Lush

Salaam my lovelies! I hope that you had a wonderful weekend inshallah. I know that I mentioned how I moved, but did I tell you how it ruined my skin in the process? With the move, I happened to lose my Clarisonic charger. (For those of you who don’t know, Clarisonic is a skin brush that helps you clean your face and I don’t know what I did before I owned this beauty tool.). So anyhow, without my Clarisonic, I noticed that my skin started getting blackheads and I started to break out again!

I was resigned to riding out my breakouts, but then I walked in to Lush Cosmetics. Personally, I avoid Lush because I feel like the smell in the store is overpowering, and I just don’t know a thing about what to use. While I was in there, a customer kept raving about something called Angels on Bare Skin. So I asked for a sample. Angels on Bare Skin is a gentle skin cleanser and exfoliator that contains kaolin, ground almonds, glycerine, rose, lavender oil, lavender flowers, and chamomile oil. It looks sort of like wet sand with flowers sprinkled throughout. Here is my take on this skin cleanser:

It’s Natural

I liked the concept of using an all natural cleansing method. You may have read about my oil cleansing method review, and I mentioned there that one of the things I loved about the oil cleansing method is that it is all natural.

It’s Gentle

As a hijabi in her thirties, I noticed that I can not just tug my skin around. I have to be gentle and careful with my skin. I avoid anything with harsh chemicals or detergents. Angels on Bare Skin is very gentle. I used to use St. Ive’s Apricot scrub, but the scrubbing particles were too jagged and harsh for my skin at this age. The ground almonds are just the right amount of exfoliant for skin that can’t take a harsh scrubbing.

It’s Mid Priced

I can’t deny the fact that this cleanser may be a bit pricey for some readers. However, I find that when I invest in skin care, I can cheap out a bit more with my beauty products or skip some products all together. Your skin is something you should take care of since its an amana (trust) from God. If you feel like this price point is still too high, I would recommend using a DIY version of this product. Here is an Angels on Bare Skin recipe that seems promising. I personally think its more affordable than some cleansers I adored and used in the past (ahem Chantecaille Foaming Rice Geranium cleanser).

It It Perfect for Dry Climates

Since this cleanser has kaolin clay, it draws out impurities, but still has a nice lavender oil which not only acts like an antiseptic, but soothes as well. The combination has definitely helped me since I moved to a drier climate and my skin has dried out to the point where I look like a ghost. (Not a good look if you ask me. Though some desi aunties like that geisha look haha.)

All in all, I love how Angels on Bare Skin calmed my breakouts and helps me achieve a nice glow like I used to get with the oil cleansing method. So if you ask me, I may still hate how the Lush store smells, but I will brave it to try more new things. Are there any Lush product that you recommend I try? Let me know in the comment section!

Style

Hijabi Obsession: Ombré

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I know that deep down inside I am a New Yorker (I love head to toe black) but ever since I moved to California, I have been embracing more colors into my wardrobe.

The sunny warm weather year round here makes it hard to wear black comfortably! So you can imagine that I rock a lot of lightweight layers when I get dressed every day.

One trend I am currently rocking is the ombré hijab. It makes it easy to rock different shades of the same color because the shades are all in the hijab! Perfect for busy moms like me who don’t have time to color coordinate all the time.

And yes, since its sunny here I love wearing a hat on top of my hijab. If there was a non dorky hijab with a brim attached, I would so rock it. Protecting your face and eyes are a must ladies (it helps you look younger too haha).

Try the ombré look and tell me what you think. It’s everywhere now. Head to H&M and pick one up now to try!

Style

Hijabi Trend: Stripes

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Outfit based on stripes

Hijabis can rock graphic stripes in style!

I am currently in love with all things Audrey Hepburn. I just loved her polished chic style. One thing she loved to do was wear classics but add her own twist to it. She would pair slim cropped pants with a nice boatneck top with graphic stripes and look instantly pulled together. Since I am more of a curvy body type, I did this outfit set with this in mind. I kept the graphic stripes, but I worked it with a nice dress nipped at the waist along with some wide leg jeans. I picked a dress shape similar to what a curvy starlet like Marilyn Monroe would wear but made it more modest with the wide leg jeans and the cropped white cardigan. Don’t worry about that rule on horizontal stripes. I feel like the smaller the stripes are, the more you can get away with. Plus breaking up those stripes with a jacket helps prevent the widening effect. Heels ensure you look less dumpy as well. I hate heels, but for challenging trends, heels definitely help.

PS: Am I the only hijabi who HATES skinny jeans??? I just feel like they are not modest enough for me. Plus, it makes everyone looked like a stuffed turkey (unless you are blessed with a slim frame like Audrey Hepburn).