Korean Beauty Haul + First Impressions!

Hey everyone! It feels so good to be blogging again after ages.. I won't bore you in to why I had a little (long) break but I was just waiting for my post to come through so I could share these things with you. I've had a little obsession with Asian cosmetics ever since my mum introduced them to me a few years back and I never thought that they would be accessible here in the UK. But I stumbled across beautynetkorea.com and I have to say I am very impressed by their shipping (it was free and only took a week or less to arrive!). So if you are looking for some Asian cosmetics check it out! They have loads of brands and they aren't too expensive either. 

Peripera Ah! Much Real My Cushion Blusher in the shade 01 Pleased Pink

First of all, how cute is that name? Ha! Secondly how adorable is the packaging, I'm in love. It comes with a sponge applicator which is SO soft, you have to squeeze the bottle to dispense the product. The actual colour is a very soft, light, baby pink and it is super pretty. The consistency is like a moisturiser! It applies nicely (I just used my fingers) however I did find that this is better off if you have paler skin but I just layered it up a bit and the result was a gorgeous and natural pink - perfect for this time of year! 

Its Skin Babyface Petit Blusher - Lovely Pink. 

This is THE cutest thing ever! *insert heart emoji face*

It comes with a little powder puff that fits in perfectly making it a cute little compact to throw in your makeup bag or perfect for travelling. The actual colour when watched was a lot more lilac in tone if you can tell from the picture. The texture seems slightly chalky but I am yet to try it with the powder puff so you should see that in a FOTD soon! :)

Etude House Brush Liner - Black 

The packaging is pretty cool but the product itself is a little disappointing.. I had high hopes for the this liner. I love the application, it's so easy to apply but the only let down is the colour is not very intense, it comes out as a washed out black.  But something like Soap and Glory's felt tip liner is far better in my opinion. 

Bbi Last Auto Gel Eyeliner in '02 Mellow Brown' and '55 50's'. 

Another two products to rave about are these liners. My first impressions are pretty pleasing - both colours are gorgeous - a deep, warm brown with gold shimmer running through and a dark khaki green with gold shimmer too. The camera does not pick up how stunning they are! Consistency is very smooth just like the Urban Decay pencils, maybe even softer. Unfortunately I can't comment on the longevity just yet but I'm sure they will be mentioned very soon! 

I also like how they are twist up pencils so no sharpening required! 

Eco Soul Kis Button Lips Matte 

Lastly we have this super gorgeous deep red matte lip stick! I'm really impressed with this so far. The packaging feels nice and to access more product you have to press the little 'thing' at the bottom. I couldn't tell what this would look like online, but in real life it is a gorgeous deep red - not bright but a perfect, classy evening red. My swatch here doesn't do it much justice because it looks so much better on my lips! The matte finish is nice and surprisingly it feels very moisturising - not your usual matte lipstick dry texture! 

They also very kindly sent me lots of samples to try which I'm excited about and I've also got the Skinfood Black Sugar Mask too, but I've tried it and loved it before so I didn't mention that here but I can't wait to use it tonight! 

Also, I have made an Instagram account especially for my blog and YouTube so if you would like to follow me there it is @NoonsWrites www.instagram.com/noonswrites

Thank you for reading!

Maryam..

The Thoughts of an Introvert #1: Appearances

I've been spending a lot of time by myself recently and being an introvert it is something I enjoy. It is so easy to get lost in thought and I have been thinking about a lot of things recently. So I will be doing a series here on NoonsWrites about my thoughts - the thoughts, ideas and views of an introvert. Maybe you can relate, maybe you can't. But it will give you an insight into the way I think and how I view the world. 

The other day, I was on the train with my mother sitting opposite me. I looked at her for a while and began to think about appearances. As people we have the power to mask our sadness (or any other emotion) and we step into the outside world with a smile escaping the intensity of the happenings in the private sphere. When unfortunate things happen I always feel like I need to get away, I need a break from being in the same space. My mind craves refreshment and this is what I often seek when I am feeling low. Refreshment. It varies from the a sudden burst of energy and wanting to be outside of home to being alone watching my favourite TV shows (The Originals, Gotham, Arrow and The Flash if you are wondering) cuddled up in my bed. 

This got me thinking about other people. I am always surrounded by new people - whether that be at college, on the streets of my city or in the shopping centre etc. I know nothing about these people around me. I know what they look like and I am quick to judge in terms of appearance or the way they carry themselves. And I know a lot of us do this because it is so easy for us to judge based upon the way people carry themselves in the public eye. 

Everybody has a different story to tell, our life experiences are different. Everyone goes through hardships whether they are minor or major because life is simply not fair. My point here, is to recognise the ways in which we present ourselves to the public sphere. It's easy to pick up a concealer and hide the puffiness around your eyes from the night you spent crying your eyes out, it's easy to fake a smile and show the world that you are ok. It is easy to put on a decent outfit and show the world that you are put together when in fact you are in pieces, struggling to juggle life's hardships.
 Everybody has a story and not everyone chooses to share theirs, some prefer to express whilst others prefer to suppress their emotions and bury them away. But these are natural reactions and as humans it is our job to realise this before we judge and interpret a person when we know nothing of them, their life, their story, their experiences etc. 

We all seek comfort in different ways. We all show our emotions in different ways. We react to situations in different ways. We are humans. We are unique. We are amazing and powerful beings with the ability to hurt, endanger and create havoc but also to help, create, empower, change, inspire and much much more. We needed to be reminded of this more often..  

This is mainly a reminder to myself but before we are quick to judge others, think. What has this person gone through, why do they carry themselves in such a manner? There is a reason behind everything & I think we should understand this before misinterpreting. 

To conclude I would like to address this photo I quickly put together on photoshop.
The moon represents difficulties because most of the time it is the night when I am feeling down but I also rejoice in the beauty of its presence and the stars in the sky. Although I do not like the dark I appreciate the stars and the beautiful night sky.  The eye represents looking at life in a different angle, to look for the happiness even if it is the little things. I love the sunshine and it's warmth brings an instant lift in mood and the picture of myself just brings back happy memories of Summer time.

If you read this all, I would like to thank you. I would love to hear what your views are so please leave me a comment. Sorry if this was a bit all over the place, this is my first in the series but if you enjoyed reading please let me know and I will continue to write about what else goes on in this head of mine!

Maryam

My 3 Product Face Look!

Hi guys, sorry for the absence! I'm back and hopefully want to improve the content on here.

I thought I would get back in to blogging with a simple post and share a makeup look that I have been sporting the past couple days. 

With extremely cold mornings I always want to prolong my time in bed which means I have less time to get ready. So I've been gravitating towards three products that are easy to slap on within 5 minutes! 

The first is Nars Tinted Moisturiser, if you read my blog / watch my videos you are probably sick of me mentioning this but this is my holy grail base product! It's lightweight, provides sheer coverage and gives a gorgeous glow to the skin. If you prefer heavier coverage or have oilier skin you might want to avoid this unless you powder throughout the day. 

I use the shade Alaska and it is a perfect match for my skin. 

The next is the Tarte Gifted Amazonian Clay Smart Mascara. I got this as a birthday gift and I enjoy using it. Not my favourite mascara but it's still lengthening and separates the lashes nicely. I like combining this with my Urban Decay Perversion Mascara as this provides lots of volume so they go well together!

Lastly is Mac's matte lipstick in Taupe. I really love this. It's a perfect everyday nude colour especially for Asian skin tones! I like the contrast of glory skin with a matte lip. The lipstick is also really long wearing so I only have to touch it up once while I'm at college. 

 

A closer look at the mascara....

Sorry about the awkward hat (H&M) and headband (ZARA) combination.. I could not be bothered to put a scarf on so I chucked these on hoping they would look somewhat decent! How pretty is the headband though! I picked it up a couple of weeks ago from the Zara sale for £8!

Thanks for reading, hopefully you will hear from me very soon! 

Maryam 

Happy New Year!

Hey everyone!

Well I have a bit of explaining to do! I was doing so well with the blogging everyday but then I had a 'creative block' and felt like I was producing content that wasn't good enough! 
Since the last time I blogged a few things have happened:

- I turned 18! My birthday was on the 18th of December, it was an amazing day full of surprises and gifts with my amazing friends and family! My mum, dad, brother and friends were amazingly kind and spoilt me with gifts and lots of chocolate! (I need to stop using the word amazing!)

- The New Year has begun! Today is the first day of January so time for me to try and better myself! This year I thought I wouldn't have any resolutions but now that I'm sitting down and thinking about it I think it's good to have a few goals, because seriously what better time to start? Fresh new year, fresh new start!  So here are a few things I want to do this year:

• I want to be happy with myself: As narcissistic as this sounds but I want to love myself more. My mind is a dangerous place & I am constantly putting myself down, telling myself I'm not good enough... Hating my body, hating everything about it and being drowned by my self consciousness and paranoia about my appearance. A lot of people don't know this about me because I put myself and images of myself on the internet but there have been countless times I have wanted to delete all of my social media and quit blogging and youtubing. And this leads me to my second point
• Get healthier: This is probably the most generic resolution of all time, but it is a serious matter. I've struggled with my weight for many years now and I feel like I have to do something about it now. I don't want to go in to my 20's still overweight and depressed. 
• Start university happy and healthy: By the time I leave home I want to be a completely different person. I want to leave behind the unhappy overweight person that I have been for the past 7 years and I want to be confident in myself. I have become a little more independent recently but if I combine it with health and happiness, ultimately I will be content this way
• Become emotionally stronger: 2014 has had its ups and downs and sometimes I felt like I didn't react well in certain situations so I think it's time to cry less, buckle up and strengthen myself inside. 

There are a few other little things like being more organised but hey ho, we can't always be perfect. We are human after all and establishing everything is not always possible. Just striving to be the best we can be is good enough! 

My Saturday

I have literally 9 minutes to wrote up this blog post before the day is over so I'm quickly writing to talk about my day! 

At the moment our house is going through a lot of work so I couldn't go downstairs for a few hours! It started off as a pretty boring day but I went to Nottingham to Ikea - we realised it wasn't that great - but I still managed to get a desk lamp! From Next Home I managed to get a few things. As you may know, we moved home 6 months ago and it has been progressing very slowly but we're getting there!

I will show you everything that I got in tomorrow's post. I hope you've all had a lovely Saturday, sorry for this random post but I didn't want to miss a day!

xxx

Niomi's Chocolate Almond Spiced Cookies!

I'm sure you are all familiar with Niomi Smart - British fashion, beauty and lifestyle blogger / vlogger. Naomi uploaded another amazing recipe yesterday to her YouTube channel and the cookies looked so great I had to try them! 

The result was amazing! The spices worked perfectly with the chocolate and almonds, not too overpowering but just the slight hint to give you warm, cosy and delicious cookies perfect for this time of year. So all credits go to Niomi for sharing this recipe. Here is my take on them. 

Just to let you know I did change a few things, I used Lindt milk chocolate as I prefer this over dark chocolate and I also used a bit more maple syrup than the recipe states because it just needed to be slightly sweeter. 

The recipe is as follows: 

Click here to see Niomi making them.

Makes 10-12 cookies. 15 minutes baking time. Allow 30 minutes altogether.

Ingredients

2 cups Ground Almonds

2 heaped tbsp Coconut Oil

4-5 Squares of Dark Chocolate or use Chocolate Chips

1 tbsp Agave Nectar (or 1.5 tbsp pure maple syrup)

1/2 Mashed Ripe Banana

1 tbsp Almond Butter

1 tsp Cinnamon

1/2 tsp Ground Ginger, Nutmeg and Pink Himalayan Salt

1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1. Pre-heat oven to 170C.

2. Mash the ripe banana and chop the chocolate into chunks.

Tip - the banana will be easier to mash if it's ripe! It'll also taste better.

3. In a saucepan, heat the coconut oil on a low heat. When it is melted, add the syrup and all the spices and salt. Keep on a low heat and stir until ingredients are combined.

4. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the ground almonds and baking powder. Mix in the mashed banana, chocolate chunks and almond butter.

5. Now add the melted ingredients and stir it altogether until combined. All the ingredients should stick together until the bowl is clean.

6. Take a tablespoon amount of the mixture and place onto a tray with greaseproof paper. Press down to form a cookie.

7. Press the back of a fork onto each of the cookies and bake for 15 minutes.

8. Remove from oven and allow cookies to cool.

I hope you are all having a nice evening / morning / afternoon! 

Thanks for reading 

Throwback Thursday - My 17th Birthday

As my 18th birthday approaches in exactly one week I thought I'd share a photo from last year's birthday. My family and I went to Nando's for dinner and we just chilled. 

I also got to spend time with my friends at college :) 

Here I am with my brother while we waited for a table. I look quite delirious, I know!

I'm pretty excited for my 18th birthday, sad to grow up but I am looking forward to a bright future (InshAllah!)