Dear readers,

Here’s the first beauty tips I am sharing here on the blog. Finally I have the time to share it with you after all the requests! :) Before I share on makeup tips as requested, I will share with you what’s more important first.

Many of you have asked me on what I wear on my skin so finally here I am sharing with you what I’ve been wearing to take care of my skin.

I’ve been wearing Kose’s full range skincare set since I started working 6 years ago. I could only afford to buy them when I started working.

I remember that I did not have to really care for my skin when I was younger or in high school. It was illegal to wear makeup in school so I did not have to take care of it too much. I do have breakouts or pimple at times but usually it was only during that time of the month.

When I was in uni, I did not wear much makeup as well so there was no need for proper skincare, I thought. But I do wear makeup for outings though. I remember at that time I tried almost all the products at the pharmacy at different times. You name it: Ponds, Loreal, Himalaya, Olay, Safi, gosh I can’t remember there must be like 20 different brands? But in the end, I kept on changing products because my skin is very sensitive so if it doesn’t suit my skin, I will discover it very soon and I wouldn’t be able to use the products for long.

One day, I found Kose while walking at a department store by a very persuasive sales lady. I decided to try it out and I was hooked ever since. See, the power of marketing. :)

Although I loved Kose, I did try other brands for a while when I wanted to change as Kose is a bit pricey. I tried a number of times but it turned out I wasted the money I spent on the other brands because it did not work well on my skin. Either my skin would have a stinging pain, it became too dry, I suffered from more breakouts or it just became too oily.

Everyone has different types of skin. Discover what is your skin type and try different skincare till you find the perfect one for you. 

I would suggest that you try out products and experiment till you find the perfect one for your skin. There is no harm in trying. That was what I did all those years before I found Kose. Understand that what works on others might not work on you. Some people do not have to wear anything at all and the have the most flawless skin, some have to take care more than others.

It is never too late to care for your skin. DO some research and invest in good products. If it is not suitable for your skin you can always give it away or exchange with friends or sell it to others who might find it suitable for their skin.

If you know any good skincare do share with me at the comment box below. Or probably, just share with me what skincare are you using right now? Probably one day I can give it a try :)

Kose is still a bit too expensive for me but for me it’s worth it because the set can last up to 6 months, and that is when I am using it intensively both in the morning when I wake up and at night before I sleep every single day.

However, I am still looking for a cheaper alternative if there are any.

So on to my tips. To me, there are 3 most important steps for basic skincare:

Cleanse. Tone. Moisturise.

So there are 3 main products from Kose that is a must-have for me which I use every day.

I use the Powder Wash Cleanser, Sekkisei Lotion which is the toner and Sekkisei Emulsion or the moisturizer.

I will put them on my face, massage my face upward and in a circular motion for a few minutes.

I usually only have to wear 3 of the products as I do not wear makeup on a daily basis but on the days that I do wear makeup I will first use Kose’s perfect cleansing oil before I use the Powder Wash Cleanser.

I remember when I first started to use skin care back then I did have cheat days when I did not care for my skin (read: LAZY). Mornings were okay but my problem was usually at night! Especially when I came back late from work (after midnight) and was just too tired to wash my face before I sleep. Those days are long gone! :p It’s very important to instill the whole 3 steps thing to become an everyday habit.

Cleanse. Tone. Moisturise.

In fact, the night time is probably the more important time to use skincare as your body is resting and healing itself, skincare helps to repair your skin too. Never sleep with makeup on! Always get rid of makeup and wash your face before you go to sleep.

My close ones would actually lecture this to me back then but now I am reminding everyone, don’t. It really is not good. I notice that when I sleep with my makeup on I’ll have breakouts. Of course there are times when my skin is super okay but like everyone my skin has its breakout moments too. Mostly when I don’t take care of it properly. Sometimes when I am too stressed out on something major. It’s normal.

Anyway, I hope to be able to share more tips regularly. Hope you find it beneficial. Do share your thoughts on the comment box below. Oh, and if there is anything you would want me to blog about in relation to beauty, skincare and makeup, just holler y’all.

I’ll try to share as best as I can and hope you will find it beneficial insyaAllah.

The peacocks looks familiar right? It's actually the Kimono'ish robe I wore in "A Geisha Sparty Treat". A gift from the husband years ago :)

Next in the Beauty Tips series : I’m going to share with you my favourite scrub, makeup or other good skincare products I’ve tried!

PEACE & LOVE!

Today, a new chapter in my life has begun. Relieved. :) All praises to God.

However, I'm not going to talk about that. :p I'm going to talk about what happened that one Sunday with my uni girlfriends. :)

Pampering session. Relaxation treat. Rejuvenate with the girls.

A time to relax and unwind.

So my unimates organized a spa treat session on 19^th April 2014 for our dear friend Amirah Ausi, who is getting married next month. They planned this for months! To be honest I haven’t been out of my house the past week before that. As mentioned in a previous post, I was unwell. (See Cooking#1)

They had arranged for this meet up for a few months already. A group spa treat at Villa Manja at Jalan Damai off Jalan Tun Razak near my old house.

I’ve been friends with most of them since year 2002, twelve years ago. They are all my unimates who read law together with me, the ones I spent most of my times with during those five years of university. 1 year at matriculation and 4 years and a half in main campus. Most of us were classmates since matriculation. 

Think I wrote a lot about them in Rainbow Tujo Brunch, NiesaCarcossa, Birthday Breakfast at Barberra and many more. I know I like to repeat myself but I’ll try not to do that here. :D I am blessed to have them in my life. Alhamdulillah.

We arrived at Villa Manja at Jalan Damai and received a hot stone massage for about one hour and half. I must say that my body really needed that treatment at that time as I had a draining whole week as I was unwell. It helped me to slowly get better and gain back my energy. 

After the awesome treatment we chit-chatted, had a good catch up and played table games like “How Well Do You know Mira” game. :)

The other game was creating origami. I did not want to play initially and wanted to just be the judge but Nuzul didn’t allow me to escape! I was tasked to do an origami box! It seems like ages ago, but I was suddenly reminded of how I was so into origami yearrssss ago. I even remembered that I personally (and of course nicely forced my brothers to help me) folded and handmade origami boxes as door gifts (which I used to put watercolour paint and handmade notes) for guests during my engagement with Khubayb!

Back to the Spa Treat… We received awesome goodies that day! Food was good too! Diana cooked and the spa prepared some good food for us too! Good job organisers!

So happy that Mira enjoyed herself. She was really surprised so much that she cried. We recorded a video of her speech. (See below)

I had a good time taking their photos. I was not in most photos because I was the self-appointed official photographer for the day… Right. :p

Enjoy the photos ladies. It sure was a memorable day. I cannot remember the last time we actually spent so much time together. Probably back in uni? Hehe.

Sorry I still wasn’t too well that day but I am glad I did go after persuasion from some of you. I felt more relaxed and rejuvenated and I am glad I did as it was not easy to get to meet.

Mira told me that she has not met her future husband for weeks and the plan is not to see him till the wedding day so that she can spend more time with family and friends (while stressing out over the preparations!). I find that idea awesome! In this day and age, that is not something we usually do. Some would say that it is old fashioned. But, I personally think it is a great thing that they decided to do that.

Mira, thank you for spending the many hours with your friends nearing your wedding day. I’m glad I went even though I wasn’t that well. The wedding is going to be beautiful, if God wills it. J See you soon Mrs Azi to be!

PEACE & LOVE!

As you all know, Safiyya is a television programme for young and “modern Islamic ladies”. A TV magazine on lifestyle, career, fashion, beauty, personality, news and current issues to make ladies who watch it feel inspired and empowered.

Safiyya means “bestfriend”.

In mid 2011, they interviewed me at my office on my career as a lawyer, my blog and also my interests in the arts and fashion in the personality and lifestyle segment. (Watch here and see here). In 2012, they interviewed my cousin Putri Azalea of Pu3 Designs at her boutique at the Intermark and she asked me to model her designs and pieces for Safiyya. Had fun wearing so many of Pu3's gorgeous pieces. In early 2013, they wanted to interview me on a personal matter involving my experience at the hospital but at the very last minute I couldn’t do it.

And now 2014 : )

When Safiyya contacted us to have a shoot on the skirts from ARNADIA by GAYA, we were excited!

Alhamdulillah as nothing is ours and everything belongs to the Creator.

I personally was excited as it was the first time they called me to talk about fashion, trends and also the fashion designs and creations I’ve been working so hard on together with Hasanah. Naturally, I was nervous too as usual but I think we all did well during the interview. I sure hope so.

They wanted me to talk about high-waisted skirts and particularly the skirts I designed together with Hasanah Hilmi. I asked Hasanah to talk about the styling part and I spoke about the designs and the story behind the Swan and Belle skirts.

The shoot was done on 9^th April 2014. Dian, Hasanah and I prepared the day before and we were so happy that both Ruzana Ibrahim and Aalia Sabrina agreed to become our models for the day at the very last minute! We were lucky because both of them were free on that day. They are usually both very busy. We had a lot of fun shooting and I felt it was a really productive day. I had fun being the photographer and taking the photos too!

Anyways, they said they wanted 10 looks for the shoot so we prepared 10 looks of the girls wearing Belle and Swan Skirts from ARNADIA by GAYA.

Hasanah did most of the styling for the looks, brought her Paripari shawls and I brought most of the tops to be styled with the skirts. 

The interview was done at R A Fine Arts the Gallery at Publika and the modelling shoots were done just outside the gallery.

I am not going to reveal much here of what the interview was about so I won’t spoil you. I am just going to share the pictures I took behind-the-scenes of the shoot. The pictures with me in it were taken by either Dian or Hasanah.

You have to watch it! 

Do check out Safiyya TV9 at 11.00am this Sunday 27^th April 2014 and catch the show. It is GAYA’s first appearance on TV and Alhamdulillah we are very blessed for the opportunity. Thank you for inviting us to your show Safiyya! Thank you Nadeeia for interviewing us. It was such a great and memorable surprise.

You can log into www.tonton.com.my to watch it!

PEACE & LOVE!

  

A wrap dress I wore on 23^rd March 2014. Exactly a month ago.

This was the day I went to see the dearly departed and much-missed blogger friend Ami Schaheera at the hospital just a few days before she unexpectedly passed away. The day I went to Mufti Menk’s talk at Pullman Hotel Bangsar with my sister Fahima Salleh. The day I went to dear Lisa Surihani’s kenduri doa selamat at her home.

This was what I wore. That day.

To be honest, I’ve been wanting to blog about this look since about 1 month ago but there were things in my mind and my heart which stopped me from doing so.

I realized this past week that a lot of my unpublished or un-blogged posts are basically a consequence of this reason. Something that I feel like sharing but I know I couldn’t share here. It’s a bit complicated to explain but it’s like I have a personal attachment regarding certain things so those things that I am unable to put in words stops me from posting what should be a simple straightforward post. Something that I just have to learn to overcome as a blogger.

See? This should be in another post! Maybe I’ll blog on that one day.

Back to the look that I wore.

As I was going to a talk I thought the abaya-like dress would be appropriate as it looks very modest and as Lisa told me that the theme to the doa selamat was pastel-ish, I chose to wear the pastel grey shawl and the pastel coloured ikat jeans. The last time I wore the jeans was when I was pregnant 2 years ago. Love it as it is a gift from the husband.  

I love that the tag of the dress mentions the prayer when putting on new clothes. So thoughtful.

I wore the dress the whole day that day and it was really comfortable and I’ve always liked dresses with zip at the arms which makes it easy for ablution before prayers. I think the first dress I wore last year was the Syomir Izwa dress by Zawara.

Last year I’ve worn a dress from Love to Dress too. See my post “Twirling in Love to Dress”.