I almost feel embarrassed to write this as I feel so guilty I’ve not been able to blog as much as I’ve wanted to in 2019.

Somehow this year has slipped by so fast and in retrospect I realise how and why I haven’t been able to keep up and why I feel so unaccomplished despite actually accomplishing a lot this year.

Simply put: Instagram has taken over my priorities as that’s been my main source of earning now that I’ve gone full time with this “influencing” career and it bothers me that I feel like I’ve neglected my baby- this blog.

my beauty highlights post from 2019 (here on IG)

Fragrant Fridays: Eid Gift Guide - Moresque Secret Collection*

*this post is sponsored by Moresque Parfum
If you've been following me and have never heard of Moresque before, you probably haven't been paying attention! Last year I was introduced to the parfum brand and included one of their fragrances in my Eid blog post here where I talked about the history of Oud and why it's so popular particular in the Middle East.
For those of you who haven't heard of Moresque, it is a fairly new fragrance house (est. 2015) that fuses art, history and Middle Eastern tradition and its bottles are crafted in Italy. Up until now the fragrance collections I've seen from Moresque have been housed in very distinctive thick, rounded bottles, which are each hand crafted and uniquely designed in Italy and range from £215-£310, only available at Harrods.
The new Secret Collection is being launched exclusively at Fenwick, at a much more affordable price point and I worked with Moresque for the launch event this week to pick a few girls I thought would best appreciate and fit this collection launch (saved on my instagram highlights), which I was thrilled to have the opportunity to do (thank you KGA!).
Read on to see which fragrance is my favourite and which you may like the sound of best...

Turmeric Tales: Disciple "GOOD SKIN" Facial Oil-Serum

please note: this post contains affiliate links which means that if you purchase anything using these links, a very small percentage of the product's cost will come to me at no expense to yourself. This helps with the running costs of my blog, thank you!

I was meant to finish writing up my Kiehls Turmeric & Cranberry mask draft and post it next in my Turmeric Tales series (read my first post describing Turmeric benefits here), but life has massively got in the way of blogging as consistently as I intended for this year and recently I’ve been using this Disciple Good Skin facial oil-serum (due to my skin reacting to something), so I felt it deserved to be bumped up the Turmeric Tale list as I haven't been using much else (in a bid to make my skin return to normal).

I haven’t yet tried the Dreamy Skin facial oil in this Discovery Set that I bought, so I am focusing this blog post on the Good Skin Facial Oil-Serum, but the Dreamy Skin sounds amazing and I always look for sets when purchasing new products from brands, so I’d recommend buying this one to see if you like both, as it works out better value for money.

Read on to see what my thoughts are on the Good Skin facial oil-serum and why it may be good for you too..

Food For Thought Friday: Healthy Eating in Ramadan

So as you guys may or may not know, I graduated in BSc Human Nutrition almost a decade ago and even though I talk more about beauty, I do feel super passionate about health still too.. and the fact there's a lot more misinformation around now with social media and no real verification of influencers giving dietary advice.
Despite the fact I did graduate in Nutrition, I'm not a registered nutritionist nor have I practiced; which is why I don't openly give advice as I take giving health advice very seriously as it could impact someone's life massively!
It really does concern me that many influencers think it's ok to give unqualified dietary/health advice especially as everyone wants a quick fix and will follow someone on social media thinking it will work for them too, but it's not that simple as each of our bodies are different and therefore we should be careful copying diets and advice, particularly if it tells you to cut out whole food groups/products (unless of course you are intolerant or have specific health issues).
Anyway I wanted to introduce a "Food For Thought Friday" post this week in prep for Ramadan as many of us particularly in South Asian culture tend to go overboard with food in compensation for the fasting hours, so I've asked a registered Nutritionist friend to guest post for us today sharing her advice and tips which I hope will be of value!

Turmeric Tales: Botanical Lab Turmeric Blemish Control Clay Mask

Hi everyone and welcome back!!

I've decided to start a new series of “Turmeric Tales” after the popularity of my Instagram post last year (here) featuring the Botanical Lab Turmeric mask, so I've been scouring the internet since then, collecting some turmeric containing products to test and review for this series, which I'm so excited about!

Seeing as my grandparents were from India and turmeric is heavily used in South Asian food/culture, it made sense to start this series, especially as it has recently gained much popularity in the Western world, so read on to see my first instalment in this series and a little background information on the wonder ingredient that is also known as "haldi".

please note: this post contains affiliate links which means that if you purchase anything using these links, a very small percentage of the product's cost will come to me at no expense to yourself. This helps with the running costs of my blog, thank you!

Tuesday Takeover: Amina Ali

So here we are in 2019 with more amazing guest bloggers I hand pick to review products.. this Tuesday Takeover is by Amina who's guest posted before a couple times because I love the honesty of her reviews and also love that she's a mummy like me who I just gel with; do check her out on her blog and socials!

In this post she'll be kindly reviewing a few Rodial Collagen Boost Lip Lacquers I was PR gifted, but felt Amina would maybe appreciate and use more, so read on for her thoughts!

BECCA Ultimate Lipstick Love*

*this post is sponsored by BECCA (eek!)
Up until now, BECCA have been known mostly for face/base products that give their signature "BECCA Glow" and most people will know about their their amazingly buttery Shimmering Skin Perfectors (if not, then where have you been?!). Opal is my ultimate fave in both the liquid and powder form, but I also had time to play around with their foundations, concealers and other glowy goodness at the BECCA trip (blog post here), where I discovered they only had lip glosses in their lip arsenal. I remember commenting saying that I can't wait for BECCA to expand on their lip ranges as I'm not much of a gloss girl and lo and behold the day has come.. and BECCA have not failed to disappoint!
In true BECCA "glow" style, this new lipstick range gives a healthy sheen to the lips that is thankfully not not overly shiny or sticky. The shade range is so on point as it covers the two most popular lipstick choices- nude and red, but with the idea that not one shade of red or nude lipstick will look good on everyone... so BECCA have created 30 shades so that everyone can find their perfect colour!
Now if you're not a usual reader of my blog then you won't know that this is exactly why I've been focusing on lip swatches for the past couple years, as my own lips are pigmented/darker than other people's, so I like to show people who have similar lip and skin tones what shades could look like, to help them decide which may suit them too. Of course everyone is free to wear what they like but if you have darker pigmented lips like me then certain nudes just end up looking ashy/pastel, which I'm personally not a fan of on myself.
So I couldn't have been more over the moon to have been approached for my first ever sponsored blog post (after 8+ years!), to be for this range.. it's so in line with what I already do! 🙌 Read on to see swatches of the Ultimate Lipstick Loves and more info...