HEY IRAM, HOW’S IT HANGIN’?

March 19, 2019Leave a comment

It’s no secret that I am the worst at keeping up to date with blog posts – I know life gets in the way and people go on blogging breaks etc. but jeeeez Iram, 2 years since my last post?? That, I’ll admit, is shambolic.

So, without further ado, instead of dwelling on any details of what I got up to in the last two years (nothing that exciting, I can assure you) – let’s just get stuck back in…

…Welcome to a brand new post!! This is one I am really proud of and one that I know my Mother would be so, SO proud of too. Mam, if you’re reading this (which she most defintiely is – she’s obvs my biggest fan) brace yourself because you’re in for such a treat!

Over the past few weeks I’ve probably talked the ears of off all my co-workers, friends and family about my best purchase to date in my whole entire life and that is…drumroll please….A wardrobe!!! I know, not that exciting but this isn’t just any wardrobe guys, this here is my DREAM WARDROBE. The babe that is IKEA had allowed to me finally, FINALLY bring forth some organisation into my life that has been loooong overdue by allowing me to customise and design my own space for all my gajillions of clothes. This is the first time in my life I’ve been this organised, like, EVER – so naturally, I obviously want to tell the whole world.

So, I thought I’d share a few tips I learnt on the way for anyone else who wants a wardrobe re-vamp!

You ready? Here we go…

HANG SMART & SKINNY

Once the wardrobes were all fitted, it took me a while take in the this giant blank canvas. Initially in my mind I had it all worked out of where I where I would want to put jeans, t-shirts, where I want to hang my dresses etc. but once everything was built, everything I had planned in my mind just flew out the window! So, I was back to square one and quite overwhelmed with all this empty space – the irony right? – so in the end I was like, Iram you have to start somewhere…and I did!

Now, without sounding too dramatic here but the backbone of this whole operation was the HANGERS! I cannot shout out enough of how amazing these particular hangers I bagged from Wilkos are – and a pack of 10 cost me just £3! I’ve linked them here.

They are versatile for both trousers and tops/dresses and are a stunning coppery/rose gold colour. Also, the fact that they are really skinny meant I could fit in waaaay more clothes into a small space, BUY SKINNY HANGERS PEOPLE, they are the way forward.

Whilst transferring everything into the wardrobes, I realised that all the years I’d spent working in retail folding and hanging had really shone through! Whilst watching a few epidsodes of Marie Kondo and several folding trials and errors, my wardrobe was finally coming together and rapidly filling up!

I had to keep reminding myself that if I place something somewhere, it wasn’t then permanently glued down, I could re-jig and move things as and when I needed to! And to be fair, that happened a lot which was perfectly fine to do if it meant I was finding the perfect home for that particular garment.

READ BETWEEN THE CLOTHES

If like me, you have a whole plethora of T-Shirts, particularly graphic tees and slogan tees – I’ve found out a simple folding method to fold them all in a way that you can see the graphic/writing on the tee. Observe Iram Ahmed in her folding phase…

…And Ta-Dah!! You have a sea of tees all neatly folded and colour coded!

Folding them this way is a method I like to call Read your Clothing – this is seen in quite a literal sense with the tees where the majority of them have slogans, phrases, quotes etc. but reading your clothing is all about having an easy access to that specific piece you want to wear that day. This folding example allows you to see ALL of your T-shirts at a first glance from when you first open the draw, and from there it’s just an easy grab and go 🙂

…and this doesn’t just stop at t-shirts! I’ve carried this through to my sweats and pyjamas too…

JEAN-IOUS FOLDS

Following on from how to read your clothing, I’ve also adapted this into my jeans!
Take a look at the clip of below…

Now, I am aware that towards the end of the clip, the stack of jeans doesn’t look all that neat. The way I have folded these is purely down to more practicality reasons instead of visual perfection.

If you have a lot of jeans, you are bound to have some pairs that are really similar to each other – but of course, to you, they’re not. You might have one pair that may be an inch longer than the other which of course only you would understand. So, when you are looking for said jean, you don’t want to get confused with other similar looking jeans which therefore may lead to you destorying your whole pile of neatly (ish) folded jeans.

…This is where my method comes in!

See how all my jeans are folded so that the labels and tags on the inside are visible and facing outwards? This therefore allows you to view the style of the jean instantly i.e. your Mom’s from your Skinny and Straight Legs etc. as well as also being able to view the size.

For example, you may have a blue Skinny, 28W 30L Jean but you’re really feeling that you want to wear your blue embroidered Skinny, 29W 32L Jeans that particular day. So, here we have two blue jeans that will look similar when folded. However, because you used my amazing folding method, you have an easy access to reading the tag, so you know exactly which ones to pull out! Easy peasy 🙂

Okay, and now we are onto our final little installment … the FINISHING TOUCHES.

To give my wardrobe a break from all the heaviness of the clothes, I decided to incoportae some of my books and little decorative pieces to lighten up the insides and give the wardrobe amd clothes some breathing space too!

To achieve this, I tried to be as minimal possible and the key is to not overcrowd the space – just because there’s a gap doesn’t mean you have to fill it. As I am majority of the time all for maximalism, this is one of those rare moments where I feel that less is actually more, shocking, I know.

And there you have it! Probably the most organised post I have and will ever write in my whole entire life!

Now I’m ready for Netflix to notice me so I can start my own show, move over Marie Kondo …

…Folding freak out – I x

Getting Lippy | With Gerard Cosmetics and NYX

May 26, 20166 Comments

Hi Guys!

So now that my university assignments are out the way, I have something called a life back!! However, the internet hasn’t been my friend recently, and after some technical difficulties – stupid WordPress wiped out the initial draft of this post! – I AM BAAAACK! And it is with this post where I feel like I am finally doing some justice towards my blog name!

Yeah, as you’ve probably already guessed I am talking all things lippy and sharing with you all my favourite shades of the season! More specifically about these “Liquid Matte Lipsticks” that I am obsessing over, and if you haven’t already familiarised with them, then where the bloody hell have you been living?! Because they’re everywhere! I was getting bored with my current lipstick collection as I don’t really go all out and daring with some colours – quite frankly because I don’t suit them – so I tend to go for nude and natural colours (obviously with a few red lippy’s thrown in there too)! So, I thought the liquid lipsticks would be a perfect update to my makeup bag and when I saw the word “matte” printed across these babies, I was sold! Well, it doesn’t really take much to sell to me, but let’s not dwell on my shopaholic problems just yet, we’ll save that for another day. For now, let’s see some shades…

I have chosen NYX and Gerard Cosmetics products today because up to now they have been the only liquid lipsticks I have tried that last, ALL DAY. Once I found the beautiful NYX counter standing there all pretty and ever so beautiful in the Boots store, I was hooked. It was like one of those moments in a movie where the girl sees the guy she fancies and everything else around them just fades away and is suddenly non-existent, apart from that guy. Well, that’s what this felt like. And I saw that I wasn’t the only person who was in love with this counter as much as I was, the NYX display was HEAVING with girls! So after I elbowed my way through the crowd – yes, you read right – I literally ELBOWED my way through to the lips display, until I finally reached the front! And seeing that the lipsticks were £6.50 a tube, I admit things got a little cray-cray from there as I bought more than I intended! It was one of those sorry, not sorry moments! As for obtaining the Gerard Cosmetics lipsticks, it was a simple online order from the comfort of my own home with a cup of tea, the best kind of shopping if you ask me! At £13.59 a tube though, I was very weary with the colours I was purchasing, but looking at them now, I feel like I made some good choices!

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“Cherry Skies” NYX

The Gerard Cosmetics application is lovely, it glides on easy, I find only one coat is more than enough and once it’s on, the colour doesn’t budge, like at all. Even with a makeup wipe you will need a little bit of elbow grease to get it off. The only downside I found was the slight stickiness that would be left on your lips after the colour dries to a matte look. They look amazing but that sticky feel just takes some getting used to! With NYX it’s exactly the same! – minus the stickiness, the texture is much softer. However, I did find having to reapply throughout the day with NYX. BUT apart from a massive price difference, I didn’t find these two brands that much different at all! Now, let’s go into further detail of my faves…

The following shades range from lightest to darkest:

Lip 1: “Soft Spoken” – NYX
The perfect everyday lip, it’s like having nothing on your lips, but you have something on your lips, the ‘no-lipstick’ lipstick, the barely there look .. you get the idea. Nude with a peachy glow!

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Lip 2: “Iced Mocha” – Gerard Cosmetics
This was an “I’m going to try a colour I’ve never worn before” kind of buy, and I have to say I am lovinggg it! I have never found a colour that is more true to its name, this frosty brown is totally unique.

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Lip 3: “1995” – Gerard Cosmetics
So take a wild guess as to why I bought this colour, not because I was born in 1995 or anything, jeeez, who would do something like that? I would do something like that, me, guilty. But I have no regrets from it! It’s similar to the Iced Mocha but with a much warmer tone!

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Lip 4: “Cherry Skies” NYX
Because you always need a traditional red lip! It’s some kind of rule, right? Well, you can never have too many red lippy’s – and that’s a fact!

“Cherry Skies” NYX

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Lip 5: “Vintage” – NYX
It’s dark, (much darker than it what it shows in the picture I promise you) and daring! This is the kind of colour you would base the rest of your makeup look around! I love the punky, rocker edge it has to it without being too harsh!

“Vintage” NYX

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And that is the end of my Lippy Lookbook! I honestly had so much fun shooting and writing this that I definitely want to make more posts like this! If there’s anything else that you guys would like to see from me then drop a comment, email me, message me on Instagram, tweet me, whatever you want, but just get in touch! And if you have any other lippy recommendations for me then let me know ASAP! I’m addicted!

So, my makeup advice usually stops at just the lips, I am hopeless at everything else but I know somebody who slaaaaays in the makeup game, and that is Louise Kaur. She has her own YouTube channel where she gives tutorials and shows you makeup hauls and honestly she’s just damn right hilarious, so go take a look at her magic heeeere!

“Vintage” NYX

“Soft Spoken” NYX

Lippy Lover out x

Book Review: Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

February 10, 2016February 10, 2016Leave a comment

It has now got to the point where there is a lot going off at university with assignments and research and that dreaded dissertation! So, I felt that to keep me sane I needed a small break! For normal people that may mean a little trip somewhere, a small getaway. But no, I decided that my break away from all that uni reading had to be filled with oh, more reading. Yep, it’s come to that now. But I was bloody glad I did because this little gem was just the most amazing thing I had read in a really long time.

As some of you may already know that Me Before You has been adapted into a movie that’s going to be released later this year in June (starring Sam Claflin and Emilia Clarke) and it was from watching the trailer that willed me to buy the book. I’m still into the whole ‘reading the book before the movie’ kind of thing so I can then criticise the movie for missing out my favourite parts or changing little bits in the plot and ruining the overall magic of the book. But judging from the trailer I watched I have high hopes for it! Then again, Sam Claflin (who I adore. A lot!) is in it so I already know I’m going to love it.

So, without any spoilers here’s a bit about the story itself…

Jojo Moyes sets the scene in a cute, quiet, little town which is where we meet our protagonist, Louisa (Lou) Clark is currently living. For any girl in their twenties and trying to cope with life, you will find yourself instantly relating to Lou and everything she says and does. Believe me. Not only her but I love the way Moyes characterises the whole of the Clark family; a very close-knit family living a typical British lifestyle with their love, support, and many cups of teas just warmed my heart and makes the book feel so real. Then there’s Will Traynor. A quadriplegic patient bound to a chair for the rest of his life due to a motorcycle accident and is in need of twenty-four hour care. He’s sarcastic, grumpy and I quote from Moyes ‘a bit of an arse’ but through Lou’s perspective, somehow you fall completely in love with him. Although they both grew up in the same small village, Will and Lou have never encountered each other until now. They come from two very different worlds who need each other and begin to show each other all the thing they have been missing out on in life. I don’t know how Moyes does it but she perfectly captures the reality of the situations that Lou and Will find themselves in. There were times when I felt awkward and uncomfortable in some scenes but it was because you become so connected with these characters it is hard not to feel what they feel.

From start to finish the novel is completely full of ups and downs. Moyes has this sheer writing talent of being able to write with such wit where you’ll be laughing at one point but then you’ll turn the next page and be in floods of tears. (There may or may not have been a bit I was reading that caused me to cry, a lot, whilst sat on a train, in a carriage full of people, sniffling whilst pretending to check my phone but secretly looking to see that my mascara wasn’t halfway down my face.) Again, I don’t know how Moyes does it! The way she transitions her writing style from heartwarming to suddenly heartbreaking is a very talented thing to do indeed!

Buy your copy here

This book will inspire you and maybe make you appreciate life a little more. That sounded really cheesy but it’s the good kind of cheese, I promise you. The book is roughly 500 pages long and I read it in two days, I’m quite a slow reader so that is like a world record for me. I just couldn’t put it down. Then, after I had finished it I was in a slight daze, it was that stage where I was like ‘what the hell do I do with my life now?’ That was when I saw that magical word that every bookworm will appreciate – sequel – yes, the sequel to Me Before You is quite rightfully titled After You and one that I will be reading kind of immediately.

All I can say is reeeeaaad it. That’s all.

Emotionally unstable bookworm out xx

York Cocoa House

October 11, 2015Leave a comment

It’s another quick stop for the Hot Chocolate Hot Spots – gosh, try saying that 10 times over – but yes it’s been a while since the last spot, sorry about that but all my hot drinks lately have come in the form of to-go cups! So for a little recap, if you haven’t already read the previous hot chocolate stops or would like a refresher, take a look at my Crumbs and The Perky Peacock posts. But I’m settled back comfortably in York and it is now the perfect weather for a toasty warm mug of chocolate goodness, so expect some more as there are still a LOAD more places I need to visit and share with you guys.

On a chilly, autumn morning after a dreaded 9am start at uni – a cosy, chocolate filled atmosphere and a friend to catch up with was something definitely in need! The York Cocoa House was a place we’d visited before so it was an easy, quick decision to make for a toasty, warm cup of hot cocoa!

It’s a little taste of Old York in a cottage styled building and when entering you feel as though you’ve transported back in time to a traditional chocolatiers. We were greeted by the lovely staff and walked through the twinkly lit archway, taking a seat by one of their amazing Autumnal displays, so festive! We already knew we wanted hot chocolates but when deciding what type of hot chocolate, we were completely spoiled for choice. They range from so many different flavours from peppermint, ginger, caramel, orange, chilli, classic and a lot more. I decided on a orange hot chocolate and a raspberry chocolate cup! (I original wanted a lemon one but they were all out! 😦 )

The drinks and cakes arrived, the hot chocolates came with a cute little strawberry truffle on the side… now if you have a solid sweet tooth then you will love the raspberry chocolate cup. Personally, it was too sweet for me – I’m more of a savoury eater – and on its own I would have loved it but with the sweetness of the hot chocolate (and that darn, gorgeous little truffle) it all got a little overwhelming for me – sweet in a sickly way. So I ended up just eating the chocolate cup casing leaving the raspberry centre, but THAT HOT CHOCOLATE THOUGH! As you can see in one of the pictures above, where I may be looking at it in disgust, no, that is the look of love. Trust me. It had just the right amount of an orange kick, at a perfect drinking temperature and an overall smooth, silky texture.

Aside from its appearance, what makes the place really unique is that literally everything – and I really mean everything – will have some form of chocolate as an ingredient. So if you don’t like chocolate you’re pretty much screwed. I’m sorry, let me rephrase that – who the heck doesn’t like chocolate?! The Cocoa House would be an amazing pit-stop for those tiring shopping days, it’s in the heart of the city so a must-try within this build up to Christmas because it just oozes festivity!

They have a lovely selection of to-go nibbles too, and hot chocolate blends so you can make your own heavenly chocolate drinks at home. You can check out what they have HERE and also see the full selection of menus.

Chocolate lover out x

Book Review: The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton

September 18, 2015Leave a comment

Okay all you bookworms, I got a little something for you. I only do book reviews when I really think the book deserved to be buzzed about (or if it was so awful that I don’t think any human should read it, ever.) But The Miniaturist definitely deserves to be buzzed about!

My first take on it was just how refreshing it was to read! Within the sea of newly published print that are piled up in Waterstones, WH Smith and are top selling on Amazon – Burton’s book stood out to me. Okay, you know the whole ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’? – (C’mon I know we all do it) and I’ll admit I did that with this one, it was Waterstones’ whole ‘limited edition book cover’ and the ‘exclusive only at Waterstones’ promotions that got me – and I was bloody glad it did! It’s a rare gem that is beautiful inside and out, Burton’s writing style is reminiscent of the classical greats, yet the modern twists of language and its fluidity when telling the story is what makes it unique.

It is a pretty looking cover, right?

So, now about the actual story….

Burton takes us back all the way to the year 1686, Amsterdam and with the year and setting this story immediately oozes a uniqueness and quality that other recent publications lack. Although the story is written in English the thing that makes it different is the Amsterdam-ian phrases that Burton slips into the story when talking about a certain type of food or dress, it brings the culture of the setting alive!

The reader is viewing this world through the eyes of our protagonist, the very young Petronella as we witness the way she adjust to her newly married life and the complications she also has been married to. We are whisked back to the very old, highly religious and traditional ways of society where there are clear divisions of those that are prestigious and the paupers. The characters Burton has created live in a world we are not familiar with, we gain a taste of the harshness of the real world yet it offers a hint of a fairy-tale – from evil sister in-laws to slaves and secrets, it’s constantly full of surprises! It made me go ‘WHAT!?’ a couple of times with a few gasps and once maybe I think I was like ‘NOOOO’ whilst my jaw had dropped for a few pages. So yeah, the perfect page-turner and in my opinion, a modern classic.

And I suppose that’s all I can really say without giving it all away!

If you’ve already read it and loved it as much as I did – or maybe you hated it, its not everybody cup of tea – but I’d still love to hear your opinions! 😉 And recommendations for reads are always in need, so please give me some! Need something to escape from my uni reading list!

Bookworm out!