Atelier Finds: A Ramadan Gift

I recently was sent a beautiful Ramadan gift by Instagram company Atelier Finds, who specialise in tasbih and oud perfume wedding favours, hijab accessories and Islamic Gifts. The company sent me a new idea of theirs, Ramadan and Eid gift parcels which would make ideal presents.

I thought this was a really lovely idea, and a great alternative to the usual Instagram pages and online sellers I have come across, most of whom usually sell outfits, jewellery or scarves. While all of these are always in demand, it's nice to see something different out there which is well-put together and relevant to my faith.

This is the box I was sent, isn't it lovely? It was so pretty I almost didn't want to open it.

It also came with a lovely card with a sweet message inside for Ramadan - personally I think it always makes a difference when a company puts in small touches like this because it shows how much they care about their products and their service.

Even thought e box was almost too pretty to open, I opened it in the end! I was glad I did, because inside were some even prettier things which I loved - two gem-stone hijab pins, a mini-tasbih and a pretty pin tin, which you can see below.

I really liked the fact that each product was a good quality, luxury product, and not just random generic things which you would find on the high street. The hijab pins are part of the real gemstone range, with the the black one being black onyx in gold vermeil (gold plated sterling silver). The tasbih was another well-crafted piece with sparkling beads and a lovely chain finish.

I thought this was a really lovely, innovative idea for Ramadan and Eid gifts, and it's something which is new to the market - it's nice to have a few pretty things like this on your dressing table or on your shelf. One of the things I loved was that these were all things I would use - the pin tin is a pretty, vintage-style piece, the hijab pins are lovely for dressing up, and the tasbih would always be used in my house.

I also love that these are all available as wedding favours - it's a really nice alternative to the usual sweets and nuts look and it's something guests can take home. The company also does ouds in different scents as well, so will be checking those out next!

You can contact Atelier Finds or buy any of the products via the company's Instagram Page, or via their Etsy Shop.

The Muslim Lifestyle Show 2016

I was lucky enough to get two tickets to the Muslim Lifestyle Show a couple of weeks ago, so attended with my sister to check out the exhibitions and shows.

We managed to spend a few hours at the Muslim Lifestyle Show, and managed to see plenty of outfits, abayahs, scarves, books, desserts, nuts, dates, various halal food companies, household goods and fittings as well as have fun with photobooths!

A rickshaw with a photobooth inside!

There were plenty of things to see, so I won't bombard you with too many images, but here's a few of the fun things I remember from the Muslim Lifestyle Show below.

Fashion & Shopping
One of the main reasons my sister and I wanted to attend the show was to see the different clothes and outfits available for sale - there were a lot of beautiful outfits on display from boutiques, and modesty-wear brands being promoted. I managed to spot designer Farrah Naaz at the show with a stand (the picture on the bottom right), and also found a range of beautiful abayahs and maxi dresses from a lot of brands who usually sell online.

Food
I'm sure you can imagine that my sister and I headed straight for the sweet stuff, and sampled lots of goodies before buying a bunch of dates, cookies and brownies. I loved The Datery, which sells hand-made chocolate-covered dates, and Mubarak, which specialises in "little boxes of treats" from chocolates to scents and candles.

Of course we had to also stop to buy some halal sweets (or five) for ourselves and family, as you can imagine, these were popular stands!

Catwalk Show
I didn't get to see a lot of the fashion show as I got to the stage a little late, but I did snap a few outfits and thought these ones by Gulshaan boutique were lovely!

Jewellery and Perfumes
We also saw a range of halal perfumes, which were presented in gorgeous bottles, and in a range of colours and scents. I also liked a group of rings being sold by one company (I forget the name!) which had beautiful chunky precious-gems in clusters of twos and threes, lovely statement pieces (third pic below).

There were people getting their henna done on hands, as well as make-up artists promoting their work - below is the amazing makeup work done by the team of bridal makeup-artist Lubna Rafiq, complete with bridal dresses from Khans of London.

There were also men's products being promoted, which was probably useful as there were a lot of family men walking around with their wives and children! I loved this t-shirt below which I wanted for my husband, as well as the beard oils bottles being sold, which was a popular item.

My sister and I also liked that there were plenty of stands raising awareness for charities and education - this stand called Let's Educated Pakistan aimed to get people to sponsor children in Pakistan to be able to go to schools, and had already set up two schools of their own.

There was also plenty of homeware and decoration available - such as these beautiful, bespoke pieces of wall art, and very pretty coasters on the right which I wanted to buy (but didn't because they don't match anything in my house!)

All in all we had a really fun time at the show, and even managed to catch a show with singer Sami Yusuf who did a series of lovely songs with a group of schoolchildren. I also managed to bump into a few other fashion bloggers that I'm friends which, who were helping out backstage at the fashion show doing hijab styling and makeup, which also made my day.

I'll be sure to look out for similar events - and there will be plenty for Eid! - and post any that I know are coming up. I thought this was a great way to bring together new products for young Muslims who want something new, as well as showcasing a range of fashion, food and charity causes to be interested in : )

LOVELY HIJAB: Hijabi Box

I've heard of beauty box subscriptions before, but this is something new that I discovered - Hijabi Box. It works pretty much the same way as a beauty box does, you pay for a subscription and receive various products - in this case, some scarves with matching accessories like hijab pins, a hijab cap/bonnet as well as perhaps some skincare or make-up products (or in one case, some chocolate!)

I love the fact that something like this is available, it's great for sisters who are looking for something a little different, or perhaps even those who want a bit more help matching their accessories with their scarves.

I've read a couple of reviews from those who have signed up for this, and they seem to be generally positive - the only down side is that the company is based in the US for those who may not want to pay shipping charges. Personally I'm not sure if I would go for something like this, as I tend to like putting my hijab looks together myself and mix-and-match a lot, and I'm not overly adventurous with hijab colours - but it would be nice to get something different each month to try out!

What do you think of this idea?

Images from Hijabi Box

My Eid...! Day #2

Eid day was a colourful affair for us, we didn't go completely all out, but we still dressed up in our glad rags and invited family around for my mum's yummy food and some presents for the little bebbles in the family! It was a nice relaxing day, which was nice as we managed to see most of the extended family in one day!

This is what I wore, a tealy green long dress which is a Widyaan design by Shahid Afridi (yes, the Pakistani cricketer!) - here's is the design I wore, although I didn't wear it as glamorously as the model did!

Here's me wearing it, which I had to take sneaky pictures of all day to get a good image!

We had plenty of food for lunch and for dinner, although I forgot to take pictures of all of the food! (And we had cake afterwards, of course!)

The girls in the family were also beautifully dressed on both Eid days, here's a few pictures of their outfits (I loved my sister's blue dip-dye dress most, more on this later!)

 

All in all it was a lovely Eid (and one which we all stuffed our faces on!) - it was good to get together and celebrate, and we even managed to hand out our qurbani meat to the neighbours in our glad rags!

How was your Eid? What did you wear?

My Eid...! Day #1

This Eid was was a fairly quiet one, spent with family, with all of us eating a lot of good food, taking silly photographs, playing with the babies in the family and generally having a good evening. The night before Eid (on Chand Raat), we were invited for dinner at my sister's house, which meant a good start to the Eid celebrations  (not to mention some yummy food!).

Here's what I wore, a deep bluey-indigo Threads and Motif outfit that I got stitched a few months ago (I looked for something new to wear in the shops before Eid, but didn't see anuthing I liked, so ended up with this instead!). I paired this with sparkly heels and some gold jewellery, but otherwise kept it fairly simple as I didn't want a fussy look.

Here's me wearing the outfit, which you can see was a simple, long kameez with straight, raw silk trousers for a very comfy, simple look (sorry for the grainy pictures, I didn't manage to get very many good images!) I love the embroidery on this outfit, which looked really pretty and neatly done, and didn't catch on anything the way metal-work does!

And here's some of the things that we did (and ate!) on the evening, which was also on my niece's first birthday, so we had plenty of pretty cupcakes and presents - not to mention some ooh-ing and aahh-ing at everyone's outfits, least of all my sister's beautiful Choos!