UAE

Fahmim’s Orange Blossom Nankhatai Cookies Recipe

What’s even better than warm, freshly baked cookies? Warm, freshly baked cookies that have been beautifully boxed up just for me by a very talented friend! Agriculturalist turned recipe blogger Fahmim Arif reminisces about the beautifully crumbly, textured Nankhatai, a buttery cookie that is ever so popular in the East Indian state of Assam (India) where we both originate.

Orange Blossom Nankhatai baked, stylized & shot by the lovely Fahmim Arif from mymagicingredient.com

Fahmim discovered orange blossom when she landed here in the UAE, and recreated her favorite cookies with a dash of flavor from her adopted home. Read on for her recipe.

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Chef Glady Adds His Midas Touch to 24 Karat

Chef Glady has a huge fan following, yet he is too humble to notice. His impeccable plating skills at Per Te saw his creations going viral across social media, and his artsy retakes on Italian classics have made native chefs go green with envy.

I featured Chef Glady in my food blogger column in Ahlan Masala! magazine, and was eagerly awaiting a chance to visit him at his newest venture; 24 Karat at the Marriot (Al Jaddaf, Dubai).

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The brand new restaurant opened its gilded doors to the public only a few weeks ago, and looks every bit the fine-dining Italian restaurant that befits the works of this genius chef.I loved the deep brown wooden finishing, the plush seating and the very European-style chandeliers that lined the counters, exuding a magical hue of gold across.

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Valentine’s Day at Nassima Royal Hotel

14th Feb is just 4 days away! Where are you heading this Valentine’s? If its variety you seek, Nassima Royal Hotel is an ideal dining destination to consider. We were invited for the Valentine’s Day preview at their all-day buffet dining restaurant Celsius, yet the wonderful team had more in store for us than a lavish spread.

In true V-Day spirit, we were teamed together with our better halves to have a go at cake icing. Heart-shaped Red Velvet cakes were placed on every work station, and the Chef helped us slice it horizontally, and pipe in the icing. We tried our hand at rosette swirls, and I think our cake had more cream than cake!

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Fayon Kids: My Little Girl in Her Brocade Lehenga

Like all little girls, my little one loves playing dress-up. She has a special liking for ‘twirling dresses’ like the princesses of Disney, and the very colorful Indian clothing of Bollywood (all of which she calls a ‘sari’).

At the Numaish exhibition a few seasons ago, I happened to walk into the stall of Fayon Kids. Based in Delhi, this brand of children’s clothing takes traditional Indian outfits for little ones to another level alltogether. Not only do they do the very traditional garb, but they also have Indo-Western pieces for little princesses, and even miniature copies of costumes seen on Bollywood sirens.

Fayon Kids sent this absolutely stunning lehenga for my little girl, and she’s been bugging me to let her wear it ever since.

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Tribes Goes A La Carte

Tribes Carnivore is a meat glutton’s sanctuary. This South African chain, with its colorful tribal decor, wallet-friendly pricing and hip-swaying live entertainment, has always been one of my favorite spots to dine at in The Dubai Mall.

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I was recently invited for a tasting session to try out their brand new menu, and was in for an even bigger treat. You see, the last time I visited Tribes, it was during the warmer months. This time round, they had a table booked for me on the terrace… and what a magical experience it was!

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The Sephora Cinescope Mascara Review

If you are a beauty junkie living in the UAE, I’d be very surprised if you haven’t heard of this one. The Sephora Cinescope Mascara has to be the brand’s biggest launch so far in 2017.

Fan-clad beauties have been flaunting dramatically dark, voluminous lashes across the Sephora store adverts and outdoor hoardings, and what better way to make the ‘full fan lash effect’ claim more clear than to showcase the product with a matching Asian-style fan?! Gotta love the ingenuity of the brand!

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The Sephora Cinescope Mascara was launched in the UAE this January, and I got sent a tube to try in ‘Ultra Black’.

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Wrapchic: The Indian Burrito from London

Like Global Citizens themselves, modern cuisine is a never-ending feat of combining the best of world flavors together. We all love our Indo-Chinese, rave over Western-style steaks using Japanese Wagyu, but who would have thought of bringing together Mexican with Indian?

Wrapchic is the brainchild of Mahesh Raikar, a well-paid employee of a Fortune 500 conglomerate who quit his job to delve into his passion for recreating Indian food for a health-enthused, global palate (you can read up more on the brand’s story by visiting their global website. Click here).

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3 Ethically Sound Gifting Ideas for V-Day

The month of love is upon us, and the media is sure to inundate you with a whole lot of fluff, pink hearts and drool-worthy diamonds. Being a full-time marketeer myself, I too fall into this cliche drill, but this time round I thought of creating a lineup of gifting ideas that take the meaning of ‘love’ beyond the cliche fluff and romance.

There is a great deal of love that needs to go around in the world today, and what better way to show it than spend your money on brands that go the extra mile to give back to the community? From beauty, fashion and beyond, there are so many great options to consider.

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The DAFNI Hair Straightening Ceramic Brush (A Sephora Exclusive)

I was at the Sephora Spa Party this week at Mirdiff City Center. A Sephora store is like a child’s candy shop for grownup women. Not only do they continue to surprise us with innovative new products (many under their own brand name), the stores also offer mini salon services and makeup tutorials. We’ll get to those deets in a separate post, but today I want to tell you about DAFNI.

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A Sephora exclusive (only available in the Mirdiff City Center branch and the online store), DAFNI is a hair straightening ceramic brush, made for super busy/lazy people like me! How is it different from other styling tools in the market? Read on for more.

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10 Tricks for Looking More ALIVE in the Morning #NotAMorningPerson

Although we are recommended a total of 8 hours of sleep each night, I’m lucky if I hit 6 on most weeknights. I am definitely not a morning person, but I’ve managed to stow away a few nifty tricks up my sleeves on how to fool the world into believing otherwise. Here’s my top 10:

10 tricks for looking more alive awake refreshed fresh awake in the morning not a morning person bedhead wake up office beauty tricks makeup health The Tezzy Files top Dubai lifestyle beauty blogger UAE.jpg

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