Updated Makeup Storage / My Makeshift dressing table

A few months ago, I did a makeup collection video. Since then my collection may have increased just a liiitle *she says nervously* For some reason my lipstick collection has seemingly expanded and I needed better organisation. If you saw that video you would know I kept all of my makeup in the bottom drawer of my wardrobe. However, after I finished my exams I had a whole chest of drawers that were free from paperwork *sighs in relief!* And the drawers needed filling up so what better time reorganise my stash. 

I wanted to created my own makeshift dressing table seeing as I don't have one at the moment so I did a few things to make it a little more 'dressing table-ey'. 

This is the little corner of my makeup room. I bought this mirror from Homesense for around £20. The little pots are from India as a gift from my lovely aunty Peeny and the Laduree box contains a very delicious looking macaroon keyring. My brushes are held in this cute little pot from a little independent store in the Leicester Lanes. 

I took these pictures below at night so the blinds were down but during the day I get really good lighting because of the big windows. 

This chair is actually for my desk so I take it up and down my room when I need it.

More importantly, what's inside the drawers! In the first top drawer I keep my mascaras, eyeliners, foundations, concealers, lipsticks and cream eyeshadows and gel eyeliners. These storage containers from Muji come in very handy to section everything off. I've also got a set of false individual lashes and my Real Techniques Makeup sponge on their lonesome as they fit that space nicely. 

I still need a better solution in storing those MAC Lipsticks because they are currently jumbled up in there so if you have any suggestions please let me know! 

In the drawer next to this I stare my face powders, blushers, bronzers, skincare, nail polishes and random bits and bobs such as deodorant, hijab pins and makeup remover

Then, in the 3rd drawer, I reorganised my jewellery collection in to this handy unit from Stackers which I got in John Lewis. I placed that in the middle and There was enough space for my makeup palettes to fit around it perfectly! 

And that is it folks! For now, it's working extremely well. It's so easy to keep it neat and organised as everthing has it's own place. I am thinking of a better way to store my MAC lipsticks as it's do damn annoying trying to find the exact one you want! *reminisces of endless days picking up each lipstick to find the exact one I wanted* can you relate?

Take care,

Maryam.

The Thoughts of an Introvert #3: Who Am I?

Who am I? Who are you? Do we truly know we are? Do our passions, hobbies, interests define us or is it the way we act, think or carry ourselves? What makes you the person you are?

In all honesty I do not really know who I am. I know what I am and what my purpose here is but who am I truly? At my age, I feel like I am at this awkward stage of trying to figure out who I am, whilst being told what I should expected to be and what is expected of me.  

What I most look forward to is the age where I can finally say 'this is who I am' or this is what was meant for me. I want to be happy, content with what I have achieved. I want to be loved but to also be at ease with myself (something I have not been throughout 99% of my teen years)

This awkward age where you are ending your teen years, not quite the end and entering your adult life but not quite there yet, is a difficult and confusing path to lead. Why? Because, there are instilled expectations of what you must be doing or if you are not following a social norm you can be classified as deviant. A lot of 'older' people seem to look down and frown upon the idea of not going to university, sorry but there are people out there who don't want to leave uni and start their lives in £50K debt! (I am going to uni but I'm speaking for the 'non uni attendees' here!) 

I have always wanted the 'university experience' and I am bloody excited (and nervous) to start this October but there is something about fresh starts that is so 'refreshing'? XD 

I feel as though university may be able to provide me with the chance to get to know myself and give myself the opportunity to find more about me. As I get to do a course I am so passionate about, I can focus my energy in a positive way, surely it can only bring about the best? 

Maybe not. 

But God is the best of planners and if I don't find myself at uni, I don't. It is only what I hope to expect. But sometimes expectations are disappointing (we can't always be optimistic, let's be real). Many people do not find themselves until they reach their 30's. 40's. 50's. 60's.. And that's ok. 

Do you know who you really are?

The Thoughts of an Introvert #2: Beauty Standards

What provoked this post was a chat with a friend regarding odd beauty standards and the idealised image of how men and women 'should' look. We recognised that the definition of beauty in many societies is the 'Western White' person i.e. fair skin, light eyes etc. I do believe that modern society is slightly more accepting of all skin tones but there is still this underlying idea of the superiority of being white. I'm going to point out a few of these ideas: 

Source: Google Images

- This goes way beyond makeup but I still wanted to make this point. Many many many makeup brands only cater for lighter, fairer skin tones. Is there a clear reason for this? The beauty industry is incredibly massive yet there are brands that that will only befit a fairer woman. 

- Deep down, there seems to be an ideology that fairer skin is more beautiful than dark skin. Why do women (what I've heard happens in Pakistan & India) bleach their skin to make the appearance lighter? Somewhere, somehow the idea of fairness being superior has become the supreme ideology and it has been instilled in to the minds of people who may not be as fair. Ultimately this instigates insecurities and leads to the interference of nature because we suddenly become unhappy with how dark our skin is. The way I see it, I believe we should be happy with whatever God has blessed us with because we are healthy, sheltered, with food on our plates and clean water running through our taps. 

I came across a quote today:

'If only our eyes saw souls instead of bodies, how very different our ideals of beauty would be' - Unknown.

I think this is spot on! A beautiful soul is a beautiful human being and I am lucky to be surrounded by many beautiful souls of all colour and race.  Once you recognise a beautiful and fascinating soul, appearance means nothing. I am grateful to have friends of all colours, races and that we are able to 'be' friends because many many years ago that would not have been possible. We are still a long way from equality, but there has been massive progression in the past years which counts for something! 

Whether you have fair skin, dark skin, olive skin, dark or light eyes you are beautiful because that is what God has willed for you to be! And there is no questioning the beauty of God's creation! 

I admit, sometimes I wish I had lighter eyes or there are other things I wish I could change about my appearance but this means nothing when I have so many other things to be appreciative and grateful for when other people in this world have no idea about beauty standards but rather are worrying if they will be able to drink clean water or feed their children that night. 

If you would like to let me know your thoughts on this topic, leave a comment below!
P.S: Sorry my 'Thoughts of an Introvert' blog series have been 5 months apart but sometimes it's hard to get it all in writing! I'll try my best for my next one to be in the near future rather than distant!

Thanks for reading. 

Maryam

Eid Ul Fitr 2015

Eid Mubarak! I celebrated Eid on Friday 17th July this year and I hope you had a great day too whichever day you celebrated! It seems to have become a tradition for me to write up an Eid post every single year since I started blogging and an Eid post was one of my very first! So to continue this 'tradition' here we go! 

Starting with my makeup, you can watch the video here to see how I got ready. 

Details:

Face makeup

Nars tinted moisturiser 'Alaska'

Nars Radiant creamy concealer 'Custard'

Benefit 'Hoola' 

Benefit 'Rockateur' blusher

Nars Narsissist Palette - rose gold eyeshadow used as a highlighter

Eyes:

Lorac Pro Palette 'Garnet' all over my eyes and lower lash line

Etude House Brush Liner 'Black'

Stila Eyeliner 'Black' This is really old and since has been repackaged after the company was bought out by someone else. 

Maybelline 'The Falsies' Mascara

Lips:

Rimmel lipliner 'Tiramisu'

Mac Lipstick 'Captive' - my new favourite! 

Outfit details:
Thanks to Peeny for taking my outfit pictures

Jacket, dress, jeans, necklace: Zara
Scarf: H&M
Shoes: Aldo (I'm a little granny at heart so I don't do heels that often and these sandals are amazingly comfortable!)

Awkward poses! 

Eid always starts with a lovely breakfast of 'Semiya' (Vermicelli) and 'Halwa' (Semolina). My mum never fails to make it super delicious so I always go back for seconds.. 

My aunty Peeny stayed over the night before so it was really nice to have her around, she made this amazing Strawberries and cream cake *drools* and then I also made these triple chocolate cookies (Tanya Burr recipe). 

We went over to my uncles house to feast! Kebabs, spring rolls, rice, chicken... Ahhhh! And the cake and cookies for dessert. The Eid day was pretty much the same as every Eid.. Sitting and eating all day! =)

My mum wore this stunning dress from Cecile, a scarf from Anthropologie and necklaces from Tiffanys (small rose gold one) and J Crew (larger one). 

I hope you all had a lovely Eid! 

Maryam

Eid Look #3: Arabian Inspired Smokey Eyes

I love a good ol' smokey eye and I rarely get the chance to slap it all on but today I created this dramatic look for those of you who like to go all out on Eid. Personally, I don't but I love getting made up and this look combined with the Desio 'Desert Dream' lenses made me feel extra dolled up! 

Products used:

Face: 

Nars 'Alaska' tinted moisturiser 

Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer 'Custard'

Benefit 'Hoola' Bronzer

Eyes:

Maybelline 24hr Studio Gel Eyeliner 'Black'

Makeup Revolution Ultra Flawless palette - olive green, black glittery eyeshadows

Maybelline 'Falsies Black Drama' Mascara

Tarte Gifted Amazonian Clay Smart Mascara 

Lips:

Mac 'Whirl' lipliner

Scarf: My mum's and I think it's quite old too.

Tikka: Who Is Devi. 

 Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed the video!

www.youtube.com/maryamwritesandvlogs

Red Lips for Eid!

Personally, I much prefer to exaggerate my eyes rather than my lips but for those of you out there who want to be bold and brave on Eid this year I have created this look - really simple and easy to create and it would look great with a black outfit!

Normally with red lips I would prefer to wear gold tones but because my previous Eid look was very gold orientated I decided to opt for cooler, silver tones. Below I am wearing a shawl (from New Look) on my head! I think it looked cool but throughout the video I was wearing a plain old black scarf in a turban style and the head chain I am wearing is from Miss Selfridge.

Products used:

Face:

Makeup Forever Ultra HD  Foundation in the shade 127 - this is the new foundation from MUFE, my mum had just got it in the post from Sephora and I was super excited to try it as I'd read amazing reviews. This is my mum's shade, it was slightly too dark for me so I mixed it with a bit of my trusty Nars Tinted Moisturiser in the shade Alaska and it was an almost perfect match.

Maybelline Age Rewind Eye Eraser concealer - Nude

Rimmel Stay Matte Powder 006 Warm Beige

Rimmel Natural Bronzer - 022 Sun Bronze

Max Factor Miracle Touch Creamy Blush 07 Soft Candy 

Eyes:

Makeup Revolution Flawless palette (comes in the Rose Gold packaging) - grey silver colour on the lids, lighter silver on the inner corners, light shimmery beige as a cheekbone highlight.

Maybelline Eyestudio Longlasting Drama Gel Eyeliner - Black 

Can you believe I completely forgot to put MASCARA on!!???

Lips:

MAC Russian Red

Eco Soul Kis Button Lips Matte bought from beautynetkorea.com. Check out my blog post here to read more about it

This was about the only (half) decent picture I managed to get off of my DSLR! 

I really hope you guys like this look! 

What kind of look are you going for this Eid?

Maryam

x