For the longest time I’ve come to believe that washing my face with soap is a big skincare no-no. Commercial soaps tend to be harsh on delicate facial skin, stripping it of precious oils.
However, I was recently introduced to the concept of hand-made soaps, free of nasty parabans and SLS, and loaded with skin-loving ingredients that are good enough even for tender baby skin. Just look at the gorgeous hamper I received from home-grown brand SoulPure Soaps!
Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of having breakfast with a health food icon. You might recognize his friendly face from the Bob’s Red Mill packaging, and at 89 years young heading a troupe of colleagues for a whirlwind 5-day Middle Eastern business trip, Bob Moore proves to be the best role model for his natural foods brand.
I compare it to meeting KFC’s Colonel Saunders, but on the brighter side of health.
Skincare derived from natural ingredients is not a passing fad, but should be incorporated as a way of life. Sadly most organic beauty brands come with hefty price tags. I was therefore thrilled to discover the very affordably priced, high-quality WoMn Cosmetics.
WoMn Cosmetics is an Abu Dhabi-based natural beauty brand conceptualized and created by Croatian pharmacologist Goran Vestermajer. The name of the brand is dedicated to his beautiful wife and business partner Nena, and stands for ‘Wife Of Mine Nena’.
Can Measure and Access really coincide side by side in peace and harmony? Moroccan teenager Hiba Khamlichi takes on this philosophical puzzle with stunning paint on canvas. At a mere 17 years of age, the complexities of her creations far beguile her tender years, and her masterpieces are going up on display in the very prestigious Art Space exhibition at DIFC Dubai from today.
I had the pleasure of having a wee chat with the very talented young lady before the exhibition, and here is what she had to say about her debut in Dubai…
Eid Mubarak all! I hope you had a wonderful time with your loved ones, and feasted like kings. Here is my little one, decked up in her Eid finery from Fayon.
I first came across Fayon at a Numaish exhibition last year. This Indian label specializing in children’s wear caught my attention for its gorgeous attention to detailing. From traditional Indian to a fusion of Western silhouettes, Fayon really knows how to dress up little ones and it is therefore no wonder that the designer behind this beautiful Delhi-based brand is a mother herself.
Today I am introducing you to the very talented Preeti Jatia, an interior designer who turned her talents into fashion once her two beautiful young daughters came along.
I too am a mother to a little 6 year-old, and Fayon was kind enough to send her this gorgeous silk lehenga last Eid. It’s her favorite outfit till date, and she has been nagging me to get her more!
It’s one thing to have a loving husband who buys you all the beauty products you crave for, and another to have one who creates an entire brand of gorgeous, certified organic skincare under your name! Proudly a UAE product, this is the real-life story of Goran and Nena, the talented husband and wife duo behind Abu Dhabi-based WoMn Cosmetics.
In 2015 Goran, a Master of Pharmacy graduate from Croatia with over 16 years of work experience in the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industry, decided to experiment with creating his very own skincare concoctions at home. He lovingly called his range WoMn Cosmetics, as ‘WoMn’ stands for ‘Wife of Mine Nena’. What a lucky girl Nena is!
Have you heard of Kruzin footwear? I’ve never been a sneakers kinda girl, but all that changed when I recently visited the brand’s very first flagship store at CityWalk, Dubai. Originating from Miami Florida, the styles here are so bling, so fashion-forward that you’d be forgiven for thinking this was a Dubai-born concept.
I walked away with these absolutely gorgeous, head-turning crackled silver sneakers, leaving the thought process on how I’d style them for later. And then the gremlin of doubt starts speaking to me… “Tezzy, these are too bling! Tezzy, these were made for teens, and not for a 30-something like you.”
Oh but my sense of fashion has always had a sense of quirky edginess, and I felt an even stronger affiliation with the Kruzin brand after I read up on Alessandra Gold.
For centuries, women have been turning to nature for reliable beauty rituals, ones enriched with the power of natural ingredients that have only recently been hyped by marketing gurus in the beauty industry. 
I for one love to experiment with churning up my own recipes. At other times, I explore the shelves of commercial counters. But then I discovered Green Chic, a UAE-based online shopping site that does the homework for you… the site curates interesting natural beauty brands in one place, all affordably priced and delivered all across the UAE.
But why turn to natural beauty products? What’s new in the market? And what makes GreenChicME.com a great site to shop at? Today I introduce you to the very lovely Vila Vasoodaven who gives us an insight on all this and more…
Move over Hallmark, we have something far more kitcsh and Arabesque, proudly conceptualized and nurtured in our region. Today I am introducing to you a beautiful home-grown concept by a talented young lady in Amman, Jordan.
Meet Rasha Hamdan, the founder of Yislamoo. 
What started off as a greeting cards concept has now expanded to all things art with collaborations with local artists and a firm base in the capital of all things fashionable; Dubai ofcourse! Do have a browse through their gorgeous website www.yislamoo.com From greeting cards to wall art, mugs, canvas bags and more, this upcoming brand is taking the fashion-forward into a frenzy! Here’s what Rasha has to say…
In a market submerged with brands, only a few stand the test of time. And then there are those that manifest a sense of patriotism by embedding themselves into their adopted home of the Middle East. Such brands are as rare as precious gems, and the one that tops my list has to be Ajmal Perfumes.
With a history dating back to 1950, I have a special connection with this brand as like me, Ajmal Perfumes roots back to Assam, the North Eastern state of India.
