No alcohol and No perfume!!

Asalam waliykum sisters,

As you are all aware of by now, I am off on Umrah. One thing we Muslims know is that while in the state of Ihram/purity that are many do's and Don'ts which I have addressed briefly in a previous post Here!!

One thing that is not permissible while in ihram is to wear perfume, that goes for both men and women. Some may think I only mean perfume that you spray on. Actually I mean any product that contains perfume and scents. Yes, you read correctly no perfume at all.

So from when I do the ritual bath/ghusul I should not use scented products, on my journey also I should not use scented products until I complete all the rights of Umrah. Even after this, women should not use perfume while going to the Masjid Harram the same as visiting any mosque or going outside. However, you can resume to use your normal products such as shampoo, hand wash, etc etc.

That is super tricky for me and for others too, because all the products I use have natural scents. In my old posts I talked about my love of Lush, Well all their products are full of natural scents and guess what I can not use them while in the state of Ihram. That includes my moisturisers, body wash, shampoo, conditioner, cleanser and even deodorant! Now, I am not saying that while in Ihram you have to be stinky and unclean, not at all! But you need to use products which are completely scent free, nada, no scents even artificial perfumes.

Perhaps 10-20 years ago this could of caused a lot of difficulties as brands did not cater to people who required products scent free. So I can imagine many people only able to wash with water. If you are lucky you may of had access to products from Arab countries that are scent free. However, if not that may of meant only washing with water and being unable to control body odour, with no fault of your own.

When I realised the restriction of scents, I to had a moment of horror thinking about not being able to moisturise, smell fresh and wash my hair etc. Alhamdulillah I came across, by total accident, a company that cater to Muslims going on Hajj/umrah. I also tried Google to find other products but usually only one or two items I could find.

El-hajj is the first of its kind, to cater to Muslims making this spiritual journey. You can check out their site Here. Alhamdulillah they have an online store to provide for Muslims all around the world. They are based in Malaysia, Mashallah they have everything there!

Inshallah I hope to do a full review once I have used all the products, so you should expect to see that start of September, Inshallah. They sell everything you need, for a man, I can assure you zawji would get by with shampoo and shower gel and be quiet happy. Me on the other hand is a different story, so Alhamdulillah El-Hajj provide lots of products.

Here are the goodies, It is a travel size pack that I ordered. The site sells larger versions of these but i wanted to try everything and this was the cheapest option to do that. So in the box came a transparent travel bag that included (from right to left):

- lip balm

- sun cream

- heal balm

- hand cream

- face moisturiser

- face cleanser

- shower gel (Antibacterial agent)

When I opened each one there was no scent or perfume at all, an added bonus they are all alcohol free, which is known to dry out skin. So Alhamdulillah these products really are halal. One thing I would of liked which they included in the old travel set is a face scrub. A slight negative no body lotion which I need!

The products came in the transparent travel bag, in a nice box, and then wrapped in tissue paper, and with a little leaflet of the contents. Mashallah it was nicely presented.

The back of the box, more details on there of the products, the company and the ingredients.

The box was intact, and arrived very quickly if I remember rightly, from when I ordered to when I received the package was 3days. Mashallah super quick, as I was expecting it to take 7 days, so Alhamdulillah was a nice surprise to get it sooner.

Just to show you the size, it is travel size, all the bottles are suitable to be carried in your hand luggage. Compiling with the 100ml fluid limit. However, I think that there are too many bottles, I am sure you can only take 4 bottles. Never the less, this is going into my suitcase, apart from the hand cream and lip balm.

Unfortunately they do not sell deodorant. So I went on the hunt for some, looking for deodorants was a bit more tricky, especially as I also avoid and have boycotted products made by Unilever, Sare lee etc. (Links to zionist isreal). Alhamdulillah I found ONE, by Mitchum who sell a perfume and alcohol free deodorant and is ethical too!! It is available from most stores like Asda, Superdrug, Boots etc, so it should not be too hard to find it online. 

Hope you enjoyed the pre review for products.
Please do comment and share this post, so that others may benefit from it as you have.

Jazakallah khier

Wasalam-x-