OOTD Formal Hijabi Edition **Two post Tuesday**

Soooo, they're really trying to cram those weddings in before Ramadhan starts next month. Last minute wedding invitation means throwing something together quick. 

Kaftans/Caftans are really popular in hijabi formal fashion these days. My collection is slowly building because they're also kind of spendy {$100-$400 each} depending on fabric quality and embellishments. The cool thing is they're practically free size and maxi length, and so they're perfect for plus size and tall women. Kaftans are super feminine and flowey so they look great on just about anyone. 

Tonight's ensemble is a kaftan I purchased last year as a last minute Eid dress (I ended up wearing a black abaya instead). It's chiffon with heavy beadwork and covered in jewel tone prints. I can wear just about any color scarf with this dress, so I decided to go with a warm mandarin orange pashmina. 

For accessories I went with a silver/crystal statement ring, that also matched my sandals. Ring is from a local boutique, sandals are from Payless. Most of my formal or fancy shoes come from Payless, I just don't see the point in paying loads for formal shoes I'll only wear once or twice. 

My makeup was simple, I went heavy on the kohl liner and did a very neutral lip. 

Here's to wedding fun tonight! Lots of business cards on hand since I almost always end up meeting my next bridal henna client at a wedding. Hope you enjoyed my very first fashion post. 

Kaftan $125

Orange Pashmina $25

Ring $12

Shoes $19.99

Dramatic Arabic Eyes on Hooded Eyelids

Ok so I'm still very new to this style of make up but I have to say by far it is the easiest to learn for me, and it looks great on me. 

For years I've struggled with eye makeup not realizing that because I have hooded lids I had another set of rules to play by. Maybe not so much rules, but different techniques I must use. 

If you're like me with hooded lids you can spend lots of time making your lids look fab, only to open your eyes completely and have all that wonderful makeup disappear. I love Arabic style make up because I don't have that problem when I wear it. I love how versatile it can be, with just a color change, or switching between hard and soft lines. In these two looks I used black with a hard line and the blue with a softer line. The blue is my favorite of the two. 

Here's to hooded eye makeup success!

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Wedding Party Princess

One of the benefits of being a henna artist are all the party invitations. At least once a month I go to a wedding or wedding party which means lots of dress up.

Tonight's look is light and almost neutral in the eye department. It's spring so I wanted it keep it light while adding an element of sparkle. 

For the eyes I used a medium brown on the lid, a slightly darker brown from the outer edge into the crease, and dabbed gold across the lid. Winged liquid liner in "perversion" by Urban Decay, and waterline lined in "zero" also by Urban Decay. As an after thought I put a little of that gold under my lash line as well. Lip is a golden brown color from a lip palette. 

The scarf is a pretty pink pashmina from Nepal and the necklace used as a headpiece is a piece of costume jewelry from a local boutique. 

More party looks to come. Thank you for stopping by and joining me for two post Tuesday. 

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My love for Ruby Woo

It wasn't until a year ago that I got into make up in a serious way. I liked the stuff but wasn't really sure what to do with half of it. In addition I bought everything frosty or shimmer and didn't know what looked good on me.

YouTube is a great resource for tutorials and product info so I started my research there. It's was on YouTube that I discovered my darling Ruby Woo. 

One shade of lipstick I saw on many skin tones that looked fantastic every time was Ruby Woo. Ruby Woo doesn't pull out my olive and blue undertones, making me look sick. It adds a bit of warmth to my face without being too loud or over the top. 

Truth be told I love Ruby Woo more than I like Riri Woo. Some complain about the texture of retro matte lipsticks but I like it. Having fuller lips I often shy away from bold colors but I discovered it was the shiny texture that I didn't like. A lip pencil was recommended to help with feathering but I decided to forego it, and haven't had any issues with feathering. I'm also careful to moisturize my lips before using retro mattes, otherwise I get this chapped lip caked look.  

I'm really loving MAC's retro mattes. What are your favorite shades?

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In my spare time…

In my spare time I like to play photographer. Flowers are my focus but occasionally I step outside of the box and shoot something with more movement. 

No, that sweet cannon isn't mine but I can dream. On Friday June 7th my city hosted one of many fabulous fireworks displays. Unfortunately it was a very short show possibly due to technical issues but I enjoyed it while it lasted. Here are a few shots I took with my phone.