FRIDAY FASHION LINKS...!

I've been looking forward to today's post, because it features bloggers who I know and admire, and whose writing is great! Here they are below:

1. Ibreathshoes
This is a a blogger who I have followed online on Instagram for some time, and her journey has been pretty interesting to follow. She not only posts about fashion and her person style, which I love, but also posts recipes, her personal journeys and random lifestyle and foodie things! I also love the way she writes, which is down to earth and easy to get into (and sometimes long but worth a read!)

2. Sabrina Styles
This is a fun blogger whose posts I love because she is a blogger after my own heart. She posts about Pakistani fashion, how to mix Western wear with Asian outfits, as well as foodie reviews. I also love her fresh takes on affordable, easy-to-wear brands - definitely a must read!

3. Zai Khan

Not exactly a fashion blog, but a good read nevertheless! I especially loved her Affinity series, which is about couples mostly in the UK, and their stories. We often see couples and their Big Day, which are usually a full blown South Asian wedding affair, but there doesn't seem to be as much out there about the everyday lives of Asian couples, their relationships and their lives.  I thought this was a much needed view on couples, and a brilliant read. Zai Khan is currently planning another series (make sure you read her 'Trailblazing Women' series too!) and I am looking forward to that!

Hope you all have a good weekend, and a good read! x

FRIDAY FASHION LINKS...!

I'm not always able to blog, especially when full time work and random bursts of social events happen all in one go! So here's a few bloggers whose blogs I follow, all of whom have a style I love.

1. Zahra Rose Alazaibi
Apart from her very cool outfits, Zahra also posts about skin products, makeup, her travels to various parts of the world and yummy food recipes. She's a gorgeous part-Italian, part-Libyan blogger, and I love how she manages to put her finger on the pulse and write about the latest stuff.

2. Grewal Twins
These two are among my favourite bloggers (so I can't believe I didn't mention them before!). They're both friends of mine, and both have a very and both of whom are also both friends of mine, whose work I admire a lot, and who put a lot of effort into their photography, music, poetry and tons more.

Recently they stirred up a storm with a viral post about Sikh wedding ceremonies, and how they combated the sexist prejudice in this by having their mum perform the (traditionally-male) wedding rituals. I love that they have such a beautiful, meaningful story behind this, as well as so many more of their traditions and parts of their lives.

They also do a lot of photo series with a lot of cultural and historical significance behind them, and I love the stories behind each of them, which have a lot of designing, styling and curating behind it all!

3. Saira Hayat Khan
A Canadian-Pakistani blogger, this is a gorgeous blogger who writes about her life, fashion, motherhood and health. One of the things I really like about Saira is how down-to-earth and quirky she is, yet unbelievably stylish and beautiful.

FRIDAY FASHION LINKS...!

Happy Friyay! I thought I'd post some more links for you all, especially since I've not been blogging as often as I'd like to in the last week or so, so here's some reading material for you to try in the meantime:

Modest Seamstress Blog
This is someone I met a few weeks ago whose focus is on minimalist modest fashion. I think this blogger is a wonderful one, she's very down to earth, easy to get on with and I love everything she wears! I don't think I can manage minimalism just yet (every time I clear things out of my wardrobe, I find more things to replace them with) but I do love her concept of it.

Style Haven Blog
This is one I've followed for a couple of years, and is a mix of fashion, beauty and lifestyle posts -  although admittedly I like it for the Pakistani-fashion posts!

Desi Rain Drops
This is another blogger who I have admired for a while, who posts various travel, modest fashion and food posts. I love her style and always look forward to her outfit posts, and she always has nice things to say.

FRIDAY FASHION LINKS...!

I thought I'd do something a little different this week and give a few shout-outs to bloggers whose work I admire, as well as blogs that I read myself. I know it can be difficult sometimes to find different content, and I always have loved that there are so many other bloggers out there who blog about different types of things which they are passionate about.

So here's a few to start off with, especially if you're looking for more reading material - and feel free to leave links of blogs that you read below for me to check out too!

Asian Fashion Blog
This is one of the first Asian fashion blogs that I found out there, since I first started blogging (and even before that!), and is one of the original bloggers from my early days who is still around and writing. What I love about this blog is Nazma, the writer, gives a fresh look on lots of different brands, has amazing catwalk pictures of the latest fashion shows, and excellent tips on where to find new things or how to style outfits.

Mulberry A La Mode
This is a blog I like not just because of the fashion tips, but because of the quirky anecdotes and stories behind a lot of her posts. I followed this blogger from her wedding story, her move from Glasgow to Dubai and many more, and there's a lot of beautiful outfit stylings (Pakistani and Western) to follow. She's also on Instagram and has some really pretty outfits, so check her out.

Hijabi in London
This is the blog of a friend I met online a couple of years ago, and we've been firm friends ever since! We both have the same interests in modest fashion in London, and she has worked with several British and international modest fashion brands. One of the things I've always liked about her pages is that she has an amazing eye for photography - some of her pictures are amazing, and I've always liked the fact that as someone who is a Malaysian living in London, she sees London in a different, fresh way. You can check out her YouTube channel here and her Instagram page as well.

Desi Beauty Blog
This is a pretty well-known blog which was founded by makeup-artist Nilo Haq and Pakistani supermodel Mehreen Syed, and has some pretty big names on the writing staff list, including a few Pakistani designers like HSY and Ali Xeeshan, bloggers, stylists and makeup-artists from the West, as well as a lot of interviews and articles on both Bollywood and the Pakistani film, fashion and media industry. I'm sure a lot of you may have come across this blog before, and have seen the variety of topics, but it's a good place to have a look for makeup tips!

A Meet and Greet Session with Mehreen Syed

I was lucky enough to be able to meet the beautiful Pakistani supermodel Mehreen Syed a few weeks ago, with a small group of select girls at the Dorchester Hotel in London. I've been a fan of Mehreen for a few years after seeing her modelling campaigns from as far back as about a decade ago, and I've also been interested in her charity work and business endeavours since.

We managed to speak with Mehreen for an hour, and she was full of stories, of modelling, fashion designers, beauty care and her travels. I wasn't sure what to expect as I haven't met a lot of Pakistani celebrities, but I found Mehreen very friendly and bubbly - she told us she got about 5000 messages a day while she was in London requesting meetings, and how she wished she could meet everyone!

It was also nice to see that she looks exactly as she does in her pictures (she's also super tall!) and has a very natural beauty which you can see photographs well, and is one of the reasons she's a sucessful model today.

Mehreen herself has previously blogged before, and is the founder of the Desi Beauty Blog (now managed by co-founder and makeup artist Nilo Haq whose work I also follow). I really like the idea of someone who is experienced in the fashion industry giving back knowledge from what she has learned and her experiences, rather than looking to make money from her knowledge.

Another project Mehreen told us about was setting up a beauty school in Pakistan for poor girls - daughters of workers and servants who couldn't always afford an education so that these women could not only learn makeup skills, but use these to create a career as makeup artists themselves. She is also chairperson for the International Fashion Academy Pakistan (IFAP), which is a private educational institute based in Lahore, Pakistan, and is a fashion industry school. The school was developed to an platform for the next generation of fashion industry professionals; specifically stylists, models, makeup artists and photographers, and for them https://www.facebook.com/IFAPofficial/to study their field in a professional environment

We spoke to Mehreen for a while, and also managed to get some beauty tips from her - I've forgotten some of these but I'll post what I remember:

• I'm sure you can tell from the pictures that Mehreen has amazing hair! She told us that the latest shampoo she was using was L'oreal Elvive Extraordinary Oil Hair Care series - the shampoo, conditioner and hair oils. She said that she sometimes has pretty dry hair due to a previous illness earlier on in the air, which meant she needs intense hydration, and these shampoo and conditioners were really helpful. I've bought these but haven't tried them yet, so I have high hopes for them.
• If you're looking to dye your hair - make sure you pick the right colour and don't over-bleach!
• Without sounding too obvious - a balanced diet is very important if you want to be healthy. As a model Mehreen said that this was important to maintain a good figure and remain slim, and to not over-indulge in sugary foods!
• Similarly, she said exercise is important, regardless of whether are thin or not in order to maintain your health.
• Mehreen encouraged us to try different makeup styles and tips - find out what you like, don't be afraid to try new things and practise doing makeup to find out what suits you.

It was really lovely to meet a down-to-earth, humble person such as Mehreen, and I'm really glad I got the chance to meet her during her stay in London. She has encouraged us to keep in contact and also email or message her for any queries, which I also though was very generous considering how busy she is! It was also nice to hear her stories - of fashion designers, of Pakistan and of her travels, and it was really great to meet a celebrity who made the time to sit with us and have tea : )

FASHION TIPS #1: Be bold with colour...

...don't be afraid to experiment with new colours. 
It's easy to stick with colours that you're comfortable with, or that you know suit you, but the risk is that you end up having a signature look...that you wear TOO much. In terms of make-up especially, it can be hard to find colours that suit your skin tone, or even something that you're comfortable with (red lipsticks, for example, look beautiful but are also something which not everyone is brave enough to pull off!). So here's some encouragement to try a new colour of lipstick today, or perhaps that bright shade of eyeliner which you were admiring but weren't sure about - you won't know unless you try it!

Try something new (and let me know what you tried!), I'm thinking of trying a new lipstick these days (maybe not as extravagant as below though), will let you know if I find anything good :)

Image taken from Stylist Magazine