DIY: Recycle & Reuse Candle Jars

Asalam Waliykum,

Do you love candles? especially the ones that come in glass jars? I do! My favorite has to be Yankee candles, and the glass jars they come in are so nice and pretty. I used to chuck them in the recycle bin and it seemed like such a waste, but I never knew what I could use them for. However, I came across some advice a year or so ago, about removing the left over wax and reusing them to store food or snacks or decorate them or simply put other candles inside.

DIY: Henna your Hair at Home Lush, Lush!

Asalam Waliykum Sisters,

Firstly, I want to thank everyone for the lovely comments and support. I really appreciate it and glad to see my posts are beneficial to many of you. I do read every message and do my utmost best to reply when I can.

On with the post! I wanted to create a detailed guide and step by step of how to achieve Red hair at home using Henna. Which I had promised you oh so many months ago! Anyway...In particular Henna from Lush. So keep on reading for lots of tips and tricks...

Lush Haul- November Edition

Asalam Waliykum, 

Haven't raved about Lush in a while, and recently received a Large order of my favorite products. Thought I would share with you guys and also turn this into a recommendation type of post and another shout out to the company. They never cease to impress me. I have a few reviews up on the blog already so do check those out to, Here, Here and Here oh and one more Here! 

One reason why I love Lush, and I'm not sure if I made this clear from the start, but  they are ethical and not some blood sucking super power company such as the likes of Unilever, Sara lee, Nestle, Danone, Este Lauder, Disney, L'oreal, Starbucks, Intel, M&S, Johnson & Johnson, Mc'D  etc, etc that dominate the shelves in most shops. Why do I have a problem with these blood sucking giants, well most are proud supporters of Zionism and IsraHell and are supporting zionists causes and charities, this information is readily available online you only need to investigate and you will see for yourselves.  I believe that  boycotting is an effective way to get the message across especially as Muslimahs,  women are the main consumers of beauty products. We can make an impact if we stop being so lazy and start shopping ethically. Small changes in our shopping habits make a difference. Just look at the back of your products and you will see who the 'mother' company is, you will find if you search long enough you can trace all products back to 6 major companies some are listed above. 

Anyway, with that rant over and onto the Lush goodies I purchased this Month. 

I love to Henna!!

Asalam Waliykum,

One of my Favorite hobbies is hennaing, if that is a word not to sure, any-who I will use it anyway. I do it randomly in the year, not just for the Eids, but any time I feel like it. I just wanted to share some of the henna I have done recently in the last  few months. Just like with my other hobbies I want to be able to share this with you guys, and even inspire some sisters. There are many halal hobbies us sisters can pursue, and doing henna is an old traditional hobby, with lots of benefits. One being you always get asked to do peoples henna! Below is a series of my latest creations, do read on....

DIY- Moroccan Hammam in your own home!

Asalam waliykum,

I never thought of doing a post on this before, only after seeing a few sisters speak about their Hammam experiences did I think to do this. This is a sort of continuation of my last post, the Moroccan Haul which can be found Here!!

Moroccan Haul- Moroccan goodies

Asalam waliykum 

I was not to sure what to call this post, it is not really a haul, more of recommendation of certain products I received, used and love. My intention for this post it not to boast what I have, or to show off. My intention is to reccomend products that may be of benefit to sisters that are also affordable (apart from the Argan oil) for anyone and most are 100% natural!

Argan Oil - Liquid Gold

Asalam waliykum, 

I really wanted to write about this, sort of related to my Moroccan Haul post that I will be up in the next couple of days. I love Argan Oil and hopefully after reading this you will see how amazing this stuff really is. For the last couple of years I have been on a quest to only use natural products, as much as possible anyway. And I remembered Morocco is full of natural cosmetic products, that are reasonably priced and 100% natural, no chemicals no harmful nasties, and no preservatives etc. I initially started to use Extra virgin olive oil for my hair and skin and you can buy the top quality stuff from the shops and use it only for cosmetic use. It is great for removing makeup, on sensitive skin, heals scarring, has anti bacterial properties. So if you are not able to get your hands on Argan Oil I highly reccomend using extra virgin olive oil instead. 

I LOVE LUSH- Review of products and service

Asalam waliykum,

We are in the last 10 nights of Ramadan, Subhanallah the month passed too quickly. 

I want to share with you yet more lush goodies from my last trip to Lush. 

Cute bags, Still going strong with the campaign against animal testing mashallah. 
I went to the Branch in Bristol, did not have a very good experience compared to the Branch in Portsmouth and Kingston upon Thames. I don't think I would go there again, if it had been my first experience at Lush I would most likely not return again. 

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.

Hijabi hair care

Asalam waliykum sisters,

Bad hair days, yes we all experience them. It doesn't matter what type of hair you have at some point while wearing hijab your hair will start to show some signs of wear and tear.

Some sisters complain of Hijab hair, which i can say sort of resembles bed head. It is true, and to make matters worse sisters start to neglect their hair, as they are not showing it as often then they don't need to look after it as much or so they think. This is totally wrong, and something i went through myself. But i soon realised i should look after my hair for myself and for those who are deserving of seeing it.

Lush, Lush, Lush and more Lush....

Asalam waliykum,

As promised before, this is a continuous post of lush products i have bought and used.
One thing i forgot to mention in my first post is about how lush do not test their products on animals and are against testing on animals. If you go in store on online, you can sign the ongoing petition to support their ban on animal testing for good! I feel very passionate about this, and as Muslims we should all feel that way too. Not only are we forbidden as Muslims to torture one another, it is not permissible to do that to an animal in any shape or form. 

Now onto 3 products i brought, tried and tested on moi! The first one is Angels on bare skin, after using herbalism i liked how gentle the cleanser was, but i needed something that was more clarifying and able to deal with my T-zone better! I opted for angels on bare skin, still gentle but with lavender which helps keep good moisture in the skin and prevents build up of natural oils. I have used this for 4 weeks now and have had no problems with it. Alhamdulillah since i have used these 3 products i have had so many compliments from people, who have mentioned my skin is glowing and looks clear and bright and in that time no blemishes, Mashallah.
This cleanser has NO synthetic ingredients and is 100% natural. It also contains lavender flower and this is really cute and keeps secreting oils into the cleanser infusing it with a lovely light lavender scent. This is good for those with combination and dry skin. I use this twice a day, morning and before bed. The texture once mixed with water is creamey and smooth, its easier to apply to the face and massage in, leaves your skin smelling of lavender flowers :)

Wonder cleanser in a pot!

Imperialis Moisturiser, The first moisturiser i have used from lush and has been a great hit with me! The scent is the first thing that attracted me to this product its light, feminine and natural. The texture is nice too, easy to apply and a little goes a long way, so a small tub of this should last a good month or just over that if you don't go over board and slap it on. One reason i adore this moisturiser is because it contains