My pair of TOMS

A year ago, I saw these pair of shoes flying off the shelves and in the closets they became part of the must have item. But that's besides the point. The purchase of these pair of shoes means donating another pair of shoes to one less fortunate person in the world. Amazing notion I think.

When I first looked at it, I wondered if I could pull it through. It looks pretty simple. Humble pair of shoes. But I had doubts as to whether it would go to waste if I got a pair. I tried it at last a few weeks ago and I have to say, they were so so comfortable. They are now one of my most used pair of shoes when it doesn't rain.

So I'm hoping it doesn't rain anytime soon because I am looking forward to wearing these again!

Lush's Lipstick and Eyeliner

Lush has bravely gone ahead and launched their first cosmetics. No doubt so many of us are excited about it. Who doesn't want safer, more natural ingredients in their cosmetics?
I remember a few years back when Lush had a sister company 'B Never Busy to be Beautiful' (if I remember correctly) and they had a load of products which I assume supported Lush's incentive and used where possible, natural ingredients as opposed to chemicals. I was so disappointed when this shop closed down and always wondered whether Lush would bring back some of its sister company's products.

For now, I got the black Independent liquid eyeliner and the Perspective lipstick.

Let me start with the liquid liner:

When the sales assistant tested this at the back of her hand at the store, I was amazed. I saw a pigmented solid black line gliding through with ease. I explained that I have tried gel and liquid eyeliner before, but especially when it came to liquid eyeliners, I am all out allergic to. I was reassured that this would work on me and with that I got it, hoping this will be the magic potion.
When I tried it at home though, my eyes stung as soon as any liquid managed to get through to my eyes, so applying this on my waterline was virtually impossible! I was disappointed because I was expecting it to be gentle enough to use. It did sting pretty bad....! Or maybe I am just allergic to all liquids entering my eyes?

Also I found that the colour didn't resemble the pigmented black ink I saw at the store. On my eyes it settled to a dark ashy grey colour. 

And then I tried the Perspective lipstick:

Now this product is my magic potion people!
I wanted a shade that wasn't sparkly and one that was slightly darker than my lip colour. This was the perfect shade. It lasts 3-4 hours before it gets dry but even after it is dry it stays on your lips for hours. I was so so surprised with its staying power and there is no doubt that I will be looking into other shades.
It is very pigmented, comes in a liquid form but dries quickly and envelopes your lips with its rich colour.

Aveda's Eyeliner

I purchased this Aveda eyeliner last summer after suffering from irritated eyes and my sudden allergic reaction to Bobbi Brown's gel liner (which I am hoping is temporary because Bobbi Brown gel liner is my absolute favourite).

Since then though, I decided that I will be on a hunt for more natural, organic eyeliners. The lesser chemicals there are the better, or the lesser 'harsh' chemicals there are, then the more perfect.

I wore Aveda's eyeliner on my holiday to Rome last year in the sweltering heat of at least 30 degrees. It surprised me because I thought it would smudge and make me look like a panda by the end of the day. It didn't. However, it did smudge a little on my waterline. On some days, after 3-4 hours of application, I could only see a faint eyeliner in that area. So that was the only downside for me.

However, it is easy to put on and it didn't irritate my eyes at all. I have very sensitive eyes so the ingredients must be top quality. I would purchase this again but it will be an eyeliner I would opt to wear in the winters.

Innocent by Theirry Mugler

I got this perfume around January this year and I would describe it as a hit and miss fragrance. You either love or hate it. First impressions were its top notes which were so over powering. When I first sprayed it on, I was sure this fragrance wasn't for me and I assumed that the middle and base notes were nothing impressive.Top notes consist of bergamot and mandarin orange, I couldn't tell these made up the notes until I looked them up and I was very surprised because the combination sounds like they would work together in harmony but for some reason it doesn't work at all for me.

But then, since I already sprayed it on my skin as I was testing it, I eventually smelt the base notes and I was surprised. It was musky, dark, sparkly and sophisticated. 

This was the reason I ended up getting the perfume.

As soon as I wore it a few times though, unfortunately I ended up giving this perfume away as I just couldn't stand the top and middle notes. It took forever to settle to the base notes and gave me a headache in the process. I'm disappointed but I notice that there is a lighter version of this perfume released and I am assuming it is because other people are also finding this fragrance too overpowering.

The Best Popcorn Ever is... *drum roll*

...LONDON KETTLE POPCORN!

Source

I have tried so many popcorns from supermarkets, food stalls, popcorn stands, cinemas etc. More or less they were all similar to each other. But then I tasted London Kettle Popcorn. And my standards for popcorn has gone up by many levels.

Seriously, London Kettle Popcorn is the best popcorn I have ever tasted. It doesn't get stuck in my teeth. It has the perfect blend of sweet and salty. The texture is exactly how popcorn should be, simply amazing, well popped. And there are no 'unpopped' corn in each bag of popcorn. I'm telling you, this is quality.

They turn up in different locations in London and the people who launched and run this company are a very genuine, friendly couple. I hope this business will be a success because it surely deserves more recognition.

Track them now at their site and try them!

http://www.londonkettlepopcorn.com/

Black XS by Paco Rabanne

 

 Since my last perfume related post, my scent collection has not stopped growing. I am obessed as ever with scents and keep up to date with new perfumes.

Black XS by Paco Rabanne was a perfume I got last year in December and I totally forgot to blog about this but still had the saved pictures, so I thought why not blog about it now? 

Black XS at first seemed like a very mature version of Britney Spears' original Fantasy perfume. Actually they are not similar in many ways but both have a very distinctive sweetness to them which linked the two for me.

Black XS is a sweet potion but for those of you who might not be too fond of overly sweet scents, this might be a good perfume because the sweetness is almost masked by musk and liquorice? I can't quite tell what the heavy scents are. The amazing thing is that they mask the sweet scent so gently so as to achieve a wonderful balance. And because of this it is mysterious, as portrayed by its bottle's design.

Definitely an evening wear to me. And I wouldn't wear this in hot weather as it might be overpowering.

It lasts a fair amount of time, 3-4 hours until a re-application is needed. To me that is one of the disadvantages. But then again, this is an Eau de Toilette. Sadly, they don't do Eau de Parfums.

Ramadhan on its way

Ramadhan is coming up in the next week or so and it will be one of the longest fasts for many of us. It will be easier on some of us and harder on others. It is an obligation for those who are able to fast to do so.

I always find the first week of fasting the most difficult. It is the period when your body adjusts to the sudden nil consumption of food and drink and the last hour to sunset seems to stretch on for hours on end. Physically and mentally, it is draining, it is exhausting; some of us cope better than others but at the end of our experiences, we all feel the same things - hunger, thirst and exhaustion. And through these come reminders. Reminders to tell us how thankful we should be and how much more thankful we should aim to be.

I’m not speaking for all in this article but I assume that the majority reading this have access to the internet and are fortunate enough to have a modern average lifestyle. We should be thankful because we are obligated to fast for only a month. Imagine those who have no choice and have to go without or lack of food or water for months or even years and because of this it's uncertain if there is a tomorrow.

At the end of the day most of us can look forward to a wholesome dinner. If I wanted a chicken kebab, I can buy it. If I wanted risotto, I can buy that too. Name anything else and I can most likely get my hands on it. If I wanted home cooked, then I can look up any recipe online and I’m sure that I can obtain ALL the ingredients to make the dish. I highlight ‘ALL’ because........ isn’t it amazing?!

We live in a world where our wish is our command. Whereas the less fortunate will be happy to obtain any food in any form, as long as it is edible it’s good enough. We can have a 3 course meal if we wanted, choose your location, at home or the restaurant perhaps?

This is why we have to abstain from greed. Stuffing ourselves after fasting is all too tempting because we’ve been anticipating food all day long. There are some who wake up and have an early breakfast, only with the aim of eating as much food as possible to get ready for the next day. Of course, needless to say, this is not the way. Ramadhan teaches us all to have self control. Patience. It truly is a virtue.

This month also emphasizes the importance of Zakat. What a difference we could make by donating our lunch money to those in need on top of the charity we should already be giving.

We also learn once again how to remain even more humble and compassionate towards others who have less. This is how we can narrow the gap between the less and more fortunate of us, between the richer and the poorer. Everyone of us needs a helping hand at some stage in our lives.

So the next time you have something to eat, remember to say 'Bismillah Al-Rahman Al-Raheem' and once finished 'Alhamdulilah'.