Empty Perfume bottles!

Getting inspiration to write this post was very easy as me and my mum were rummaging through her bedroom on a summer cleaning spree that's when we discovered the large quantity of empty perfume bottles accumulated over the years.

This is when I thought it would be a shame to bin all the fancy, high-end and VERY EXPENSIVE bottles! It would be a fantastic idea if employers at The perfume shop, The fragrance shop, Boots, Avon, Jo Malone or any stores which sell fragrances to accept and welcome empty bottles so they can be reused. This would definitely be much more eco-friendly and help the environment significantly. Their should be some type of reward for the customer for every empty fragrance bottle they return such as 50% off their next selected fragrance or.. a free scent after returning 10 bottles...? Something which can motivate customers to return the bottles to be reused by the company they have purchased from. This is just one simple idea which all us beauty lovers can do to make our own contribution in society, the ideas are endless!!
Hope you enjoyed reading this very short but sweet blog post!
Summaya

Favourite Summer Drinks| 2015

During this beautiful summers evening as I type away on my laptop, the weather actually is not so bad for England haha! No rain and a slight breeze every now and then.

I have been consuming a variety of drinks during this season which I thought is worth sharing, so my first favourite is COSTA's "Mango & Passion fruit cooler". This iced drink is perfect for when the sun is out and you're feeling a bit hot and need something to cool and refreshing. The drink is fruity and the blended ice is  perfect for the summer!

Second on my list is INNOCENT'S super smoothie called "Energise". I wouldn't really call this drink a smoothie as to me it is very light in texture just like a normal drink however, my favourite part of the drink is that it contains very healthy ingredients such as strawberries, cherry, guarana and flax seeds which is a mash up of a load of goodness as well as containing many vitamins. Also what I find very convenient about this drink is that it is the perfect size to throw into my bag rather than carrying around.

My final favourite drink of the summer is a home-made smoothie, a concoction of whatever is hanging around in the fruit basket in the kitchen. This is an easy way to gulp down all the nutrients of fruit and veg with no added sugar and no extra process.

Thank you for reading! :)

Delicious home-made Burgers

Mouth-watering, Healthy,Yummy Burgers

Recently I have loved dishing up these home-made, mouth-watering burgers which taste SCRUMPTIOUS.. even better than take-out burgers in my opinion.

What you will need: 

Warburtons thin burger buns (or any type of bun will do)

Freshly & finely chopped lettuce, cucumber, carrots

Chicken breast which has been pre-marinated

Tomato ketchup

And finally Nando's peri-peri sauce- any of your choice.

Enjoy! 

Double Oreo cupcake

Hi lovelies!

Today I am coming at you with one of my secret recipes.. which you know from the title of this post; Double Oreo cupcakes! :D

This recipe consists of the following ingredients:
125g caster sugar

1/4 tbsp. vanilla extract 

2 large eggs

135g butter

2 packets of chocolate Oreo biscuits

Whiz all of the ingredients together into a large mixing bowl using an electric whisk. At this point you can also add crumbles Oreo cookies into the batter. Place an Oreo cookie in each of the empty cupcake cases, which will act as the base. Add equal amounts of cupcake mixture into the baking tray lined with cupcake linings. Place in the oven for 20 minutes, 205 degrees.  

I would recommend eating the cupcakes 5 minutes after being baked as the Oreo cookie base at this point will be warm and sort of tastes like cookie dough YUM! :D

Thanks for reading :)

LUSH | Current favourite store

LUSH

It's bright and early and I'm coming to you with a new post on my current favourite store LUSH. In fact Lush has always been one of my favourite shops as the products are made with with natural ingredients so this gives me the satisfaction that it will not irritate my skin with any harmful chemicals like some products contain and also the staff at Lush are wonderful! Unfortunately the Lush store in my town closed a few years ago now but this means that whenever I go to the city then I can splash out on as much as I want wohoo! :D

This is my first time purchasing a Lush Butterball bath bomb as it spelt delish in store so I picked one up to give a try. It's an average, white bath- bomb however it does wonders to your skin. It leaves the skin feeling soft and sooth as it contains cocoa butter and the ylang ylang moisturises the skin giving a healthy sheen. This is taking over my obsession for the honey-bee bath bomb woopsie :)

At Lush the amazing display of face masks just reels you in. All made from natural ingredients and do wonders to the skin.  

This bath bomb I purchased is called Space Girl, and I can totally see why. The vibrant purple colour with red glitter creates a fun colour in the bath. What I love most about this bath bomb is the scent which is very sweet and refreshing which is right up my street. 

Lush gave me the Fair Trade foot lotion to test and when I first smelt the product I wasn't so keen. It smells quite medicinal however the colour is a bright bubble-gum pink shade which I love and it is safe to say that it does the job pretty well of soothing the foot skin and leaving a fresh, cooling sensation. 

What I love about Lush is that the products are free from animal cruelty and are made from organic, beneficial ingredients hence I would highly recommend their products. Two of my other favourite products from Lush are Vanilla- Dee-Lite lotion which smells incredible and Honey-bee bath bomb.

Thank You for reading :)

From Summaya

The Body Shop | 2015 releases

Hello readers!

Today I'm coming at you with the new launch releases from The Body Shop which are AMAZING! Trust me, you're in for a surprise. Today I met the lovely skin care expert Alicia at TBS who is great at explaining skin types and differentiating between the conditions of each person's skin. She kindly gave me skin consultant on the new products which she also tested on my skin to get an in-depth overview of how the products work and their significance. 

Personally when it comes to public consultant I'm the type of person that would shy away however the workers at TBS are excellent in making you feel comfortable and engaging with work with a hands on approach.

The products displayed in each of the photographs I can hands of heart say were fantastic with the Camomile cleansing oil being my favourite from them all! I would never think of placing oil on my skin however even now as I type away on my laptop I can still feel the nourishment and cleanliness to my skin... oh how wonderful! :D

The vitamin C glow boosting moisturiser is amazing at giving the face a nice, healthy sheen without looking oily or wet. The thick, vibrant shade of the cream creates a perfectly soft and hydrating effect giving the feeling of plumpness especially to the cheek area.

Overall I enjoyed my visit to The Body Shop at Trafford centre, the experience was truly great, thanks to Alicia! If any of you are interested in purchasing the products presented above or have any inquiries regarding them then leave a comment or equally send me an email so I can fully answer any questions. 

Here is the link to the online store: http://www.thebodyshop.co.uk/

I would highly recommend visiting the Trafford centre store and if you have any inquiries ask for Alicia regarding any product you are on the hunt for or if you have any general questions as she gives excellent advice and knows her stuff!

Thank you for reading the blog and keep your eyes peeled for more to come. I will list below all of the products which I have tested and are mentioned in this blog.

Products mentioned: 

Camomile gentle eye make-up remover 250ml :£8

Camomile silky cleansing oil 200ml £10

Tea tree foaming cleanser 150ml £5

Aloe Vera calming toner 200ml £8.50

*Vitamin C glow boosting moisturiser 50ml £16

*DOY Sleeping mask 90ml £22

Defeating Exams!

Another 'short' blog...  woopsy :)

The exam season for me has consisted of waking up at sunrise to cram most of my revision and I would highly not recommend this method so to ensure you are fully prepared it's always best to start your revision off two months before hand to fully understand everything and this also reduces the stress before the exam.

Moreover, I love learning by reading and understanding the text book thoroughly so I create colourful notes using pens and highlighters to make learning fun and to keep me going. There are many methods of revising and for each person the type varies so make sure you find with way suites you best! Another tip prior to exams is that don't forget to eat and drink plenty, sometimes you can be to caught up in revision and can easily lose track of time so it's always best to keep a water bottle with you and a few snacks to supply you with enough energy and to stop you from dozing off.

Having a positive way of thinking as to how well the exam can go if you revise will enhance your performance and reduce the stress levels so I definitely recommend preparing yourself and take it nice & easy!

Treating yourself after the dreadful examination series is a must! So here I go shopping ;D

Healthy Breakfast | Bistro Salad

Bistro salad with strawberries and a drizzle of honey..

I'm calling this "leafy goodness". 

It's just right up my street 

Ingredients:

Pre-packed salad ( Even better if you create your very own fresh salad to begin with!)

Fresh, sweet strawberries

Pure, natural honey

.. And that's pretty much it! However you can always alter this basic recipe to your liking :) 

International Food Festival

In England, we have a n 'International food festival' every year, often during the summer holidays where foods from different parts of the world are sold in specific towns and this year it was very exciting, especially because food is my passion and passion is my food haha.

So now it has basically become a family tradition to go with my loved ones to town and have a look around the exotic, mouthwatering and fascinating stalls that are opened and the skills people from different countries use whilst creating stunning dishes.

Pizza was a main stall of attraction and many people hovered around the Italian stall that sold a range of pizzas which looked delectable and smelt so cheesy and all in all pure amazing. 

This time I went to the sweet snack stalls where an array of colourful cupcakes, Turkish delights and backlavas and many more foods were being served. The sun was out and everyone seemed to be having a good ol' time munching on their foods! definitely recommend visiting a food festival as the experience for me has always been great!

Now I would like to leave you with a few pictures which I took on the day :)

Wardrobe Makeover | Sliding Doors

As I type this blog there's just a few days left till I finally move out and so most of my Friday was spent packing and unpacking boxes of clothes to the new house which I was super excited about. Firstly, my new wardrobe is A LOT bigger and rather spacious then my previous fitted in wardrobe which was quite small but this time I opted for a 3 door sliding wardrobe which a cute little (smaller then I expected it to be) work desk. 

At start I was quite hesitant to purchase a sliding wardrobe as it just wasn't for me, I thought at the time but due to my parents request I decided to go ahead with it and place the order. Believe it or not, as exciting as 'moving house' seems it can be quite stressful at times especially if your managing the builders so don't expect it to go like a walk in the park because trust me it's not!

So what seemed to be like forever, my wardrobe was finally made and I decided to go for 'PURE WHITE' glass panels on both sides and the center door being a 'SILVER GLASS' mirrored door, which once it was all complete looked very classy and elegant, just how I wanted it to be. In the planning design a few shelves were placed for tops, 2 drawers and many top shelves for miscellaneous items and quite a few poles to hang long, flowy dresses as they can be quite the task to fold and maintain in a neat, tidy way. 

I am so far very happy with the look of my interior  in my new room as the colour theme is very calm and fancy which I opted for but to spice it up a tad bit I will be doing more DIY's (mostly Tumblr) ones to give the extra bit of mysteriousness to my room and hopefully add some fairy lights when I finally settled in.   

I would definitely recommened sliding wardrobes especially if you're going down the new, modern look to your house but try to ensure that your plans are the correct measurements and also invest in good builders who can carry out the tasks even if you have to pay a tad bit more, you'll have a peace of mind by the end of it. 

Storing My Accessories

I've recently been shifting my accessories left and right as for those of you who know how hectic moving can be, therefore I decided to come up with new and presentable storage ideas where my accessories are not locked inside drawers but rather are on display and so i can make the most use out of them. 

Wanting to keep everything under budget, I shuffled through my kitchen cupboards just to pass past a stack of Mason jars, realising that they are going big this year and can be used in so many ways hence I decided to use the jars to place various bracelets and necklaces in and the fact that the jars are transparent makes them great and easy to be a part of a bedroom accessory with the colours shining through. 

To spice up the jars a tad bit more i dipped a precise brush into pink paint and drew specks of lines across the jars to give extra glam and stuck gems around to give a some sparkle. The end result of the storage jars were fantastic and a great way to utilise  jewelry which doesn't often get used. You can also store watches, hair- bands, rings and other bits and bobs too! 

If you find mason jars small and not wide in size then a good alternative is ferrero rocher plastic containers, they make good storage spaces and are transparent also so results in being quite handy.  

I hope you enjoyed this cute, little way of how I store my accessories and I hope you recreate these ideas too.

Love of love, Summaya :)

  

  

Fasting In The Month of Ramadhan

2014 Ramadhan has come pretty quick and now seen as though I am typing this blog and there's literally 3/4 final days of Ramadhan it's fair to say that it has passed by ever so quickly which I was definitely not expecting at the very start when Ramadhan was commencing. So this year Ramadhan is in the summer holidays and along with the incredible heatwave England is currently going through surprisingly the fasts are going pretty fluently and is bearable which is a good thing. I love Ramadhan so just a month before or so I was ever so excited and couldn't hold my excitement in. The feeling of Ramadhan is just something truly indescribable and the peacefully and the contented atmosphere is just so beautiful and something which I love and awe. 

My favourite thing about Ramadhan? Well there's so much about Ramadhan which I love and one of them being is prayer, just praying the Qura'an in this blessed month makes me feel really happy for some reason and not only that but also praying with my family members just creates such a peacefully atmosphere and a happy & loving mood. 

So this Ramadhan my goal was to pray and basically dedicate everything to God and reflect on my character and pause for a minute (or should I say a month) and just all in all change myself for the better because there's always some room for improvement, right? Hence in this month I have spent a lot of my time helping around the house, with family and just enjoying Ramadhan before it leaves. It makes me sad to think that this holy month is nearing an end and the thought just makes me teary but I pray that I get to experience Ramadhan again next year IA.

Here's a few pictures of what I have had for Iftar time (when the fast is broken and sunset). I have been indulging in treats here and there but I have also been eating a heck of a lot of watermelon because its so tasty in season and doesn't make me feel stuffed. 

I hope the last few days of Ramadhan go by well and I pray for the people of Palestine, Gaza & Syria and hope people all around the world are enjoying life and have no grief, alhamdulillah we are so fortunate to have friends, food and a loving family and also knowing that at sunset we are certain to know that food for us is definite and available yet unfortunately there are still poor, helpless people in the corners of the world who will never know when they will next eat food or shelter, so be considerate of others and remember everyone in your duaa's :)

I really enjoyed typing this post, it brings a smile onto my face just to think and share about something positive.

Lots of love,

Summaya  ❤   

 

DIY Personalised Gem Mug

Hello my lovelies! 

Hope your having a great day during this extremely hot summer month. As you may or may not already know that I will be moving soon later on in the month, so with a new bedroom comes a heck of a lot of DIY accessories to jam up and gives some character to the new space I'll soon be having. 

This time I came up with a 'Personalised DIY Gem Mug'. This is a great and easy way to make any room in the house feel cosy and comfy I believe. So here's how you'll be making the DIY and it really takes less then 5 minutes and nothing fancy is required. 

So you will be starting off with a plain mug which you can find at any crafts shop such a hobbycraft or even the pound shop I think, or you can start with a pre- letter cup just like I have. You want to start by painting the initial of your first name of the very center of the mug on the front side and then similarly repeat the same process on the back of the mug so the initial is visible. 

Then you just want to let that dry and then choose any sort of embelishment, I chose silver gems which I purchased from Amazon but they are also easily available at any craft shop. If your feeling a tad bit more adventurous you can also opt for some cute little pom poms, colourful bows basically anything that would add a bit of glam to the mug. 

Start by sticking the embellishments onto the mug with a strong glue, I actually used paint which I already had and created little dots where I would've like the gem to stay.Work your way around the mug and then leave the embellishments to stick so they are nice and firm once the glue has dried. 

And there it is! Your very own personalised DIY mug, which you can locate on your dressing table or place near a feature wall. This also makes a great gift, you can alter the initial to whoever you are making the gift for and prehaps stash the mug with a variety of chocolates and whatever you wish! The choices are endless. I store my makeup brushes in the mug and it gives a very classy and elegant feel.

Hope you enjoyed reading!

Summaya