Hijabi Tip: Style Up an Abaya

So this is actually something that I recently discovered, and it's basically layering sheer tops over an abaya. At the moment there are all these lovely, flowy, chiffon blouses that are in style and they would be perfect for Muslimah's to wear, if only they weren't see through! So, I thought instead of wearing them underneath my abaya, why not wear them over the top, thus adding a little extra something to my usual outfit of a standard plain abaya. This might not be ideal in the winter, when you want to wear as many layers as possible (a lot thicker and warmer than chiffon), but it would be great once the weather starts warming up a little, and we can get rid of the layers on cardigans and jackets.

If you read MangoWhirl's blog, then you might have noticed in this blog post, that I'm wearing a red/burgundy colour sleeveless blouse, which I left unbuttoned on the day. The top is actually jersey at the front and chiffon at the back, with lace inserts on the shoulders (which was covered mostly by my hijab).

Here are a few blouses that I've found online, but there are a lot more available, depending on what colours and styles you like. I personally prefer the sleeveless blouses with a lower drape at the back =)

H&M Sleeveless Blouse / Dorothy Perkins Lace Shoulder Shirt / Dorothy Perkins Black Sleeveless Top/

New Look Rose Black Polka Blouse / Mango Chiffon Contrast Shirt / Dorothy Perkins Black Bird Long Sleeve Top

What do you think? Will you be trying this style with your abaya?



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Chocoholic Hijabi bakes: Rainbow Cake

In the past I've made rainbow cupcakes as well as a single layer rainbow cake. Last weekend I decided to make a 2 layer rainbow cake, with fresh cream icing in between the layers as well as covering the cake.

I used a very simple cake recipe that I always use for cakes, which basically works in ratio's so you can make a small or very large cake depending on if you double/triple the ingredients. Basically it's one egg for every 2 ounces of flour, sugar and butter. I used a 10 ounce recipe, which needed 10 ounces each of supreme sponge flour, caster sugar and softened butter/margerine, 5 eggs, and a teaspoon on vanilla extract. I use supreme sponge flour as I think my cakes turn out better, but you could also use self-raising flour (which I use when I can't find the supreme sponge flour). If you have a cake recipe that you already like, then simply use that and just divide the mixture and add colour =)

For the rainbow colours, I used Wilton food colouring gel, which I bought from a local party supply shop (but you can also purchase them online). The gel food colouring is very important as it means that the texture and taste of the cake mixture is not changing, whereas if you were to add liquid food colouring, you would end up with a very wet cake that wouldn't taste nice at all! Also, with the gel colours, you only need to use a tiny amount (about a quarter of teaspoon) to get brightly coloured cakes!

To layer the colours, I fill freezer bags with the coloured mixture and then pipe the colours on top of one another. When I first made the cakes, I did use a spoon and try to level out each layer, but piping the layers is a lot quicker and the colours are less likely to mix together.

I didn't manage to get step-by-step pictures, but here are the ones that I did manage to take =)

Cream butter/margerine and sugar together

Mix in eggs, then sift flour in a little at a time and mix until combined. Also add the vanilla extract at this stage.

Separate mixture into roughly five equal portions. Add the gel food colouring and mix well.

 

Pipe the layers of colour in the cake pans. Use the back of a spoon/palette knife to smooth down each layer. Extra cake mixture used for individual cakes =)

 

Bake in a pre-heated oven until cakes are baked through. Leave the cake to cool and then stack and decorate =)

Finished!

Will you be trying to make rainbow cake any time soon?



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Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain [review]

These Clinique Chubby Stick look-a-likes are practically a staple in my makeup bag at the moment, so I thought I'd share why! The Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Lip Balm Stains (crazy long name), are basically a super pigmented and moisturising lip stain in a chubby crayon form. The chubby pencil design makes it easy to apply the colour directly to your lips and because it's a retractable pencil, there's no sharpening required! I have two of these stains, in Crush and Honey.

 

 

 

Crush is the darkest shade available and it's a berry red shade. I apply this colour and then blot it so that it's not as pigmented on my lips, and by the end of the day there is still a stain on my lips. It's perfect for when I don't want to carry any lip products with me as there really is no need to reapply! I just add a little lip balm over the top as the day goes on, because even though the balm stains are moisturising, my lips do get dry throughout the day.

Honey is a more recent purchase (which I bought using my Boots Advantage Card points) and is a lovely soft pink shade. A sort of 'my lips but better' colour which is great for everyday wear. This is currently in my work bag, even though I don't really need to reapply during the day, it's there for those 'just in case' moments'.


I definitely am glad that I picked up these balm stains, especially in these two particular shades! I'll be looking into the rest of the shades available, but so far I've found two that are perfect for me =)

Have you tried the Revlon Just Bitten Balm Stains? What do you think of them?




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January Empties

Another month gone by and another lot of empties to share on the blog today! Here they are!

L'Occitane 100% Pure Shea Butter Mini Tin (8ml) - This was perfect for using on my eczema and dry patches of skin during the past few weeks. When the weather gets colder, my face does get a lot drier, rather than staying it's usual combination self. The Pure Shea Butter is great as I only need to use a tiny amount, and I apply it at night so I can wake up with skin that is not dry and irritated. Even though it's a small tin, it's lasted me an absolute age (I bought it last January). I'll definitey be repurchasing this!

ELF Luscious Liquid Lipstick - I bought this over a year ago, and to be honest, it's not a product that I reached for that often. In fact it's only been used up because I had to put it on my desk to remind myself to finish the product! I'm not sure which shade this is, but I think it looks like Strawberry. It's an alright product, easy to use and great to just pop on when I don't have much time, but I'm not going to be repurchasing this.

Bath & Body Works Raspberry Pink Peony PocketBac - This is the handiest little antibacterial hand gel that I have. It is fragranced, which masks the smell of the alcohol and the cute bottle and coloured gel makes it great to pop into a handbag and take it wherever I go. I have a few of these (a nice little collection of different scents) and I only wish we could buy them here in the UK!


Bath & Body Works Fragrance Spray (Warm Vanilla Sugar) - Another body mist has been used up this month! The vanilla scent wasn't overpowering, it did smell sweet, even though it was a bit artificial.

Liz Earle Hot Cloth Cleanser - So after finishing off the full size Cleanse and Polish in December, I've started to use up my sample sizes before I purchase another full size one. Basically, this cleanser is a Holy Grail product for me, and even though I might try other cleansers, I will always come back to this one.




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