My Everyday Hijab

The power of your words

This is a matter that I've always thought of, and after being active on Instagram it even became clearer to me that people seem to be incapable of keeping their negative opinions to themselves, when it must, in fact, be the first option rather than the last.

People are too busy amplifying others' mistakes and undermining their own. They have so much time in hand to correct others, but have no time to only do 'some' thinking about what is wrong with their own selves. Very confidently, they give themselves the right to evaluate other people's Islam and good will and take it to the next level by carelessly talking to them in front of others, or in our Instagram scope...posting a comment as "This is not Hijab Ukhti" , "You give the wrong idea about Deen" , "How do you even call this Hijab?" and i once saw people calling a girl 'Bad Muslimah!!' No seriously who do you think you are? When did god secretely give you this right without us knowing? Do you know that by what you've just done you're actually the one who defied our beautiful Islamic etiquette?

Nasiha, or advice must be between you and the sister and not just throw it out there to her assuming you are genuinely concerned. And second, God people! pick your words. Another thing quite astounding are those who write things such as "sorry but she's ugly..." or "you're wearing rags" ... was there a gun to your head when you wrote that? 'Cause honestly there is absolutely no alternative to that except being an ill person inside, and you need therapy... and not only on instagram, but even in real life, you see everyday examples of people stabbing one another with words or bringing one another down...

As the picture says "المسلم من سلم المسلمون من لسانه و يده" or a muslim is the one who muslims ( and ofcourse everyone) were not hurt by his words or his hands...and words came first because words have a much stronger effect, they would shatter someone's hopes , destroy their confidence, ruin their day or minimally hurt their feelings. You don't know what someone is struggling with or going through, don't make it harder them by some obnoxious comment that you were too weak to keep within yourself.  So congratulate yourself on being the person who does that if you do that, and congratulate yourself on the good deeds you get if you're the one with that being done to.

Sorry I took so long, but I just thought that is worth sharing my thoughts with you. Be nice to people, say sweet things , compliment them on anything good they have...and if your words don't improve the silence, better keep them to yourself.

Selected Outfit Details

Ohh so long since the last time I posted! I miss writing to you guys...college is so consuming! I selected some outfits that I didn't write their details on my instagram...there we go: 

Black and Blue

I wore this classic outfit to a fancy lunch with one of my best friends. The blue dress as you've seen me wearing on instagram is almost knee-length and I wore it with a skinny (oops, I'm currently trying to cut down on skinnies for more modesty!), and as you can see in the picture below it is sleeveless. Yeah so, next time you go shopping and find a cute little dress that you'd think suits only non-hijabis, just buy it woman! But hey don't go too extreme, yes some dresses ARE better worn as they are with your friends at home or at a girls' party...(can't really think of an example though, but just had to point that out so you don't just buy any dress and get negative feedback about it).

My scarf is a pashmina (just like all my scarfs), dress and blazer from Mango, chain necklace and belt from Forever21, bag is Bulgari and heels are Paprika.  

Piece Over a Longer Piece!

I am falling in love with this style, you'll see me wearing quite a lot of it from now on where you get a hip/knee-length top/dress and wear a blouse/sweater/shirt above it. Today my outfit was very calm and made up of very soft colors and lace. The dress isn't really showing but it's a short-sleeve off-white dress with a plain off-white sleeveless layer that is attached to it. I topped it with this chiffon blouse and topped them both with a beige belt worn on a slim-fit denim (not skinny). 

Scarf: pashmina , dress and denim: Forever21, blouse and belt: Elle collection in Iconic, bag; Zara, heels: Spring, necklace: Made by me :D.  

Casual for College

Got nothing much to say about this except if you noticed how I knotted by belt on instagram! Hope you've seen the belt tutorial I made with four different styles.

The details are:

Knitted cardigan and top: Cotton-on, neck scarf: H&M, denim and belt: Forever21, bag: MK, shoes:Toms

Comfy to College

Scarf: Pashmina - Striped top and Lace Dress: Forever21 - Bow Belt: M&Co. - Necklace:Forever21 - Bag: David Jones  

Touch of Pink

Yes, as you see in the picture the blouse is not a blouse, it is actually a knee-length dress and I tucked it in the skirt. Make more use of the items you've got in your wardrobe, some examples would be wearing your dresses as skirts (http://hebalamode.blogspot.ae/2014/02/the-mint-dress.html), your short dresses as blouses (this post) or short skirts as shawls or scarfs (http://hebalamode.blogspot.ae/2014/02/who-said-you-cant-wear-short-skirt-with.html). Also next time you shop, don't limit yourself to how the item is displayed or how you're used to wearing it; if you like it just buy it and think later how you're going to wear it. 

Dress: Forever21 - Skirt-Iconic - Cardigan: Splash - Heels: Spring

Clutch: Newlook - Necklace: H&M - Bracelets: Escada+Aldo

I got this belt years ago from Egypt and never wore it, I don't even like how it looks (sorry belt !) and I have no clue why I bought it...I'm guessing maybe I liked the color.

Anyways, I didn't even wear it this way today, I wore it backwards where just the fabric part showed from the front, and this hideous plastic side was hidden by the cardi from the back. It perfected the outfit by making it merge very smoothly. Dare to wear stuff backwards, I do that quite a lot. In the outfit below, the black and white floral shirt you see is actually the backside of the shirt, not the front side, the front it just plain white with buttons. So if the back side works to your convenience and looks good, then just wear it backwards :D!

http://hebalamode.blogspot.ae/2014/01/chic-in-black.html

Black,White,Olive-Green Combination

Black Bat-wing Cardi: Cotton-on | Denim Green: Newlook | White Shirt: Bhs | Pants: Zara(oversized) - Heels: Forever21

Necklace and Bracelet: Koton - Bag: Just Cavalli

Caught twice in peach!

Peach is one of my forever favorite colors, it's very feminine and gives a glow to any outfit. This post has two outfits from this week, one has peach as a main piece while the other has a peach scarf-belt-heels triangle.

Peach and Navy

I wore this outfit for college with a beige scarf (as you saw on instagram), it was very simple and comfy. I totally recommend Zara's loose pants, they are very comfortable and have a good fit.

Blouse: Origem - Navy Pants: Zara - Bag: Prada - Nude Heels: Spring 

Necklace: Newlook - Bracelets: H&M

Peach Twist 

This outfit is pretty classical especially with that ruffled top. Blue and off-white can not fail together, but when I feel like getting out of the typical zone, I always resort to adding a tint from an absolutely different color family. Other colors that can go besides peach are mint, black, baby pink and camel (those were the first to cross my mind).

Scarf: Pashmina - Blouse: Signee - Skirt: Mango - Belt: Forever21

Clutch: Newlook - Heels: Suite Blanco - Chain Bracelet: Forever21

Shower your skin with happiness

Turn the next time you shower into a skin refreshing experience using the method I'll be telling you about in this post. This is partially a Moroccan bath with extra nourishment that you can do at home. You can create your own atmosphere by lighting candles and playing your favorite music while doing this routine but all you really need is about an hour or a little more, your bath tub, 2 loofahs and these ingredients:

5 1/2 tbsp baking soda

3 tbsp salt

4 tbsp epsom salt

2 tbsp coconut oil 

I won't specify amounts for these because it depends on your body size

Olive oil

Ground coffee

(turkish coffee powder works perfect, but don't use nescafe or similar grain-coffee)

Moroccan soap

Sandal soap bar

Moroccan loofah (black color)

Loofah glove

Now we have all the ingredients, let's see what are we gonna do with'em...

1. Stage 1: Bathing
   - What for? Opening pores, moisturizing and purifying - Bonus: Relaxing
   Fill up your bath tub with water that is the highest temperature you can endure ( to create steam), but do not torture yourself it should just be a little hotter than warm. 
   While the tub is half filled and the water is still running put in 5 tbsp of the baking soda so it mixes with the water, leave the last half tbsp on the side and pour in the coconut oil. (The pure coconut oil will usually be solid as it freezes at room temperature, so u'll see it melting as you put it in the water.) After the tub fills, put the salt mixing it with your hands, get in the tub and relax for about 20-30 minutes. 
   I sometimes add a glass of fresh orange juice to the water to supply my skin directly with vitamin C, but that is not a must.
   While you're in there, you'll start feeling your face a little sweaty because of the vapor, right at this point take some water and wet your face with it. With your finger tips, take some of the baking soda you left on the side and start scrubbing your face in circular motions with it for two minutes, don't press too hard. This will clean your face off the dead cells. Also while in the tub, you can massage your body while you're in there in circular motions so it absorbs coconut oil.
   TIP : Take advantage of the steam by applying a hair mask or oil treatment while waiting.
2. Stage 2: Scrubbing and Exfoliating
   -What for? Removing the dead skin cells, evening out the texture and softening skin
   Stand up slowly and start draining the water. Now to create our own steam room, you'll need to close the shower curtain firmly and turn on the shower at the highest temperature and stand away from it, you just need the steam coming off the hot water.
   Cover your body and face with Moroccan soap and keep it for 10-15 minutes. Then take the Moroccan loofah and start scrubbing the soap for 5 minutes but don't rinse it yet. Turn the shower temperature to lukewarm and rinse it. After the soap is off your body, using just the Moroccan loofah scrub again all over to remove soap residues and dead skin.
3. Stage 3: Coffee scrub and sandal finishing touch
   -What for? Extra hydration and skin shine
   Rinse your body after stage 2. Take the olive oil and mix it with the coffee. Don't pour in the entire amount, just an amount that forms a paste. Using your fingers take from this paste and start scrubbing you body in circular movements for about 6 minutes. Some research suggests that coffee releases toxins and extra water trapped in the body, I don't know about that I just know that it is SO moisturizing that I sometimes don't need to put cream after I shower! After you're done scrubbing, rinse.
   Now get the regular loofah and put some sandal soap on it. Lightly scrub your body for just 1 minute or 2 to give it a shine and remove the coffee residues.
4. We're done! you can now just shampoo you hair and use your favorite shower gel to give your body fragrance. After drying your body, don't forget to use apply body lotion or body butter to maintain the moisture and softness, body moisturizes are best applied right after the shower.

Hope this is of benefit to you as it is to me, I feel my skin softer and fresher after every time I do this. You can also choose to to do just the first two stages and not the third, or just add the third by itself to your regular shower.

Much Love xx

Heba

Royal Blue Love

Royal blue is one of favorite colors ever! It is just so so chic! As you can see the main outfit pieces are just a combination of black and off-white and hence I decided to give it that blue twist by matching my scarf, necklace and belt. I use this styling with many outfits where I make the scarf-belt-accessories triangle the highlight of my outfit. When I wear royal blue I usually wear this bag with it, I honestly don't know the specific name of this color...light bronze it is? I don't know, you can just see it from my Instagram :P.

So, you can use this triangle with even just a plain beige shirt and your favorite denim and would look as perfect! You can as well make your triangle scarf-belt-shoes, scarf-bag-shoes or scarf-accessories-shoes, but just keep it a triangle (not more than three main pieces) so it doesn't look like you have too much of the same color in the outfit (in my opinion of course, everybody is different with different tastes). 

Scarf: Pashmina
Black Kimono Cardigan:Iconic
Undershirt: Splash
Pants: Iconic
Bag: Bvlgari
Belt: Bershka
Necklace: Forever21
Bracelet: Koton

xx

Classic Grey, Black and Fuchsia

Silk Scarf: Just Cavalli
Jacket: Mango
Dress: Forever21
Denim: Pull and Bear
Bag: Paprika
Heels: Forever21
Necklace: H&M
Earrings and Bracelet: Aldo

Two outfits to college

Stealing from Dad's Closet

Again with my love for over-sized pieces, and since that's dad's shirt so it is way over-sized. You can now head to the men's section next time you shop, or just grab something from your dad's, husband's or brother's closet (they'll hate me now!). 

Loose pieces just look very chic and when worn right they look very feminine. I chose to compliment this baby-bluish sweater with peach colored accessories and a very light nude-peach plain Hijab. Other colors that would go with the accessories are mint, black, beige shades and dark brown. On the other hand, the accessories to the sweater can be replaced with beige, camel, off-white or light pink.  

Top: Dad's Sweater from Guy Laroche
Denim: Pull and Bear
Bag: Accessorize
Heels: Suite Blanco
Necklace: Forever21
Bracelet: Iconic
Watch: Follie Follie

Comfy in Blue

Scarf:Stradivarius
Camel Shirt: Forever21
Undershirt: Newlook
Pants: Splash
Shoes,Belt and Bracelet: Forever21
Necklace: Monsoon
Bag: Accessorize

xx

The one with the brown vest

Hello Beauts!

Didn't post since a while, college started and I don't always get the time to post daily. I decided to change my blogging style starting from this post, where I'll post my outfit pieces un-worn so the details show better and to tell you how else can each piece be styled so you're not bound rigidly to how you saw it on me!

Dare to cut your clothes!

Yes, as the title suggests this outfit has a piece that got scissors involved with it, guess which?

This bat-wing cardigan was a blouse in its old days, but I personally don't like wearing pieces exactly like I wore them before and that piece was just like a plain sweater. So I just thought why not renew it by cutting the front side from the middle and turning it into a cardigan, and voila!

Another thing I want to mention is bag scarfs. Since I wore a plain beige pashmina ( a shade just a little darker than my pants) as my Hijab I wanted to add some life to the outfit. I found that this scarf has the colors of my outfit in it so I wrapped it on my bag. 

Cardigan: Splash
White Shirt: Cortelle
Vest: Massimo Dutti
Beige Pants: Iconic
Necklace: Forever21
Bag: Marks and Spencer
Scarf(on bag): Moschino
Heels: Vincci

xx

The Oversized Dress

Some over-sized cloth items can some times look even better on you than your own size. They give you a more comfy yet chic look and tend to flow smoothly. They're also very pretty when styled with belts and remain modesty-friendly, unlike their exactly-fit counterparts which seem very tight and could get shorter if you put a belt. Items I specifically like to buy over sized include jumpers, silk/satin tops (but only a size larger or 2 not more and some cardigans). Items that you must make sure are your size unless you want to create a certain look or something are pieces such as blazers, formal pants and simply any piece that would look too big on you and seem like you're obviously wearing something that's not yours.  I wore this dress as a half-closed cardigan for this outfit.

Details:

Scarf: Pashmina

Dress: Splash (oversized)

Undershirt: Topshop

Pants: Mango

Belt and Necklaces: Forever21

Bag: David Jones

Shoes: Vincci

xx

Brown Velvet

Details

Scarf: Louis Vuitton (Old collection)

Blazer: Massimo Dutti

Belt: Aldo

Undershirt: Promod

Skirt: Next

Bag: Lindex

Boots: Peacocks

xx

Black - Nudes - TouchOfPink

Outfit Details:

Scarf: Pashmina

Shirt and Cardigan: Forever21

Skirt: Mango

Necklace: Newlook

Belt: Parfois

Bracelet: Aldo

Clutch: Blanco

Heels: Vincci

xx

Winter Outfit

One of the reasons I envy so many people who live in countries with cold winters is that they can wear coats, I tend to forget that I am blessed by living in Abu Dhabi, the city that can change seasons in one day (except in summer, summer is summer for the 24 hours in every day of the summer O_O)!

This fact is pretty cool with outfits as you can go from dark colored jackets to mint and peach cardigans over-night. I was so happy it was rainy and cold this morning so I decided to dress all wintery for college, and I'll leave you with my outfit and its details♥.

Outfit Details:

Scarf: Pashmina

Coat: Koton

Shirt: Next

Denim: Pull&Bear

Boots: Rampage

Bag: David Jones

Necklaces(2): Swarovski and Koton 

Lipstick: Rimmel 500

LoveY'All

Classic in White Pants

OUTFIT DETAILS

Scarf: Pashmina

Cardigan: Stradivrius

Shirt: Forever21

Pants: Zara (Oversized)

Belt: Forever21

Bag: DalyDress

Heels: Spring

xx