On being a female in a Muslim household in Ramadan..

Girls. I need to rant about something. Y'all know how much I love fasting. It makes me sad when I can't. But it's that time of the month right now. And it's slap bang in the middle of our blessed month. Which means I can't fast. 

It also means I can eat whatever I want; but the thing is.. I just - I just CAN'T okay, it's really hard!! Not because I physically can't, or I feel like I should be fasting (although I do sometimes feel like the latter). No it's neither of those. It's just.. how do I eat without getting caught by the opposite gender? They're usually clueless about the whole period thing..

 Let me walk you through the awkwardness and problems I face when it comes to this issue and how I deal with it.. or how I try not to deal with should be much more an accurate of a description, LOL

At first, I try and eat stealthily. When they're in masjid, when they're at work, when they're napping. I tip toe across the creaky landing outside my room and lightly jump over a couple equally creaky stairs like a cat stalking its prey, flee to the kitchen and find something to eat that won't leave a mess, a scent or any dishes to wash. 

But then... *horror music* they come home early, or they wake up from their nap and instinctively walk to the kitchen for a snack and BAM they find you stuffing your face with Jaffa cakes with a cuppa on your right and a half eaten tube of Pringles on your left and time freezes for a moment and you're just stood there like AW POOP NO I'VE BEEN CAUGHT! 

So now what do I do? Do I flat out tell them the reason?

Me: ...

Them: OMG YOU'VE BROKEN YOUR FAST?! 

Me: ohai.. um.. yeah I'm on my er.. you know.. my erm... *mumbles* period..

Them: Your what?

Me: *flails at the prospect of having to explain menstruation to her 15 year old brother*

(or alternatively)

Them: Oh.. *awkward silence*

Me: *flails inwardly just as awkwardly*

DO YOU SEE WHAT I MEAN? If I wouldn't tell someone I'm on my period on a normal day, why am I going to tell them now?! Obviously I try to avoid this situation. I mean who wouldn't? Maybe someone who wasn't dropped in a pool of awkward as soon as they were born and can deal with stuff like this in a mature way.. heh.

The only alternative left is for me to not eat, or flat out lie by saying I'm ill. Or bring up a fruit basket* up into my room and put a lock on the door. 

*sigh*. #muslimgirlproblems

Luckily, (even though I don't believe in luck, I just couldn't find a better word) I have actually been ill and have been given some meds so I can just half lie and say the doctor told me not to fast if they ever catch me. xD Teehee! *rubs hands with glee*

How do you deal with your time of the month in Ramadan?

*And by fruit basket I mean a basket full of Jaffa Cakes. And Pringles. Lots of Pringles..

Something I've noticed about the beauty world this Ramadan..

WHY does EVERYTHING I own and use on a daily basis smell of delicious, mouthwatering food? 

Everything I use when I wake up in the morning or through the day smells of something fruity or foody, and it only makes my fast seem just that tiny bit harder..!

*shakes fist at pile of stuff*

Now I know what you're thinking. Mary, you're just hungry and missing food, that's all! You won't notice this after Ramadan, no need to be so grumpy!

But YOU GUYS!!

The Nivea lip butter smells (and tastes) like caramel popcorn, the Bath & Body Works hand sanitizer of strawberries, the Garnier Pure Active moisturiser of cucumbers, the Clean & Clear Morning Energy moisturiser of papaya and lemon, and the EOS lipbalm of lemon!

It's almost enough to make me not want to use any of my skincare stuff LOL!

Seriously though what I want to know is.. what is it with the obsession in the beauty industry with making everything so heavily, fruitily scented? 

Actually I don't even know why I'm asking that question - I already know the answer.. 

I mean, DO YOU GUYS HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH I LOVE LEMON FLAVOURED/SCENTED THINGS? I'm a slave to anything remotely related to lemon (T__T)

*sobs*

I mean, I'm pretty sure we don't need any of the scent the manufacturers put in the products, but let's be honest with ourselves. If you like the look of something.. and it also smells drool worthy.. you know you're more likely to end up popping that in your basket. Am I right? You know it's true! 

Well.. it is for me anyway.. (>.<)

Blaaaaaah. Maybe I am just being a bit grumpy. Someone tell me I'm right about whole scent thing, I mean it really is in almost every product we use (o.O) 

*sighs* I don't know. I'm off to eat some fruit chaat. Toodles!

(Oh and btw - it's a good thing I'm not using the EOS lipbalm anymore, I'm pretty sure I had an allergic reaction to it, it made my lips itchy and sore. :[ made me sad because I was really looking forward to using it!)

Disclaimer: I bought this with my own money. All opinions are my own, I swear^^

The Face Shop New Zealand Volcanic Clay Black Head Charcoal Nose Strip Review

Hello there everyone~ Or should I say Anneyong, chingu-deul! Today I will be reviewing the New Zealand Volcanic Clay Black Head Charcoal Nose Strip's from The Face Shop (^__^)

The Face Shop is a Korean brand, and so far I have bought two items from their selection of skincare items - these and the Herb Day 365 Cleansing Foam.

Now, the last time I tried nose strips.. well.. it didn't go well. At ALL. They just didn't work for me and they made my skin worse. If you would like to read that particular review, you can click here to see my little rant on it xD

I know what you're thinking. If you had such a bad experience with nose strips the first time, why on earth would you go back for another round?! Well if I'm honest with you, I have no idea. Actually, no that's a lie. My love for looking at cute Korean skincare and beauty things on Ebay ended up making me click on the purchase button and well.. here I am two months later sat typing this review with one plastered on my nose. :D

Gosh, everything about Korean stuff seems so much more appealing to me, packaging wise especially! I love the little description about where the mud in the nose strip comes from, what the mud contains and how it helps your skin. I'll look past the slightly incorrect grammar because I'm biased and yeah. xD

At the back, while all the instructions are written in hangul, they've given a handy step by step illustration as well. So if you're a foreigner who doesn't know a word of Korean (or english!) and you're looking to try this, they've made it easy for you figure out what it is and how to use it ! (^__^)

Inside, you get 7 strips - which is one more than the Biore nose strips I reviewed last time, AND they only cost me £3.54 as opposed to the £7.99 I wasted on the Biore ones! Sure it takes a week to ten days to get here but at least they worked :D

Onto the actual product^^ When you open up the little satchet, you can immediately smell the charcoal - the scent is REALLY strong, so if you aren't a fan of that, I suggest you steer clear of these!

In case you don't know even from the instructions at the back of the packet, here they are: wet your nose, take off the clear backing and put the sticky side on the bridge of your wet nose. Leave on for 10-15 minutes.
I find that, on my face, after about 7/8 minutes it has almost dried but I leave it on for ten minutes because usually I'm doing stuff whilst I have it on. Hash tag multitasking ;D oh yeah~~

This, unlike the Biore one actually does get rid of my blackheads! It also doesn't aggravate my skin and does not cause breakouts on my nose either, something that happened with the Biore ones. It leaves the skin on my nose feeling very soft and smooth. Overall, I'd give this a 4/5, one point deducted for the grammar :P

Can you tell I didn't like the Biore ones much..? Yeah, I really, REALLY hated them. Unlike these, which I recommend wholeheartedly if you have blackheads and an oily T-zone! Here is the link to the ebay seller where I bought them from (and will soon repurchase!). If you try them out, do let me know how you found them (^__^) 

Till next time, toodles! :o)

Disclaimer: I bought this with my own money. All opinions are my own, I swear^^

May & June Empties ♥

It's that time again.. time to sort though me empties and throw em out! Let's see what I've finished these past couple of months..

[L-R]

Garnier Dark Spot Corrector - I liked it at first but then it started breaking me out. Since then, all it has done is sat in my drawer, unloved and unused. Repurchase? Nope.

Benefit Total Moisture Facial Cream - I won't say much on this.. review is coming soon! ;D

Nivea Hydro Care lip balm - An all time favourite, I always go back to this. I need to pick up on soon - my lips are missing it!

[L-R]

Nivea Powerfruit Refresh Shower Gel in Goji Berry - Love this stuff, it leaves my skin feeling clean and moisturised, and it smells absolutely divine! Repurchase? I already have, but in a different scent this time (^__^)

Natural Collection Loose Powder in Translucent - I've had this pot for ages, and while it did finish a while ago, I've been putting my broken powders into it when they well break. xD Throwing it away now, it's taking up space and I just don't want it around anymore. Repurchase? Nope!

Batiste Dry Shampoo in Original - This has been knocking around for a couple of months and I finally finished it when I went to Brighton for the weekend with my friends. My friends always end up using it too, they love how well it works and how it leaves their hair volumized after using it - something I would not have bothered to think about/would not have noticed being a hijabi and all >.< Repurchase? Definitely!

[L-R]

Benefit Foamingly Clean Facial Wash - Once again.. review coming soon.

St Ives Timeless Skin Review & Firm Apricot Scrub - This was a bit of a meh product. It didn't have enough granules in it for me, nor were they coarse enough. In fact its so meh I saw no point in writing up a review about it (>.<) Repurchase? Definitely not.

The Body Shop's Tea Tree Skin Clearing Facial Wash - Come on guys. Do I really have to say this? I won't because you already know my love for this. Repurchase? Already have done!

[L-R]

Superdrug Vitamin E Skincare Gentle Eye Makeup Remover - I picked this up on a whim, and from the beginning till the end of this bottle, I've freaking loved this...apart from on my eyes. I just don't like using it on my eyes, it feels weird and I'm always scared it'll get in my eyes *covers her eyes* (/ . \) I'm strange I know. after using this, my skin always felt so soft and clean! My sister, who is dry skinned, also loved it and says that it works really well on eye makeup too (as it was intended to be used, haha). Repurchase? Yep!

Superdrug Large Cotton Wool Pads - I'm not too sure why I picked these up; I think they might have been on offer or something and i was running out of my usual circular ones and happened to be in Superdrug. They're okay I suppose, but they did irritate my face a bit - they weren't as soft as I thought they would be! I'm sure they are intended for babys bums! Repurchase? No thank you.. I'll stick to my normal circular ones.

Garnier Skin Naturals Simple Essentials Soothing 2 in 1 Makeup Remover - I rave about this in every empties post. You should know by now how much I love this stuff :P Repurchase? I already have two as backup kehe!

Wow that's a lot of stuff! Glad I can finally throw it all out (^__^) *slam dunks it in the bin* 

Ahh don't you just love that feeling?

Disclaimer: All products were bought with my own money unless stated otherwise. All opinions are my own.

Ramadan Mubarak! (^__^)

Salaam and hello everyone! Guess what?

RAMADAN IS HERE!!

 *bounces off the walls in excitement* 

*squeals like a child*

*moonwalks across her room* 

SDJFKLDSADFSGKHASLDFGHFDSKAJGSHDK;LS!!!

...

Sorry (>.<) I'm just REALLY REALLY excited xD 

It's definitely my favourite month in the WHOLE YEAR, and I wait for it to come back as soon as it ends - that is how much I love this precious month! (♥__♥)

For anyone interested in the topic, I will definitely be posting some Ramadan related posts this month, In Shaa Allah! 

However, if you're curious about Ramadan and want to know what it's all about, you'll be glad to know I have already posted a couple of posts on the subject last year, so instead of typing it all out again I shall leave you with a link to a brief overview of the basics of Ramadan for you to read at your leisure by clickety clacking here~

Right, I'm off to type up some more posts! If you're curious about anything, anything at all, please don't hesitate to leave your question(s) in the comments below - remember, there is no such thing as a silly question! (^__^)

Mini Haul ft Skin79 ☼

Well hello there my lovelies :o) Everyone enjoying the heatwave? I seem to be going from one extreme to the other. One moment I love it and the next I want it to be autumn already. XD 

Anyhoo, I thought I'd show you a little collective haul I've gathered over the past month or so. I haven't really been shopping much at all, I've been trying to cut down on unnecessary spending but I thought I would treat myself with a couple of things since I've been doing so well lately (^__^)

[Clockwise from left]

Herb Day 365 Cleansing Foam in Acerola from The Face Shop - I was looking online for a new cleanser because as you know, your skin can get used to something if you use it for long enough - something which I definitely don't want because I love my Tea Tree Skin Clearing Facial Wash! This is from a Korean brand, one of which I've read some really good reviews about, and if you know about my love for all things Korean, then you can imagine how eager I would have been to try it out xD

Skin79 Super+ BB Cream in Hot Pink - I bought this on Ebay on a whim - I really wanted to try this, everyone seems to love it and on top of that.. it's Korean! (♥__♥) I haven't tried it yet because I haven't had a chance to, but once I do I will definitely review it ;D

Maybelline New York Fit Me! Pressed Face Powder - I bought this from Boots because I ran out of face powder and the 17/Seventeen one I bought before it was far too dark for me, it was practically a bronzer on my skintone :/ So I matched myself to this and it looks much better! ^^

Just checked and I spent £13.62 on skincare/cosmetics in a whole month! I'm actually quite proud of that, because I've been out shopping quite a few times last month till now, and I usually come out with atleast a couple of skincare stuff whenever I step into Boots/Superdrug etc. Go me haha! 

What have you bought this month? (^__^)

Disclaimer: All products were bought with my own money unless stated otherwise. All opinions are my own. But if you read the post you'd know that. :P