Tuesday 31 March 2015

March favourites.


Yes, yes it is. The end of March already. I know. The months are going by super fast and before we know it, summer will have gone by and bam! It’ll be winter all too quickly. 
Anyway, just a quick post to share with you a few things I’ve been loving this month. 
March was a month that I didn’t get to try out any of the new and exciting things off the high street, firstly because I’m skint and secondly because I’m broke. Oh wait, thats the same thing, basically student life doesn’t have that many benefits so anyone willing to hire me? 

So, in terms of make up I’ve not been able to live without the Real Techniques contour brush and since I’ve been wearing bronzer quite a lot this month, its just the perfect brush to give a subtle and beautiful application. Along with the contour brush I’ve been using the base eyeshadow brush from the Real Techniques Nic’s picks collection, and all I can say is that I haven’t used a more simple and affordable eyeshadow brush that is so easy to blend with. Trust me when I say that the brush you use to apply make-up makes all the difference. 

The other product is probably something I’m sure everyone has in their make-up bags already, the Rimmel stay matte powder.  Apply your lipstick, dap on a little powder with your finger, then reapply your lipstick and you’ll notice not only will it mattify any lipstick you’ve chosen to wear that day, but it will last much longer than usual. Try this trick, trust me you’ll be surprised what a little dab of powder can do! 

A quick mention to my trusty old rosebud salve which has saved my lips from drying and lasts for ages. It doesn’t have to be used only on the lips, if you’ve got dry hands, patchy skin? This will definitely do the trick. 

Moving onto fashion items then, which isn’t exactly my strong point, but you may have realised I don’t exactly have the best style, some may call it unique, interesting, some have called it weird but me? I don’t really care, because dressing on a day to day basis is an art, so wear whatever you want, how you want and don’t give a crap what others think. Right back to the subject then, I’ve been wearing my wine coloured Faith heels far too much this month so they definitely deserve a mention on here. And secondly, my Afghan granny shawl which I stole off my mum that I can’t live without now. I’m writing this post from a cafe in Madrid airport waiting to board my next flight and just realised I forgot to pack my shawl with me. Great. Although it is 20C outside so I don’t think I’ll be needing it anytime soon. 

I ramble on too much don’t I? Yes I do, okay let’s get to the final thing that needs a mention in my favourites. Anklets. That’s all I have to say, do yourself a favour and go buy one. They look super pretty dangling on your ankles especially if you’re wearing sandals or low rise trainers. 

Okay then, thats all I have to share with you today. While you’re reading this I’ll be sunbathing in Lisbon and sipping on freshly squeezed orange juice!

Until next time, Ciao Amigos!


Habeebah xxx

Strawberry & banana smoothie cups

I'm sharing with you yet another of my favourite breakfast creations and you can make this as a sorbet too by just freezing the mixture for a few hours. It's super healthy, delicious and you wouldn't even be able to tell that its packed with vitamins and energy boosters. So lets get straight to the recipe then!




Ingredients: 

  • 2 frozen bananas 
  • 1 cup frozen strawberries 
  • a handful frozen raspberries 
  • 1/2 a cup coconut yoghurt or any flavoured yoghurt will do
  • 1 cup milk 
  • 1 tblsp chia seeds 

Method:

  1. Place the all the ingredients into a blender/smoothie maker and blitz for 3-4 mintutes or until the fruit has completely blended. 
  2. Pour into cups and layer with yoghurt if you want and top with fruit.
  3. Enjoy!


A Nutribullet is ideal for this since it whizzes up anything in no time because of its extremely powerful blades.







Hope you enjoy making it.

Habeebah xxx


Monday 23 March 2015

My holiday essentials.








Spring break is right around the corner and that means holidays! If you're jetting off anywhere warm this easter and stressing about what to pack then I'm here to help. If you're anything like me there'll be a million questions going through your head. "How can I possibly choose only TWO lipsticks? Which outfits shall I take? What if I go over the baggage allowance?"

I can assure you taking minimal items is the best advice I can give you which means only take clothing  that you know you will wear. None of that, "Oh I can wear this if we decide go out in the evenings." Take a couple of pair of jeans, a few plain t-shirts/ blouses that can be worn in the daytime and dressed up with a statement necklace and a pair of heels for the evening. Its as simple as that. So here are some of my essentials that you mustn't forget to pack in your suitcase.











Sunglasses and floppy hats are a must especially if you're going to a hot and sunny climate. One pair of sunglasses is enough, there's definitely no need for more. I've been loving my round shape sunglasses recently from New look  so I can't forget to pack those! Next comes footwear - the most difficult thing to pack. Take a pair of comfortable neutral coloured sandals or shoes (depending on the weather) that you can wear for most of the day and a pair of heels or shoes for the evening (because who doesn't eat out in the evenings when on holiday). My Birkenstocks are the ideal holiday sandals, both super long wearing and comfy.

Packing make-up is actually more simple than it seems since I'm sure you don't want to be caking your face while you're there. I prefer not to wear any make up on holiday unless I'm going out in the evening so a red lip and false lashes are perfect. The only make up i'll be taking with me is my favourite Collection concealer (mentioned in my 2014 Favourites  post), the Ted Baker blusher/bronzer duo shown above that gives a beautiful glow, a red lipstick from Topshop, and my favourite pair of false lashes from Huda beauty in Claudia.
Along with make up comes toiletries and I can't stress enough how useful taking mini travel size essentials are. However since I'm going for more than a week, I'll probably need to take full size products and not forgetting that my sisters seem to think they can just share my shampoo and shower gel like its no big deal.

And finally, don't forget to pack a camera with you to capture those picture-perfect moments. I'm obviously not going anywhere without my Polaroid and I'll have my trusty iPhone too so look out for a post entirely on scenic photos when I get back. Follow me on Instagram- bibayusuf to keep updated on my trip.

Have a great spring break!

Habeebah xxx


Thursday 19 March 2015

Best coffee shop in town!





I'm sure I'm not the only one who cannot survive a day without consuming some sort of beverage packed with caffeine. That simply does not happen in Biba's life. Neither am I a fan of making my own coffee or teas at home, mainly because of the fact I'm really lazy, but lets admit, if theres a place in town that makes the most delicious beverages and sweet treats, would you want to bother making your own?  So, let me introduce to you Brü coffee and gelato; my favourite place to eat, socialise, and believe it or not, do my uni work without any distractions.

Brü basically offers everything you would want in a cafe; specially hand crafted coffee, a huge selection of sandwiches and toasties freshly made in store, over 20 flavours of heavenly gelato  made in Leicestershire, (the raspberry sorbet is my fave), more than 10 tempting flavours of loose leaf tea and the most divine Liege Belgian waffles that I guarantee you won't find anywhere else. And if thats not tempting enough, Brü is well known for being Leicester's first late night cafe and by its unique and quirky decor giving it a welcoming, homely and soothing atmosphere. You'll find loads of shoppers, parents and students stopping to take a break but its not just the food that attracts them. It's the brilliant friendly service from the staff that work there and the free wifi is just the cherry on top!









Brü recently celebrated their 1st Birthday and generously treated staff and customers to cake and complimentary hot drinks, which I was very kindly invited along to. Since they opened in March 2014, they have had enormous success and nothing but positive reviews and I only hope to see their business flourish and many more years of delicious coffee and gelato.




So if you live in Leicester or even if you don't and still haven't had a chance to savour what Brü has to offer, then you need to hurry down there immediately. Get your friends together for breakfast, lunch or dessert, Brü will definitely satisfy those cravings. I reccomend you try the coconut frappe, spicy cheese and jalapeño panini or peanut butter gelato, my three personal favourites, trust me you'll thank me later! And don't forget to check out their website and follow them on FacebookInstagram, and Twitter so you can upload and share your photos using the hashtag #BruLeicester.



Happy Brüing!

Habeebah xxx


All Photographs, property of Brü, Copyright holders permission granted before use.

Thursday 5 March 2015

University update

University life…where do I start? Its now been 5 weeks since I started my course and already I've had 2 assignments, probably the most hectic timetable on campus which happens to change every week and some pretty embarrasing encounters that simply cannot be shared on the internet!  On the bright side, there are some things that get me through the long days and that I absolutely cannot live without. So lets start at the beginning of the day shall we?

When it comes to deciding what to wear in the morning, theres actually no time to decide, thats the problem. My motto is "comfort over fashion" any day of the week and that is exactly what you'll see me wear, typically jeans and a cosy jumper dress. And to top that off, a comfortable and practical shoe is an absolute must, especially since I have a lot of clinical sessions too. My go to pair are these super comfortable slip ons from Kurt Geiger which are unfortunately sold out but you can purchase similar ones from Topshop and Asos and pretty much any shop on the high street.



So I get to uni surprisingly on time (most days) and make it through the first three hours of lecture. Most people have a lot of free time between lectures, but me? Nope! Like I mentioned my busy long day it includes a few two hour lectures sandwiched together which means do I get time to eat in between? Obviously not, resulting in me constantly having to snack while I'm in lecture. My favourite foods to nibble on are fresh fruit pots especially blueberries and nuts, pretzels etc. Conveniently my favourite snacks come ready packed which I just have to pop in my bag and thats enough to keep a lazy girl like me happy. You can get these ready made snack pods from Graze , I would definitely reccomend to check their website out. The first box if you sign up is free and if you use my code HABEEB7XB you can get your 1st, 5th and 10th box free. The best thing about it is you can cancel at any time, so even if you try it for the  first time, and don't like it much, just cancel your orders. Its as simple as that! 







And finally lets talk about hydration. Water. Yes, believe it or not some people don't even carry a water bottle around with them which I find slightly horrifying. Ok maybe the wrong word choice but you know what I mean. I was one of those people who found it extremely hard to concentrate and would get tired half way through the day. I would complain to my parents that there was something wrong with me and my mum said that it was simply because I wasn't drinking as much water as I should have been. And she was absolutely right. Right, heres a quick science lesson; your brain is made up of 85% water and in order for it to function efficiently, it requires abundant access to water. The reason why it is important to drink plenty of water throughout the day for optimal brain function is because your brain does not have any way to store water.  When your body loses more water than you are replacing, dehydration will kick in and brain function will be affected. Amazing right? So if you don't already, always keep a water bottle on you and try to drink at least 1.5 litres a day. I find it easier to drink water which has added flavour. Its so simple to make, just fill up your regular water bottle and add slices of lemons, limes, cucumbers, mint leaves or whatever fruit/veg you fancy. 









Until next time folks. 

Habeebah xxx