OOTD: Leopard Print Coat | Zafira
Hello!
So, in the January sales, I wasn't really looking for anything (for the first time in my life). I went out into Manchester and had a browse around but nothing really caught my eye until my eyes latched onto the most beautiful item of clothing. A leopard print coat. I can't even remember how long I've wanted one and when I saw this on sale for the bargain price of £15 at Primark, I just couldn't help but it take it home with me.
I'm not 100% sure if this is still available in Primark but I found a semi similar one here:
I feel like it's such a staple in every fashion obsessed person's wardrobe. It's so so so easy to style and I just adore the way the coat looks. You can easily dress it up or down which is usually what I like to do. So far, my absolute favourite combo is this coat and blue jeans. I feel like I look quite casual chic. It's a pretty good way to make it look like you've put a little bit more thought and effort towards your outfit rather than picking it 5 minutes before you have to leave the house. (it's honestly a big struggle)
I've had these jeans forever, it's a nightmare trying to find pants that fit perfectly let alone jeans. These are actually a size too big but they're so comfy like this and have that 'mom' jean effect. Here's a pair like the ones I own:
I don't really go thrifting as much as I would like to but I found this velvet black t-shirt in Cow when I was having a very thorough browse. I wear it so often just because it's extremely comfy and especially on cold days like we've been having in the UK recently, it does an amazing job at keeping me warm opposed to wearing a normal cotton black t-shirt.
Here's some similar to this:
I've had these boots for almost two years now and I don't have the heart to throw them away. They've very quickly become such an essential in my wardrobe and were my very first pair of docs. They match everything I wear and I wear them pretty much everyday. They go amazingly with this outfit and enhance that casual chic look even more.
These are the Doc Marten Flora Boots, you can get them here:
http://www.drmartens.com/uk/p/14649001
These were all taken on film if you wondering! I hope you liked this style of post and let me know if you want to see more OOTDs or even a lookbook.
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Summer on Film | Zafira
Hi!
So I've decided to start a new series on here. I'm going to start doing a blog post about whatever month it is but shot in film. I hope it gets me experimenting with film a lot more and also one thing I really love doing is talking about my photographs and why I took them which is why this series is pretty much perfect. I love love film. I can't even get over how much I adore shooting on it. I'm always trying to find new and fun ways to document my life and so far, using film has been my absolute fave. I just love how it looks and shooting on it is so so so much more fun that digital. It's exiciting, you don't know what the outcome is going to be.
The first post in this series are some shots I took over summer, I honestly didn't get out much. I spent a lot of time travelling to see family but I was either indoors or in a car most of the time or just at home lazing around.
Here are some of my favourites from over this summer!
Like I mentioned earlier, I want to document my life and I feel like I've currently hit my peak teen years, next year I'm going to be an adult which I don't even wanna talk about. But here's the door to my room which makes me feel so young and childish and I love it.
I own a troll that looks like a roadman. I don't really know why I bought this but it's sat on a shelf in my room looking quite cute.
I remember I took this when the weather because extremely bipolar and it was raining cats and dogs once minute and the next it was so sunny. You can see the grey clouds clearing in the top of the picture. I love taking pictures of the sky.
Just the view outside my bedroom window.
I wanted to take a picture of the moon but obviously considering it was the middle of the night and it was pitch black, the picture didn't come out as great as I had visioned it too but it still looks semi cool.
Here's my cat that isn't actually my cat. I think it belongs to our neighbour but it seems to love me a lot.
Here's my cousin looking pretty cute, I spent a lot of time with family this summer and it was really nice.
A cute tiny little vase thing with flowers in with pink water because my obsession with pink has honestly hit a new level of extreme where I'm basically killing all my plants with this pink water that consists of paint.
I also bought a hat (from New Look) and this shirt (from Zara, also in my prev blog post) which I wore like everyday. It's a cute combo.
I also took this on digital which you can see over on my Instagram, links to everything will be at the end of this post.
Of course there was some pictures of the lovely Hannah on my camera as always. She's my go to model and I had to take some images for my photography project for college. These film ones are quite blurry because I didn't use lighting and I didn't really want that artificial look to them. But, I really like the different tones and hues in these and I don't mind the blurryness at all. These were all inspired by the photographer
.
Here's a behind the scenes of the star face shot, this is my fave image I've ever taken.
Also for my college photography project, I had to choose another phtotographer and create images inspired by them. So I chose
and here's a behind the scenes. If you check out my Instagram, you can see one of the final versions from this set! Links to all my social media will be at the end of this post.
It was Eid on September 1st and here's me looking overly happy in my Eid outift.
I took this the day before college started, pretty sure I was procrastinating and avoiding all the work I had to do.
Make sure to follow me on Instagram and my other social media to find out when I post the next post in this series and when I just post in general!
Back to School/College Outfit Ideas | Zafira
Hello!
Welcome to or welcome back to my blog! It's unfortunately September and me and other students are finding ourselves back in a familiar ditch in the ground called school, college or maybe even university. It's honestly a very sad time of year for me anyway. I remember that this time last year I was starting my first year at college which is crazy since this is my last year and this time next year, I'll be at Uni trying to find my way in life (hopefully). One thing I struggled with a lot with starting college was what to wear. In the UK, most schools have uniform so I never really had the chance to explore my own style or even get to wear my own clothes as often as I wanted. But then college started and I found myself struggling for what to wear. I didn't know whether my outfit choices were too extravagant or too lazy for college but a few months in, I finally found my own style and found some college appropriate outfits that I was comfortable.
This blog post is for those of you who are stuck in a bit of rut and aren't really sure what to wear. I hope it helps!
It's hard to find a place to start in your college wardrobe but the best place to start was with plain/printed t shirts and polo necks. These polo necks have been a life saver especially as this September, it's definitely a lot chillier here in the UK. They're a really easy outfit choice as all you would need to do is throw them on with a pair of jeans and you're good to go. These two polo necks are from Pop Boutique.
These particular two aren't available at the minute but there is one available in black and green:
https://www.pop-boutique.com/jersey-polo-neck-black-and-green.html
Shirts like this are also a good way to go as they help make you look put together if you aren't which is why I love them. You look a bit more sophisticated and ready to work and this floral printed one from Zara is so comfy and is super pretty. I would usually wear this with some high waisted jeans and a nice thick belt.
This also is not available in store but here are some that are very similar:
https://www.zara.com/uk/en/woman/tops/blouses/printed-pyjama-blouse-c763513p5087041.html
https://www.zara.com/uk/en/woman/tops/blouses/floral-print-blouse-c763513p4853137.html
https://www.zara.com/uk/en/woman/tops/blouses/floral-print-blouse-c763513p4850035.html
https://www.zara.com/uk/en/woman/trending-now/floral-print-crepe-blouse-c773004p5076564.html
Shirt dresses like this are a life saver. They're so effortless and look really good all year round. I got this one form Zara in a size bigger than usual so it was a bit more slouchy. I love this since it has pockets too and honestly feels like I'm in the most comfortable cute looking potato sack. I'd usually pair this with a pair of leggings.
This is only available in red at the minute:
As it gets a bit chillier, I like to start incorporating a couple of knitted or thicker pieces into my college wardrobe. This plain black knit dress from Zara is like wearing a blanket. It's one of my most favourite pieces in my wardrobe at the minute.
Seems like everything on here isn't available lol but here's some pretty similar dupes:
http://www.asos.com/warehouse/warehouse-knitted-t-shirt-dress
If you like dressing up which I do like to do occasionally, then dresses (this is actually a playsuit but is pretty much like a dress) are such an amazing investment. It helps you feel a lot more free and comfy throughout the long college days.
Similar stuff to this:
https://www.zara.com/uk/en/woman/dresses/view-all/embroidered-dress-c733885p4891004.html
https://www.zara.com/uk/en/trf/dresses/mini/embroidered-dotted-mesh-dress-c965504p5083529.html
https://www.zara.com/uk/en/woman/trending-now/embroidered-dotted-mesh-dress-c773004p4807524.html
https://www.zara.com/uk/en/woman/trending-now/embroidered-dotted-mesh-dress-c773004p4838046.html
Culottes are really in right now and so much more comfy than wearing jeans. I find them a lot more loose fitting and breathable in a way. You can find them in a variation of designs and styles it's basically endless. I love wearing culottes so much. They're also really easy to wear, I usually wear mine with plain white t shirts most of the time. This striped pair are from Zara much like 99% of my wardrobe.
These are available! :
https://www.zara.com/uk/en/woman/trousers/view-all/trousers-with-belt-c733898p4908569.html
A jacket is a necessity, even though it's not freezing right now, it's definitely a lot colder and especially at college you'll find yourself moving between buildings for different lessons. This is my much loved pink jacket that I'm wearing 24/7. I've had it for almost a year now and I bought it from Miss Selfridge and it's the best purchase I've ever made. It's perfect for this transition time of year where it's still a bit warm but also can get a bit chilly.
I bought this too long ago for it to be still available but some similar ones are available:
https://www.urbanoutfitters.com/en-gb/shop/bdg-pink-oversized-denim-jacket
When I started college, I had no idea that I would be walking so much on a day to day basis. You want a pair of shoes or boots that are sturdy and comfortable and also really cute. These are my Dr Marten Flora boots which are basically like Chelsea boots but a bit more chunkier. I love them. I wear them all the time and are the best investment I've ever made. I bought these almost a year ago and I can definitely see myself wearing these for at least a couple more years.
You can buy these here:
I also really like my Vans. Not to sound like a complete cliché but I actually bought these before the entire college started wearing them and I love them. They feel so so so good on my feet and match all my outfits which is always something I'm looking out for when I'm buying any footwear.
You can buy these babies here:
https://www.vans.co.uk/shop/en-gb/vans-gb/old-skool-shoes-d3hy28#
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Zoeva Cocoa Blend Palette Review, Swatches + Looks! | Zafira
Hi!
For my birthday, I was kindly gifted the Zoeva Cocoa Blend Palette from my cousin and since then, I've pretty much been using it everyday which is why I thought I that I would share it on here! I've never been an eyeshadow kind of girl, I usually just put a bit of bronzer or my contour shade on my eyelid and blend it out but once I started playing around with this palette, I fell in love instantly.
From what I've learnt in the makeup world (which honestly is not a lot) is that Zoeva is mostly really popular due to their brushes which I haven't tried but from the using this palette and seeing how good quality it is, maybe I will have to give them a go.
The packaging is super cute, but the one thing that stood out the most was how thin and lightweight it was. It's not bulky whatsoever which makes it perfect for travelling and on the go. There's no mirror which is kind of annoying but the eyeshadows definitely make up for that.
The product contains 10 shades which are:
Bitter Start - Palest matte nude.
Sweeter End - Shimmering duo chrome nougat.
Warm Notes - Glittering cranberry purple.
Subtle Blend - Metallic deep bronze.
Beans Are White - Deep cocoa brown matte.
Pure Ganache - Pure and luxurious metallic gold.
Substitute For Love - Toffee brown with subtle shimmer.
Freshly Toasted - Rich mahogany brown.
Infusion - Matte dark brown infused with golden glitter.
Delicate Acidity - Berry toned brown shimmer.
I think these are all quite versatile colours and can be used either day or night and for any occasion. My personal faves are Freshly Toasted and Infusion. All these colours are pretty warm toned and would look amazing on any skin colour. On the website the palette is described to be inspired by '
warm truffle colours, delicate nougat shades and shimmery marizinpan tones for a seductive glamour look
' which is very evident in the range of shades,
The colours are pretty pigmented especially for the price but nothing crazy which makes them really effortless to blend. They aren't chalky at all and swatch and apply very very very smoothly. They have no fall out whatsoever which is amazing and is the perfect affordable high quality palette!
Just look at how beautiful that pink looks! As you can tell, I've been trying out this palette and I'm pretty much in love with it.
'Pure Ganache' is another one of my favourite colours, it's such a pigmented and lovely gold shade.
The two shades I use the most are definitely 'Subsitute for Love' and 'Freshly toasted with the tiniest bit of 'Pure Ganache' in the inner corners but most of the time I usually use a bit of my Mary Lou Manizer in the inner corners also for a less intense look. A warm orangey/brown eye has been in since Autumn and I still see so many people with this look and the Zoeva Cocoa Blend palette is a great way to achieve it! I've pretty much been wearing this look everyday since my birthday. It's the perfect everyday eye.
Another look I've been adoring and wearing especially when there's a special occasion or event is using 'Freshly Toasted' in the crease and 'Pure Ganache' all over the lid as well as the tiniest bit of 'Subtle Blend' on the outer corner of the eye just to darken the gold shade. Throw on a bit of eyeliner and some mascara, maybe even some falsies if you're in the mood and it's the easiest look for any special occasion.
This is a look that I've been dying to wear but I've just not had the occasion or the chance to but it's so so so pretty, look at that pink! The shades I used for this look were a mixture of 'Substitute for Love' and 'Freshly Toasted' in the crease and then I packed 'Warm Notes' all over lid. It looks really cute and fun and girly and the pigmentation is amazing.
Overall, I'm blown away my this palette and I can't wait to start trying out a lot more Zoeva prodcuts, I'm thoroughly impressed!
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The Wedding Series: Part 2/2 - The Mehndi, Wedding and Home Shenanigans | Zafira
Hello!
Sometime in July, I did the first part of this series and here I present to you the last. I spoke a little more about traditional Bengali weddings and how the whole process works so I won't go into too much detail here. To conclude what I said in the last post, a typical Bengali wedding has the Cinifan (engagement), the Mehndi (wedding pre-party), the actual wedding and sometimes people like to take it that one step extra and throw a Walima (an after party). It's chaotic and crazy but I love weddings. In this post, I'll show you some of the pictures of the Mehndi, the wedding and a few little bits we did with the new bride after she was welcomed into her new home. I'll explain what is going on for every picture so don't worry if you don't understand. Enjoy!
T H E M E H N D I
At a Mehndi, everyone basically takes pictures with friends, family and the groom or bride.
We boogie.
Get our henna done.
And everyone joins in, including the little ones.
We wear traditional clothing and get dressed up, not overly dressed though, we like to save that for the wedding.
There's always something yummy to eat too like these fruit thaals and those amazing desserts.
Everything is always made to look super duper pretty.
Here's a fun fact. all the little flowers that you see hanging and the ones on the wall are ALL handmade and we hung the curtain bits all by ourselves too. We're pretty handy when it comes to this sort of thing.
Here's one of my uncle dressed in traditional clothing infront of all the food that's been made for him. At the Mehndi, everyone comes and takes a seat next to him, takes a couple of pics and feeds him something.
T H E W E D D I N G
For the wedding we changed the setup a little bit and added some gold chiffon. The bride comes home with the groom at the end of the wedding and they sit here and drink milk and do some other traditional stuff.
We all get very dressed up including the groom.
All the neighbours were out watching us leave the house to the wedding venue and it was just too adorable not to capture this moment.
This is such a good idea for a guestbook! You write your little message to newly weds on the heart and slot it into the frame.
Snap snap.
This is when the bride walked onto the stage to her husband.
Both the groom side and bride side make a necklace of flowers for the couple and these are exchanged on the wedding day.
This is the best bit. There was so much cake leftover.
Aaand this is the bedroom that we decorated for them.
H O M E S H E N A N I G A N S
The next morning or what usually turns out to be afternoon, the new bride will make breakfast for everyone in the house. The breakfast food is given by the bride's family.
The bride then has to cut a fish to cook into a curry.
She grinds all the spices.
After all that she gives everyone a snack and this includes a banana and popcorn most of the time. We also played a few games with her but I can't show you those pictures since all of them have my family in them and I respect their privacy.
I'd like to say a huge congratulations to the newly weds and I wish you the best in life. I can't wait to see the whole family together again for something just as special as this ;)
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The End As We Know It & Update | Zafira
GUESS WHO'S BACK?
Me!
Hi, it's been a while since I've done a blog post but if you've read my previous post that I did in February, you'll know that I've been preparing and doing my GCSE exams. But, they finally finished on Friday which means it's time to chill and start working on this blog as well as producing some really cool photographs! Before I get into the real purpose of this post, I just wanted to update you on a few cool things that are happening and some changes too! As you can see, my layout has changed and I'm not sure whether the layout at the moment will be permanent so a couple of changes will happen throughout the next couple of weeks. I have also decided to sell a couple of my prints this summer so keep a look out in the next few weeks as they should be available soon! I'm not 100% sure what my uploading schedule will be like this summer but I want to post as frequently as I can. If you have any suggestions for any blog posts that you would like see then comment them below or my Instagram. That's about it so enjoy today's blog post!
I wanted to do today's post on something life changing that happened to me a couple of days ago. After 5 seemingly short years of high school, I finally finished. It's very strange as to how the past 5 years have gone so fast. Each year felt like it had dragged but by the time I had reached Year 11, my final year, time flew past within a blink of an eye. The teachers had all said that this year would go fast but I didn't believe them because I thought it would have been like every other year but it wasn't. It was weird how quickly it became exam season and even weirder how fast it went. It felt like my exams had lasted no longer than a couple of days but in reality they were two very stressful months. High school is always something I'll remember, from the students to the teachers and to the building itself. I experienced so much within 5 years. I just want to say the biggest thank you to my friends, teachers and classmates for making the past 5 years great and good luck in the future. I'll see most of you at prom! Here's a couple of pictures of me and my friends, they're a strange bunch of kiddiwinks. There's a bunch more over on my Instagram! The link is at the end of this post or you can click the tab at the top of this blog.
the famous HSM pose
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Winter is Here! | Zafira
WINTER IS HERE!
The temperature has dipped and it's started to get a little more chilly here in Manchester. I was not at all expecting any snow this year, at least not until around March/April time but one gloomy Saturday morning, little white flakes fell from the clouds and covered little old Manchester in a white blanket of pretty snow. Even though I'm a summer baby, I adore the winter time. Especially when it snows! There's something quite admirable about frosty mornings and darker days. Also it means sweater weather! I live in sweaters or jumpers as we call them here. I took a couple of pictures around where I live as well as up in Derbyshire where the snow was a lot thicker and the weather was absolutely freezing. Enjoy!
I have no idea what happened here.
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A Month In Bangladesh | Zafira
Hi guys and welcome back to my blog!
So during this summer, me and family headed up to Bangladesh to visit family and to also explore the small South Asian country. For me, this was an eye opening journey as I discovered a lot about Bangladesh, it's traditions and the people there. In all honesty, Bangladesh isn't one of the prettiest places in the world at first but you can see the beauty of the country in the people there. What I loved most about Bangladesh was the amount of pride people had in their country and how much they love it. A majority of the people there don't take anything for granted like many of us do in countries like the UK where important factors of life such as education are handed to us on a plate. Last time I went to Bangladesh was about 7 years ago in 2008, I was too young to understand of how much an important holiday it was and how much things would change when I next came back. Bangladesh was very different this time for me, I focused too much on the minorities and things weren't important such as bugs and the fact that it was about 40 degrees and I was melting . The only thing that should have been important was grasping hold and creating memories of what could be one of the last visits to my somewhat home country. ALTHOUGH I was a major fusspot throughout a big quantity of this holiday, I did create a few memories and on here, I'll share a few with ya ;)
ALSO ALSO ALSO, I'd just like to let you know I didn't use a fancy shmancy camera, I only used my small Canon Powershot A2500. It's not got top notch quality but it took decent pictures and was easy to carry around.
I hope you all had a lovely summer and enjoy my pictures!
I'm really really pleased with how these shots and edits came out. I hope you like them! Make sure you follow me on Instagram and Flickr, I post regularly :)
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Exploring London: Portobello Market | Zafira
Hi guys and welcome to my blog!
SO we've finally come to the end of the London series. It only took me like 4 months. But anyway, we've reached my final and fave part which is Portobello Market! I'm a huge fan of anything vintage and antique and Portorbello was filled to the brim. I found so many amazing things and everything I saw was just beautiful.
Since we've come to the end of the London series I'd just like to thank my wonderful Auntie Mahmuda for being the best tour guide ever. I can't wait to come back to London and explore more exciting places!
Enjoy and remember to see all the pictures I took at Portobello Market, go visit my Flickr!
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Exploring London: Victoria and Albert Museum | Zafira
Hello and welcome to my blog!
Victoria and Albert Museum is the third part of my London series! It is such a pretty place with a range of different arts and designs. I was very intrigued by everything I saw and it is now one of my favourtie places in London. I highly recommend you to visit whenever you are in London.
To see all my pictures of the V&A Museum, head to my Flickr. The link will be at the end of this post :)
Sneaky song 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjPyvoLXPs4
Sneaky song 2 :
Sneaky song 3 :
Sneaky song 4 :
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Exploring London: Saatchi Gallery | Zafira
Hello and welcome to my blog!
This post is all about the Saatchi Gallery. It was one of my favourite places that I had ever visited. The art was so beautiful and moving. I also got a lot of inspiration for my own artwork.
*I'm very active now on my Instagram so follow to keep up to date with my blog! Link is the end of this post :)
On with the pictures!
Sneaky song 1:
Sneaky song 2:
Sneaky song 3:
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Exporing London : Brick Lane | Zafira Ahmed
Hi guys and welcome to my blog!
So I spent a couple of days in London and took waaaaaaay too many pictures. I've decided to start a 4 part series here on my blog on my adventures in London. So keep up with my blog within the next few weeks as I'll be trying to put them up as soon :)
To see all the pictures head over to my Flickr. The link will be at the end of this post.
Here's a couple sneaky songs I've been loving:
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