1000 Good Deeds

Salaam,
I came across this amazing website which suggests good deeds you can do. The good deeds are based on the Qur'an and Sunnah and are inspiring.

http://1000gooddeeds.com/category/good-deeds/

They are up to 304 good deeds at the time of posting this.

Vitality Show 2013

Hi, just a quick post about the Vitality show that took place in Earl's Court March 2013!

The show took place over 4 days and we went on the weekend. The guy who took our tickets (Spencer Matthews from Made in Chelsea look-a-like) was kinda rude and when we first walked in, we couldn't see any fellow hijabis :( but saw 6-7 later on. The majority of the people there were 30+.

There were workshops where you could do yoga workouts or listen to talks and lots of different stalls for beauty, food and well being etc. They even had a few stalls selling hijabs (but you can get them for half or a third of the price elsewhere).

They gave out free goody bags with random items if you filled in a form:

It consisted of:

• Sakata Japanese rice crackers in sour cream and chive

• Loreal shampoo and conditioner sample

• Belvita yogurt crunch

• Sprite 
• Nivea Pure & Natural sample

• Sudocream sample

• Hermesetas sweetener pack

• Tate & Lyle Half spoon 20g :S

• 2 Coffee sachets

Vitality Show goody bag.

A different flavour in the Vitality show goody bag that my sis got- Roast tomato and balsamic.

They had a lovely stall selling bath products which reminded me of Lush. One of their displays was set out like a vintage tea party/cake stand. SO cute! Its called BOMB Cosmetics and their products are "natural and home made".

Bath time tea party?

Bath melts. Look like cupcakes right?

Scrubs and polishes

Other stalls included nail/brow bars, vegan cakes and breads, bakhour/oud, olives and baklava, Samina pure make up, teeth whitening, diary free "milk", jewellery, healthy snacks, you could also get your BMI tested and have a go on this exercise machine that vibrates your legs.

They also had a tooth whitening stall which I shall write about another day Insha Allah.

Did any of you go? Would you go in the future?

OOTD: Casual Work or Uni Wear

Butterfly Ring and Spike Bracelet

Dress - boohoo.com
Jeans - New Look
Shoes - Schuh
Bracelet - Primark
Ring - New Look

Nails: Facets of Fuchsia

For this look, I used Revlon's Ruby Fruit (as seen in the 2 nails in the back) as a base which is a dark plum colour, and then 2 coats of Max Factor's Facets of Fuchsia which is like a light black jelly with purple glitter.

Max Factor's glittery Facet of Fuchsia nail polish on a base of Revlon's Ruby Fruit

What do you think? (Sorry for the unclear pic, was taken on my old phone). Google has clearer images.

QOTD: Friends

"The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: A man follows the religion of his friend; so each one should consider whom he makes his friend."

[Abu Dawud 41:4815]

( P.S I can now reply to comments! Yayy)

How to: Make a henna paste

I have posted a few henna posts before and wanted to show you how you can do it yourself at home!

Use a good quality finely milled henna powder such as Jamila Powder as it will come out of the cone much more smoothly and you wont have to keep stopping to "unblock" the nib - who hates that?! Make sure it is from a recent crop!! Each new crop comes out during the summer, so if you were to buy one right now, it would be a 2012 crop.

Source

A heaped tablespoon of powder is enough for approximately 1 medium-large cone or 2 smaller cones.

Method
Stage 1

• Add 1 tablespoon of henna powder and enough fresh lemon juice (not water) to make a firm mashed potato consistency. The paste must be very thick, smooth with no dry bits. Seal with cling film for 6 hours in room temperature (perhaps near an oven/cooker).

• Make sure there are no air bubbles and that the clingfilm is resting on top of the paste.

Stage 2

• Add essential oils such as Eucalyptus B.P oil or Gajaput oil. (For every heaped tablespoon of henna powder you need 1 teaspoon of oil).

• Top up the mixture with fresh lemon juice to get the right consistency. The consistency you should be aiming for is a 1-2-3 drop consistency similar to toothpaste consistency. Confused? Get a teaspoon full of the mixture and then drop it into the mixture bowl - it should fall on the third count (after 3 seconds). Don't count tooo fast nor too s  l  o  w!
• Rest for 6 hours to allow the lemon juice to break the chemicals down. Don't put cling film on top of the henna (you may put it over the bowl though).
• This is probably best done the day before you need to apply the henna or if you are at work, do stage 1 overnight and then stage 2 in the morning.

Stage 3

• Fill your cone with 2 tea spoons of henna.
• Seal nib with sellotape to stop henna from pouring out and remove after you have sealed the top if your are going to use it then.
• Fold at top sides in a diamond shape then make small folds at the top and work down. Seal with sellotape.

For more info on how to roll a cone click here.

Mini Haul

Salaam!

Just a few items I picked up this month.

New Look Butterfly ring, Topshop Nail Art pens, New Look Hamsa necklace, Superdrug coral/brown scarf (underneath)

The ring as you can see is over sized and encrusted with diamantes. The nail art pens have a thin brush at one end and then nail gems on the other! Topshop did have ultra fine nail pens but I read that they scratch your base nail polish off :(