iHijabi

Growing up in the era of barbie and bratz dolls I hardly saw any representation of people that looked like me or my family, forget hijabi dolls there were hardly any dolls or toys that represented people of colour, with different eye colours, types of hair and facial features. All the toys were very euro-centric. Obviously as a child I didn't pick this up, but it did cause an underlying effect, that now when I reflect on it, is down to what we were exposed to as children. What I mean by that is, by only being exposed to very 'white' European dolls as well as the colourism that exists in our culture I grew up thinking or feeling like those dolls represented the ideal beauty standard. I never felt comfortable giving my daughter a barbie not even for the reason I mentioned above, but because of how sexualised the dolls are. Why does a young child need a doll with accentuated womanly features and makeup?  I could talk about these issues but that calls for another post e

Don't hold her too much, you'll spoil her Don't look at her too much you'll give her nazr/ayn Don't pick her up or go to her when she cries she needs to learn to be independent. These are some of the things I've been hearing since my daughter was born. Yes as a newborn she spent most of the time in my arms, yes she cries sometimes when she can't see me, yes she still sleeps in our bed even though her cot-bed is right next to us, yes sometimes I cuddle her till she falls asleep. If that's what you call spoilt then yes, she is spoilt. But you know what I really don't care and I wouldn't have it any other way. My daughter was born 7 weeks early and spent a whole month in hospital, I didn't get to hold her as soon as she was born and for a whole month I had to leave her on her own in the hospital every night. This may be the reason why my husband and I dote on her so much, why we don't like to let her 'cry it out', it

For a while now I've been dealing with crazy breakouts across my cheek and jawline, not sure if it's due to the heat or a change in my lifestyle but I've been on the hunt for something that will clear up my skin and prevent further breakouts. I did a bit of research and reading on all those skincare words and abbreviations that I keep seeing on social media AHA, BHA, Salicylic Acid, Glycolic Acid, Hyluronic Acid etc. I found that for blemish/acne prone skin I needed to use BHA and an example of this is salicylic acid, BHA works buy getting deep into the pores and clearing them out, this is great for clearing bumpy, acne prone, oily skin. AHA on the other hand like Gycolic Acid is great for normal to dry skin, it helps with sun damage as well as hydrating the skin and making it feel moisturised and plump. I headed down to my local Boots and Superdrug to see what products I could find for my skin type and issues. A combination of these three products have helped my s