Get Ready With Me: Autumn Edition | Zafira
Hi!
Every time I post a photograph of me of on my Instagram I get a lot of questions about what’s on my face. Whether that’s the lipstick I’m wearing, my foundation or even skincare and I thought the best way of answering all those questions was by filming a little get ready with me.
I do a lot of these. These are the only videos I film because 1. they don’t require me to speak (i hate my voice) and 2. they’re pretty straightforward and easy to film. Maybe one day I’ll venture out and become a full blown beauty guru but for now, I’m happy with my once a year get ready with mes.
Without further adieu, here’s me transforming from a dying Bella Swan, to an amazing catfish. Enjoy!
Products Used:
VITAMIN E HYDRATING MIST
I use this day, night, on my beauty sponge and literally whenever I just need to wake up it’s the best thing ever.
hyaluronic acid serum
I use this day and night too and it’s amazing if you have dry skin like me. It’s especially great for this time of year when it gets a little chillier.
alpha arbutin serum
I started using this about a week or two ago and I’ve already noticed such a massive difference in my skin. I have a lot of scarring from previous acne and this helps a lot with pigmentation.
glossier invisible shield
I’ve recently started using sunscreen everyday because I don’t like that I’m getting older and any sign of ageing will 100% send me into a full on breakdown. This one from Glossier is what I’ve been looking for my entire life. It doesn’t leave you looking white or sticky or feeling like you have sunscreen on at all.
kiehls ultra facial cream
This is easily the best moisturiser ever. I suffer with dry skin so finding a moisturiser that does its job but also doesn’t feel too heavy on the skin used to be such a difficult task until I found this beauty.
glossier balm dot com
I think I enjoy eating this more than I enjoy putting it on my lips. It tastes so so so good. I’ve started using this everyday because it’s pretty and sparkly and also because it’s one of the best lip balms ever.
maybelline fit me matte and porless foundation
If you’re looking for a cheap drugstore foundation then this is your best friend. For £6 you really can’t go wrong.
revolution conceal & define
I never used to wear concealer mainly because I’m lazy and I’d rather just embrace the whole ‘I haven’t slept all night’ thing but once I used this concealer I never went back. It’s so good. I can’t leave the house without wearing it anymore because it makes me look so awake.
laura mercier loose setting powder
In the shade ‘Translucent’.
I’ve had quite the love/hate relationship with this powder. When I first used it, I found it really cakey but I spent £30 on this so I gave it another try a few months ago and now I love it. It makes my face look so smooth when it most definitely is not.
nip + fab contour palette
This is in the shade ‘Dark’.
This palette as you can see is so well loved. I use this not only for contour but bronzer, blush, eye shadow and even for lipstick. I’ll use a mixture of the top 3 brown shades for my contour, the empty brown shade for bronzer, the pink for blush and I also like to pat a bit of this shade on my lips. I think it looks really nice when your blush and lipstick match. I’ll also use any of the top 3 brown shades as eye shadow.
maybelline lash sensational mascara
I’ve been using this mascara for years and I don’t think I’ll ever switch because this is truly the best of the best. It doesn’t clump at all and makes my eyelashes fluttery and long.
mary-lou manizer
I’m not too crazy about highlighter, I think this might be the only highlighter I’ve used in my life. It’s such a great shade for brown girls too.
barry m lip liner
In the shade ‘Chocolate’.
I use this lip liner everyday and have done since I started wearing makeup. It’s the perfect brown lip liner. I use it before any lipstick I apply.
nyx soft matte lip cream
In the shade ‘Rome’.
Along with the Barry M lip liner, I’ve also been using this exact shade of lipstick ever since I started wearing makeup. This with the lip liner is my favourite lip combo of all time.
urban decay all nighter setting spray
Honestly, I only started wearing setting spray this year because I never felt the need for it but now I can’t even leave the house without being drenched in this. Not only does it keep your makeup on all day but I think it really helps with making your makeup looking a little less cakey.
Thanks for reading (and watching too i guess)! Let me know if you want to see more stuff like this on here.
Lots of love,
Music of the Month: September | Zafira
Hi!
It's been awhile since I've done one of these but I am back with the best list of songs and artists that I am enjoying this month!
Over the past few months, I haven't really been listening to a lot of new music. I don't really know why but I just wasn't into anything that had been released. It felt like I was just listening to old music that had been recycled in the worst way possible. It felt as if artists were just putting 0 effort into the songs they were releasing. But then September came around and out of nowhere, the most amazing songs and artists came spurting out of nowhere and it really was a blessing. There is nothing better than starting off the most stressful month of the year with the greatest playlist.
If you follow me on Twitter / Instagram you probably most definitely know who I'm going to talk about first. Brockhampton. They are the loves of my life and I think they're the best boyband out there right now. Everything they release is new and so exciting and I always look forward to their new releases.
It was hard to pick a favourite from the album since I love them all but these are my top 3:
1. LOOPHOLE
How and why is this only 53 seconds long.
2. TAPE
So this plus Loophole is revolutionary. They just go so well together and I love the whole calming instrumental bit (sorry for my terrible musical vocab). It's so cinematic I can imagine it so vividly in some sort of movie or film. I love love love it.
3. FABRIC
This gets me so pumped about the day. Even though the lyrics are quite deep and hard hitting, the beat and rhythm are quick paced and I feel like this would be a pretty decent song to work out to as well. It starts off quite slow but then slowly quickens. I also really love the chorus.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-0NYnb-fh0
This song was on my Spotify discover playlist a few weeks ago which I had stopped checking for a while because I'm usually left disappointed. My discover playlist is filled mainly with soppy indie music which isn't really what I'm into these days but I ended up finding this jem which I am obsessed with. It's extremely catchy. It's a song definitely meant to stay in your head and is 100% a perfect song to sing in the shower. Not to be a complete weirdo but 'daunting' is such a good word right?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOwlY9ITazA
So alt-J recently released a new version of their very loved album 'RELAXER' which is almost as good as the original. This newer version is called 'REDUXER' and features remixes and many different versions of the songs on RELAXER. This particular one features GoldLink who is so good. I love GoldLink a lot too and the mix of all of these people is such a perfect combination.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9b4UvTeQxQ
I've mentioned $uicideboy$ quite a few times in this series but how can I not? They are just too good. This song is from their newest album 'I Want to Die in New Orleans' which is overall is pretty okay but this song is by far my favourite.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uFv9Ts7Sdw
What sort of basic teenage blogger would I be if I didn't mention Lana Del Rey at least once in my posts? But I really do love her. I love her essence and her music and just everything about her. This is my most favoured from her latest releases because I love the lyrics. I also watched the music vid for this and it's so beautiful.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEiMnOr0-nM
I have never ever been disappointed by a Sticky Fingers song. This is their newest single and I wish this was released earlier because it is the perfect song for a summer's day. I love the lyrics and the nostalgic sort of feel to this song. It's just very very very good.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzbRHsyjIzk
A lot of bands and artists released new albums this month and one of these bands was the Neighbourhood. Like many people, I fell in love with them when I heard Sweater Weather which was released 5 years ago. I like many of their earlier songs but when it comes to more recent songs, I've been a bit iffy with them and I'm not a big fan of many. However 'Paradise' reminded me a lot of their older songs and I fell in love instantly. I listened to a snippet of it on Jesse Rutherford's Instagram a few weeks ago before it was released and I knew it would be one of many faves this month.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGvS285hfjA
When listening to SYML I always get a very sad and mopey vibe, like I usually just want to lie in bed and cry when listening to his stuff but this song is so different. It's so upbeat and different. I like it a lot. I really hope he releases more stuff like this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3Qzzggn--s
This song changed my life. The music video stupidly amazing but song itself is so so good. I can defo see myself slow dancing (on my own) in the dark to this. It's perfect. I love Joji.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8LIRtPnuA8
Before many of you start questioning why I put this in here, take a moment and just listen to the song. It's iconic. Life changing. A masterpiece. There's a reason I've been listening to this since I was 6 years old. It's a song I'll always have in my head and I'll be listening to this for ever. I think we must have under estimated JoJo when this came out because she taught us so much in just one song.
That's all I have for this month but if you click here then you can access my entire playlist for this month. There's so much more on there for you to listen to if you enjoyed the songs I mentioned. I don't think this will be a monthly series just because the songs on my playlist don't change drastically but I'll most likely be posting one every other month or so.
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Blackpool | Zafira
Hi!
Since everyone enjoyed my Wales video so much, I thought I'd make another one with some random clips I had lying around. About a month or so ago, me and a couple of my family members headed over to Blackpool to just relax and watch the sunset. I think if you live especially in Manchester, you have this very vivid image of Blackpool because as soon as it gets a tiny bit hot, you know you would probably be going there to spend the day since it's pretty close by. When I was younger, Blackpool seemed like the coolest place ever but in more recent days, it's become a somewhat overrated and downhill place to be.
When I went to film this video, the beauty that Blackpool once had offered to me as a young child didn't appear to me straight away but something happened at sunset I was hit with all these amazing and very surprising sunlit surroundings and found that it was the perfect opportunity to film some bits.
I used the song 'The End of Love' by Florence and the Machine because it was on one of Spotify discover playlists and I'm not quite sure why but it reminded me a lot of being at the beach. I feel like it's pretty in-tune with the montage.
I hope you enjoyed it!
Lots of love,
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Wales Video FAQ | Zafira
Hi!
So if you've been following me on my social media, you'd know that a few weeks ago I made and posted a little video montage of my weekend away to Wales and ever since I've had so many questions about it so I thought I'd answer them all on here.
I've seen quite a few videos in the film and 'Super 8' style and I completely adore them. I love the grain and nostalgia feeling behind them. I wanted to replicate that with my montage of Wales because this was the very first time my entire family had gone away together and it was one of those things I know we'll look back at for the rest of our lives. It was most definitely a trip to remember. I wanted it to have that sort of home video-y feel to it but also still be something very visually appealing. I used the song 'Fear of the Water' by Syml because if you know me very well then you'd know I have this weird relation with water. I can't swim so large amounts of water are a big no no but I adore the sea and the ocean and everything that comes with it. I was listening to it on the way to Wales and it's what really spurted the idea of this video.
Okay so the most asked question is how did I get it looking like I shot on film or on a Super 8 camera? A lot of people have also asked what camera I used but my secret really is Adobe Premiere. I am a student so even affording something like Super 8 camera is ridiculous without even thinking about getting the film developed which is another huge dip in the bank so using Adobe Premiere and achieving something that looks pretty authentic was amazing. I just started off my filming with my DSLR and then imported it into Premiere, cropped it into a square shape, added a dash of grain, lowered the contrast, increased the saturation and added the film reel sound and I was good to go. You can even get away with filming with your phone and anything really, the quality of the video isn't really as important because when the overlays and grain and stuff are added on top, the overall quality lowers.
I used two videos I found on YouTube to overlay and help create a perfect and central square shape and to add effects and here they are:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZM9bcUYonY
This first one helped to create those orangey/pink hues that appeared spontaneously which is common when using film.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1rCxzJnmiM
And then the second one is what I used to get the square shape. I wasn't sure on how to get the rounded corners so that's why I stuck with the square. I didn't really like the effects on this so I used as a stencil and guide of where to place each clip and then ended up only keeping the audio from this.
I watched quite a few YouTube tutorials to help which were really handy but when it comes to doing the little things like altering colours and such it's pretty much up to your personal preferance. I added a slight yellow tint to emphasize that nostalgic feel and then a handwritten title and subtitle. I got a lot of questions about that too, some people thought it was a font but it's just my crappy handwriting lol. I used a graphics tablet which is actually my little brothers but it's become very handy for me so we'll just say it's mine. I used Photoshop and started off with a black landscape A4 sized document and wrote in yellow. I used a black background because when you usually insert titles in Premiere the background is always black anyway.
Here's the most helpful YouTube tutorial that I found:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrmmJK9QwPo
The last thing I had a loooot of questions about was where this was filmed and as you can probably tell from the title, it was filmed in Wales but more specifically in the small town on Pemaenmawr alongside Llandudno and Snowdonia. They are amazing places to photograph (click here to check out my 'Wales on Film' post) and film because it feels so calm and serene. It's so beautiful to be out in nature and be surrounded by beaches and hills and mountains which is something I tried to capture in my video.
I plan to do a lot more of these because I adore making them, it's so much fun to film and make so make sure you follow my social media to find out when and where I release my next video!
Lots of love,
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Exploring Manchester: Cat Cafe | Zafira
Helloo and welcome to today's post!
I've lived in Manchester my entire life but I've never really had the chance to explore it so I thought, as I explore more of Manchester, I'll document it and write about it on here!
Today, me and friend Britt finally decided to go to the Cat Cafe. Since she loves cat and I have no idea how I feel about them we thought it would be the perfect place to visit. First thing I noticed was how friendly the staff are. I've never felt so at home and welcomed before in my entire life. We only stayed there for about half an hour which came up to the grand total of £6 which is not bad at all considering all drinks are unlimited. It's such a chill and relaxing environment, there's soft music playing in the background and the room is filled with homely furniture that adds to that overall comforting feel.
The cats are basically everywhere doing just about anything but mostly chillin'. It's so lovely to see all these cats with so many different personalities. I think one of the things I was pretty scared about was like a cat jumping onto me or attacking me or something like that just because I've not really had a lot of experience with cats. But I can assure you that nothing like that happened lol, the cats are pretty friendly and won't jump onto you but will come and walk around and near you which is pretty cute.
There's just something in the air whilst you're in there that makes you feel so happy. Me and Britt were almost in tears from happiness whilst we were in there and even after we left. It was such a pleasant experience and will most likely become sort of tradition for us. I think it's perfect for a little get together with friends, dates or just as a stress reliever. I can imagine myself sat in here a lot when exams are going on. It's such a wonderful place and I can't wait to go again!
Here's a few pictures I took today!
I should become a cat photographer.
Not a cat but she might as well be.
Heaven.
Just look how chilled out this angel is, what more could you want in life?
This is Bert, you can follow this qt on Instagram by clicking on the following link:
As you can tell from this, Britt was pretty much crying once we left the place.
Make sure you check out my Instagram for more snaps! 💮
Get to Know Me | Zafira
Hey ❀
It's a sad, gloomy Saturday afternoon and the weather has put me in such a relaxed yet creative mood and I've been making notes and plans like crazy for this blog and also some photography projects. I'm so excited for the future of this blog! Today I decided that I would do a get to know me tag. I've had this blog for a year now (whoop whoop!!!) and I don't think that you know me very well. I think it's about time you get to know who I am. Enjoy ♡
What is your name?
My name is Zafira Ahmed if you couldn't already tell by the title of this bloggie.
What is your favourite subject in school?
I really enjoy art now. I consider myself a very creative person so me and art go together very well. It's a great way to express yourself.
What’s your favourite song at the moment?
I can never just have one favourite. I'm liking 3 songs right now and these are...
- Alive by Sia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2NgsJrrAyM
- Heartstrings by Leighton Meester
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUoKS89yZiU
- Technicolour Beat by Oh Wonder
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9FfYWp_d5w
What’s your favourite book?
I have two and these are Girl Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen and Misery by Stephen King.
What are you reading at the moment?
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.
What’s your favourite colour?
I love most shades of blue. Especially navy blue and turquoise.
What’s your favourite animal?
I'm not a huge fan of that many animals but I adore wolves. I think that they're so beautiful and majestic.
What’s your favourite perfume?
Flower by Kenzo is definitley one of them. I featured the miserable empty bottle on my vintage collection blog post last month.
Click here if you haven't read it yet!
It's smells very clean and fresh.
It's a really nice everyday scent. I also love J'adore by Dior. This is more of a floral scent and the bottle for it is so pretty.
Do you speak any other languages?
Yep I speak Bengali as well as English.
Do you have any siblings?
A younger brother who is 10.
What’s your favourite store?
I really TK Maxx or TJ Maxx as they call it in America. It's a great place to buy branded things for less.
Do you like school?
Erm NO. I dread going everyday and I pretty much hate it when I'm there 99% of the time but I know it'll be worth it in the end when I get my GCSEs.
Who are some of your favourite YouTubers?
I have so many but here's three of my current faves:
- The Michalaks are absolutely amazing. They are small family consisting of the lovely Hannah, the hilarious Stef and little Grayson and the quality of their vlogs are phenomenal.
It's literally like watching a mini movie of their lives every Sunday. And THEY'RE DOING VLOGMAS!
Check them out:
-
Samantha Maria (previously known as beautycrush) is probably my favourite fashion blogger as well as Youtuber. Her style and taste in fashion is stunning and she always looks incredible.
Check her out here:
-
Meghan Rienks is my last fave at the moment. She is so down to Earth and also so funny. I've really enjoyed watching her for the past couple of months.
Check her out here:
What’s your favourite movie?
I LOVE anything by Wes Anderson. His movies are so beautiful and vintagey. They are really quirky too and my favourites so far are The Royal Tenenbaums, Moonrise Kingdom and The Grand Budapest Hotel. I really like Requiem for a Dream and Trainspotting too. Requiem for a Dream is the stroy of 4 drug addicts and how their addiction progresses and Trainspotting is similar but more about overcoming an addiction.
What TV shows are you currently watching?
I'm now watching Empire, Suits, Scream Queens and Twin Peaks whenever I'm free. They're all really wonderful TV shows.
What phone do you have?
I have the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini.
What colour are your eyes?
I have really dark brown eyes, sometimes they even look black. It's kinda cool.
When is your birthday?
June 24th. I have the same birthday as Gustav Wood from Young Guns and also Mindy Kaling.
If you could travel anywhere in the world where would you go?
I'd love to go to Italy, especially Florence. It seems like such a dreamy, serene place and I can't wait to go one day.
Who are your favourite band?
Brand New and The NBHD are joint first on my list of favourite bands. Both very different but still amazing bands.
Favourite photographers?
A majority of my favourite photographers are on instagram but one photographer that has always stood out to me is David Bailey. He was a big hit in the 60-70s and I fell in love with his portraits of Twiggy and Jean Shrimpton.
If there are any more questions you'd like to know the answers to then feel free to leave them down below on Instagram!
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