What is love?

I would like to think that there are a lot of things that I believe I understand in life, but for the longest time, love has not been one of them. I based my whole understanding of love and relationships off the big screen, off the fairytales that I gripped so tightly to growing up. Maybe it was my own way of escaping reality, but I believed it none the less.  I used to believe that if you loved someone, you would do 'anything' for them. However, as I grew older, I  learnt that it wasn't exactly true.   I discovered that for some people I had to minimise my net worth to keep them happy,  and with only the phrase 'you are nobody till somebody loves you' keeping me attached to them. Sometimes we have a very narrow view of the world, and we idealise a certain type of love. Even more so in today's world of social media where the hashtags 'relationship goals' have blurred the lines of what is central in our lives. Love doesn't always have to be that of the romantic kind. Love is whatever you make of it. So, maybe the question we should ask instead is "what does love feel like?"  Love can be that feeling of warmth in a memory of a time when your best friend comforted you after the loss of someone you cared about. Love can be found in the little things, like popping out to the shops in the middle of the night because someone you care about is hungry and there's no food at home. Love can be that time you graduated, and all your most important people were there to cheer you on.  Love can also be a different kind of feeling, a feeling of distance. Just as a plant won't grow any better if you watch it, sometimes you have to let things be to allow them to develop. Sometimes love can stop us from moving on. If we go back to the plant, you're watching grow, in some cases your shadow may prevent the plant from getting any sunlight. Sometimes you have to step back to let things develop to their fullest. So if there are people in your life who have distanced from you, it may not be because they love you any less, but sometimes they're doing this because of the very fact that they love you. Its because they don't want to hurt you.  Honestly, it took me a long time to realise it, but I had 'love' all around me, in different forms and different memories. The truth is it just took me a long time to understand it. It might not have been in the way that movies and novels pushed it to be, but I have love nonetheless. Sometimes it means stepping back and looking at what is in your life. No matter how alone life may feel If we all look close enough love is there. 

The Ultimate Guide to University. #BackToSchool

Ok I lied. This is probably not an "Ultimate guide" because I'm sure I missed a lot of things however I can say that I have developed some unique tips when it comes to saving money at university. Back to School season always gets me excited because it's and excuse for me to enjoy one of my favourite pastimes...shopping for stationary. I thought it would be helpful to create this guide for all my friends joining university this year and giving them tips on how to save money and what to buy. I do have to say that although this guide will be predominately aimed at students in the UK, i'm sure a lot of these tips can be transferred to other parts of the world. Brace yourselves because this is going to be a big read...

What do I need at University?

In all honesty what you need to bring to university actually depends on your course, however there are some generic things you  can bring that will greatly help you bing prepared. I've made a little college supply Wishlist (as seen below), to be complete honest not all the stuff is necessary.  

Summer Beauty Favourites 2016

It's honesty been such a long time since I last did a beauty post (or any kind of post to be quite honest) and I did a summer favourites post before and a lot of you really liked it, so this year I'm going to do it again. 

I've been obsessing over this make up brand for so long. I'm not exaggerating when I say that I spent my entire trip in UAE scouring every make up store to find that the NYX lip creams had gone out of stock. As soon as I heard that NYX came to the UK, my lovely brother in fact went to buy me the lip creams because I was at work. It was so funny the way my brother was surprised at how busy the make up counters were. 

The two lip creams that I've been loving are Stockholm and Abu Dhabi. They're just so creamy and the colour pay off is just beautiful. I've also been recently using the Matte setting spray, I do really like it but I'm still on the look out for a better brand, so please let me know any good ones in the comments. 

This Eid my cousins bought me the large Passion Fruit Body Butter from Body Shop and this has become my new favourite. It has such a fruity and fun summery smell and it is really good for moisturising after showers. 

Another thing I've been loving is nail care. As a Muslimah we don't typically paint our nails because we need do wudu (abolition) before prayer and our nails need to be water permeable. However when I'm not praying and I get my "monthly gift" I like to make an effort to look cute by paining my nails or wearing stick ons. My favourite nail polish brand is MUA because it's so cheap at only a £1 and it lasts so long and doesn't chip that easily. I've also been obsessing over the Elegant Touch French Manicure stick on nails, It really sticks on and it's so easy to remove.   I hope you liked this quick favourites post and let me know what products you've been loving this summer. 

Mini UK Etsy Planner Sticker Haul & Discount Codes

I've been obsessed with stickers for as long as I can remember. I was definitely one of those kids at school who tried to do as much of my work as possible because I knew that my teacher would give me a sticker at the end of it. As an adult, although I'm still so fond of stickers I found it hard to use it in daily life so when I discovered the "planner community" I jumped on this bandwagon faster than you can think.  It can be so hard to find UK based Etsy stores that sell cute planner stickers as most of the planner community are headquartered in the US or Canada. So I did an extensive search and found a couple of stores that I would recommend... Anyway on with the haul...

Pemberley Prints This is probably my favourite store out of all the Etsy sticker stores I've ordered from so far. The designs are so elegant, and you do get a fair amount of stickers for the price your getting. What I like the most is that the quality of the stickers is impeccable, the paper is quite sturdy so your less likely to accidentally rip a sticker when peeling it back and as probably the world's clumsiest person this is perfect for me. I ordered the Delivery stickers to track when I'm getting any mail or deliveries, and I also bought the tea stickers because I want to start tracking my tea intake as I do feel like I drink a fair amount. In the order, you also get a freebie sampler which honestly makes me want to buy everything on that set. The lovely Tasha from Pemberley Prints has given us a discount code so with "ADVENTURE20' you can get 20% off your order... I'm defiantly going to get some more of her amazing stickers!

Michelle and Patch , I've been planning to learn how to drive, but I can't seem to motivate myself enough to book lessons, so I bought these stickers...let's hope I can motivate myself to at least book the theory test. I tend to get a lot of clothes either made or shortened so I ordered these stickers to remind myself to visit my seamstress. 

Ellen Bee Makes I honestly can never remember when my contact lenses need replacing, so I like to put it in my diary. When I saw these stickers from Ellen Bee Makes I had to get them..like how cute are they? Another sticker sheet I bought was the blogging sheet because if anything will encourage me to post more, it's these stickers. 

Cosmic Stickers  I am the absolute worst when it comes to tracking my "monthly gift". Each month I'm doing all sorts of dodgy calculations and asking all my girl pals who I think are in sync with me when their "gift" arrived. I say now is the time to stop...So I bought these super cute period stickers from cosmic stickers...like how cute are these stickers. 

I hope you liked this haul! Make sure to leave a comment below letting me know what other UK planner sticker companies there are and what international stores are worth the hefty shipping fee?   I was NOT financially compensated for this post; I paid for these items for personal use. All opinions are completely my own based on my experience.

How to Get the Best Blogging Photos With a Compact Camera| My Photo Editing Techniques

Not all of us can afford a fancy camera or get our photos professionally edited however that shouldn't stop us from blogging. It certainly shouldn't stop us from making a professional looking blog. i currently own a fairly cheap compact camera in fact the camera I;'m currently using is a bridge camera called the Fujifilm FinePix Bridge camera. It is a point and shoot camera which I think it means it's good for shooting landscape pictures but terrible at shooting portraits etc.. ok...I'll try and stop myself from making this a camera review post but make sure to stop me if I start rambling on about my own camera. 

So this picture above is a picture that I took of the Christmas lights in Carnaby from the before picture you can see that so many things are wrong with it, in fact I've listed a few below: 

• The focus is wrong- The picture is looking a little too messy
• The picture is too warm making it too orangey

The photo editing tool that I like to use is PicMonkey, it's free and it so easy to use. (no this is not sponsored). In this picture I used the soften tool to blur out the far background so that the focus is on the lights rather than the buildings in the background. I also toned down the temperature and added a blue tone over it using the exposure tool. That's all really. For me, playing around with the exposure settings really helps make a difference to the picture itself. 

This next picture was done at first using the same technique as above, however the blur effect was edited using photoshop. To create the same effect as a DSLR  camera's aperture setting, I layered different blur percentages over on another. To explain this simply what I did was blur the top of the picture with a higher/ stronger blur and then slowly reduce the blur as it got to the bottom of the picture.

Honestly if you want to find out about more ways to improve your own photography skills using a compact camera, NotDressedAsALamb.com has a really good postThere she gives details on what locations and lighting you can use to get a better picture, I'd certainly say go check that out here.

I hope these little tips helped you, if you want a more in depth step by step tutorial on photo editing please leave a comment below. I missed you girls and I've got so many more posts to get up so bare with me.

Whats In My HandBag?

How have you all been? I thought I'd return back with a different kind of post and I'm so excited to show you whats in my bag? don't you love watching all these whats in my school bag / handbag kinda of videos and posts...I know I do! So I decided to jump on this popular trend  and  show you whats in my bag.

The bag i'm currently using is the mini Dinidotty bag from Dune London ... I got it a while ago so i'm not too sure you can still get it but they do have some other bags which are just as pretty. This bag was actually a gift from my mum, who was super sweet enough to buy this for me for last Eid. I have massively downsized from my previous bags which were super big. I  have a habit of carrying my life around, I'm the kind of person who literally carries emergency things for everything...emergency pins (check), emergency first aid kit (check), emergency socks (check...ok maybe not that crazy). So when I downsized my bag, I had no room for all this stuff and considering the state of my deteriorating back, it might not have been such a bad thing! So without further adieu here whats in my bag:

The first thing in my bag is my Filofax (Or Paperchase version of it) , which honestly is my best friend, I'm an organisational freak, I need my diary by my side all the time. I actually switched from a diary to a Filofax because I struggle with the restrictions that diaries have, so with Filofax's inserts I could even create my own tables etc... If you want me to do a  diary organisational post, just leave a comment below.

The next thing I have is my essentials; I have my Nivea  lip balm (I love this so much because its clear and its nice and hydrating for everyday use), my Bath and Body Works handsanitiser, Cath Kidson clock patterned mirror and thats it really.

And lastly I have my essentials essential (also known as the "I can't walk out the house without them essentials") which are obviously my phone and purse. I previously owned a larger purse by Ollie and Nic but had to downsize after getting this bag. The purse i'm currently using is this Primark one, which i'm so chuffed with; it's compact and pretty. However knowing Primark it's likely to not be useable in a couple months so if anyone knows of cute purses let me know.

You can shop my bag here:

Thats all from me, Leave a comment below letting me know what you like to carry in your purse and what purse your currently rocking this fall? 

AA Skincare Review- Lavender & Tea Tree Face Lotion

As you know from my previous AA Skincare review i'm totally loving their natural deodorant (If you missed that review you can check it out here). I'm back with another review of an AA Skincare product this time the Lavender & Tea Tree moisturising face lotion. 

Firstly I thought I'd talk about delivery because I didn't talk about it in the last AA Skincare review; one of the best things about AA Skincare is that they email you exactly the day and the time that they are going to deliver. For me that's a major selling point because the worst feeling is when a delivery man is banging on your door and your half dressed. A++ for delivery!
So the Lotion, because that's what we are here to talk about right? I've been using it for the past week and can honestly say it is one of my favourite face creams of all time. (No exaggeration) . Not only is it  naturally antiseptic but it's been keeping my spots at bay. Usually during autumn my face tends to get dry so using this moisturiser is very refreshing and the medicinal scent definitely clears your nose as well. The medicinal scent does wear off quite quickly which for me is great because I like to wear it for stepping out. AA Skincare also gave me a sample sachet of the accompanying gel wash, which I used to wash my face before putting on the moisturiser. I personally think the gel and the lotion are a match made in heaven and I can see myself purchasing the gel wash to accompany my lotion. 
AA Skincare is certainly become one of my favourite places for natural skincare products and there are so many other products i'm dying to try out such as their Seaweed and Aloe Eye Gel and Mint and Dead Sea Salt Mask. You can buy AA Skincare products from www.amphora-retail.com at a retail price of £6.96. Also AA Skincare were kind enough to give us a 20% discount code (just enter the code BLOG20) so make sure to get one now that it's on sale.Thank you for reading and  I'll see you in the next post. *This post is not sponsored by AA Skincare, although they did kindly send me the product to try. I'm sharing it with you because I genuinely think it's an awesome product.*

AA Skincare Review- My New Natural Deodorant

Your probably wondering why on earth would I review deodorant right? because deodorant is basically well...deodorant. For a while now i've been on the market for a new deodorant and not just any deodorant but a natural non-pore clogging one and that's just what AA Skincare's deodorant line is. 

AA Skincare has three deodorants in their line; Bergamot and Aloe, Grapefruit and Cedarwood and Lemongrass and Lavender. The deodorant that I currently am using is the Lemongrass and Lavender one. In all honesty the initial scent in the roll on isn't my particular cup of tea, it's slightly too strong on the Lemongrass side. However after applying it and leaving it to dry the scent dramatically reduces, which is great for people like me who don't like strong scents.
I did a little research and found that AA Skincare claim the deodorants have "daylong protection without any nasties". Although I have to admit I'm not sure what they are referring to when they talk about "nasties" (I can only assume they mean harmful chemicals) but I did decide to test out the first part of this statement, the daylong protection. Shamefully I'm going to say out aloud but...I sweat like a pig and with the current British weather getting warmer I was convinced the natural deodorant wasn't going to last an hour. Being the over the top person I am I decided to take a note and see how much protection I was getting (haha never thought I'd ever be measuring my sweat on my blog but oh well there's a first for everything). I'd say roughly within the first three hours I was pretty dry under my arms and gradually after about couple hours later i'd gradually get slightly stickier but nothing too crazy that couldn't be patted down. Overall I'm so far loving this deodorant not only because it is natural but because it works well for me, keeping me dry and odourless for quite a while. The main selling point for me is that one of the active ingredients is Aloe vera which  means it's ok to use just after shaving because it soothes the skin and cools it down. 

With that all being said, I hope this review was helpful and let me know what you think about natural products; does it matter to you personally to use natural products and do you try to use natural deodorant? If so leave a comment below letting me know all about it!  Remember you can buy your own one from www.amphora-retail.com at a retail price of £4.95. Oooh literally just checked their website and they are doing 20% off right now so if you want one I'd say grab it on sale right now whilst you can.  Thank you for reading and  I'll see you in the next post.

*This post is not sponsored by AA Skincare, although they did kindly send me the product to try. I'm sharing it with you because I genuinely think it's awesome.*

A Visit to Cadbury World.

When I was younger actually significantly younger, I had gone to Cadbury World, and I can honestly say that my love for chocolate must have stemmed from that experience. Ever since Cadbury had been bought by Kraft, I had been dying to go back and see the factory to see whether it has changed or not...and boy has it changed. 

In the past, Cadbury World had been known to be a place full of chocolaty freebees and the first time I had gone, I had eaten so much chocolate I was almost sick. This time the factory had changed so much that each person as you entered only got 3 bars of chocolate; crunchy, dairy milk (Sample size) and Wispa. I have never been so disappointed in my life because I had emptied my stomach prior in the hope that there would be so much chocolate I would actually be sick this time. (yeah gross I know). What disappointed me even more so was that the chocolate production side of the factory was closed and I didn't also get a chance to see how the chocolate was made... oh bummer.  

On the plus side, the 4D experience at the end was undoubtedly the highlight of the night (or in fact the only good bit). When the 4D experience ended after a measly three minutes, I really wanted to watch it again but its just one viewing per ticket. I don't really enjoy telling people about negative experiences hence why I'm keeping this short, but I doubt I would ever go again since it is not worth £15.44 ticket and the train travel from London to Birmingham. In summary, would I go back?... I think this will have to be a Nay!

Update: Sorry I had to repost this again, due to yet again playing around a bit too much with the coding of my blog and corrupting the original post.  Thank you for your patience, and I'll see you in the next post. 

My Mum made me love my Body.

I recently read an article on cosmopolitan about how this women tells her story about how her mum's constant dieting and telling her how to dress etc.. Made her hate her body. So then I realised that for me personally my mother had done the complete opposite, despite me personally struggling with my  own appearance. My single mum made me love my body. 

My mum has never been the kind of mother who cares so much about appearance, she believes in originality and although her brutal honesty about my in fact unflattering hijab styles often got me quite annoyed, I knew at heart she wants what is best for me. Growing up with my mother and her own weight "issues" has taught me that despite her not being of ideal body size to society's standards she is an incredibly out  going person (say Allahhumabarik) teaching me that you can be whoever you choose despite your appearance.  

I remember once when I was in school and at that time my brother also went to the same school. So in this class (or study session) my brother was helping out the younger years in maths, I happened to be one of the people needing help. I can't really say what happened but essentially these two girls who were sitting next to me were comparing my brother appearance to mine. I remember one of the girls commenting about my nose saying something like  "look at that hump she has, her brother's doesn't". At that point in time the comment really hurt me because my nose was a major insecurity for me. That single comment confirmed my greatest fear that everyone was in fact looking at my nose. I went home in tears crying. My mum believes in tough love, which for a person like me who can go weeks wallowing in her own pity, it's the best thing for me. She quickly made me realise that by in fact getting upset about the whole situation I was allowing myself to become a victim to other's opinions.

It's interesting because other women often call my mother "fat" (perhaps jokingly) which often made me extremely angry but my mother on the other hand never let it get to her. She taught me that people's cruel comments don't need to be the centre of your life. But most importantly she taught me that your body is a gift from God and that we need to thank our Lord every single day because you never know what could be taken away from you.

What has that special person in your life taught you? Leave it in the comments below and I'd appreciate you all to make dua for my mother's speedy recovery as she's still in her cast.

London Fashion Bazaar 2015

This Sunday was the long awaited London Fashion Bazaar organised by none other than the lovely TanjaAyesha from her blog Tanyesha. The London Fashion Bazaar was an event here in London where bloggers and independent stores sold not only pre-loved items but new ones too. Ayesha from Chronicles of Ayesha and I decided to team up and attend this event together.

There were yummy cakes created by the lovely Instagram store: @cakesandconfetti which were just as delicious as they looked. It was quite a small event so there was only cupcakes and mocktails available but thats ok. 

There were blogger stalls ranging from Nabilabee to SaimaSmileslike and it was fascinating to see all the different styles. If anything I did partly come for the fashion inspiration. Overall it was great event and I would like to go again if it happens next year.