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Why Vitamin C is Amazing for Getting Clearer Skin
Dec 05 2019
Vitamin C serums are amazing for youthful, bright and glowing skin! You might be getting enough vitamin C in your diet but it’s difficult to know if your skin is getting enough, which is why using vitamin C serums is a great idea. It’s good to consistently use the serum after you have cleansed your skin and applied your toner. Below are some of the things vitamin C serums help with.
Reduces scars and pigmentation
Vitamin C is fantastic for brightening the skin as it focusses on scars and pigmentation without changing the normal skin pigmentation. The acidity gets rid of dead skin cells, which helps to speed up the growth of new skin cells. This then smooths the skins surface to give a youthful glow.
Anti-ageing
Vitamin C can boost the skins collagen production, which can tighten the skin. The more collagen in your skin, the more firmer it becomes.
Sunburns and wounds
Vitamin C serums are great for when you’re sunburnt. Vitamin C speeds up skin cell regeneration so the damaged skin cells die and are replaced with new ones. This works the same for wounds too.
Reduces redness
Vitamin C has been shown to reduce redness and even out skin tone to create a brighter complexion and clearer skin.
Reduces dark circles
Vitamin C serums can hydrate the under eye area and help lighten the dark circles.
6 Steps to Help Choose your Wedding Caterer
Nov 27 2019
Once you’ve set your date and booked your venue, caterers are the next most important thing to decide on. We have listed some tips below on how to choose the perfect one!
Pick a cuisine
Depending on your wedding you will need to decide on a cuisine. Whether you’re doing Punjabi, Gujarati, English etc. you will need to research which caterers provide these cuisines.
Speak to your venue manager
The event’s manager at your chosen venue might be able to suggest particular caterers. They may only allow their own chefs to prepare the food in which case you cannot bring an external caterer. There might be an approved list of external caterers that your venue allow on site. In this case it is always best to find out what caterers can be used before deciding on your venue especially if you already have a particular caterer or cuisine that your venue does not provide.
Ask around for quotes
Like with all vendors you should research and pick a few caterers to contact for quotes. If some are out of your budget you can cross them off your list and enquire further with the others by arranging a meeting.
Meet the caterers
When you meet with the selected caterers you should ask the following questions:
- How many dishes can we choose for starters, mains, desserts?
- Are canapés included?
- Are soft drinks included?
- Price per head?
- A menu to choose from
- Is crockery, cutlery, linen included?
- How many waiters will there be for your number of guests?
These are the initial questions to ask.
Food Tasting
Only some caterers allow you to try their food before making your decision. Other caterers will prepare a food tasting menu once you have confirmed your booking. If the caterers have a restaurant it might be a good idea to try their food beforehand.
Make your decision
And finally, make your decision!
Once this has been done you can discuss the following:
- Food tasting your chosen menu and giving feedback
- Confirm the number of people attending
- Confirm your dishes
- Decide what time each course will be served
Could Green Tea Clear Your Acne?
Nov 20 2019
There’s a lot of medication and creams that help with acne but if there was a way to treat acne with natural and non-chemical ways then I’m up for that! Green tea contains antioxidants, anti-inflammatories and antibiotics. It’s rich in something called EGCG that has shown to improve acne and also oily skin. I’ll be discussing the ways you can use green tea below to help keep your skin clear from acne.
Face Masks
Green Tea and Honey
- Get some loose leaf green tea or cut the tea bag open to use the green tea leaves
- Add 3 tablespoons of hot water to the tea leaves
- Add 1 tablespoon of manuka honey
- Mix the ingredients until a paste is formed
- Apply the paste on your face and leave it on for 20-30 minutes
- Wash off with warm water
- Apply this mask 2-3 times a week
Toner
You can make a green tea toner to apply on your face every night before going to sleep. Once you have done your usual skincare routine you can apply the green tea toner.
- Brew some green tea for 1-3 minutes
- Add ice cubes to cool it down
- Once cooled you can apply the green tea to your face with a cotton pad
- Keep this on overnight or if you have sensitive skin then rinse your face with warm water after 20 minutes
Drinking Green Tea
Start drinking 1-3 cups of green tea a day and after a few weeks you will notice an improvement combined with the masks above. Drinking green tea also helps your general health so you should feel better too. Just make sure when drinking or using the above masks that you buy pure green tea and none that contain added flavours or sugar.
Things to not forget when planning a wedding
Nov 12 2019
Planning weddings can be exciting but stressful! There’s the usual things you need to plan for such as finding venues, caterers, etc. but there can always be smaller things that you should have planned for that can often be forgotten about or ignored completely.
Make an itinerary for the wedding day
- Know what time you need to be ready by and what time you will be leaving your house. Also note the latest possible time you can leave just in case you get delayed.
- Know the starting times of the ceremony and the latest you can leave the venue especially if your reception party is on the same day and even more importantly if you’re planning to have an outfit/hair/makeup change.
- Make sure you discuss with your DJ and caterers the time you will be entering for your reception so your guests are already seated.
- Also discuss with your caterers the time you would like starters, main course and dessert to be served.
Appoint a family member to be in charge
If you have a wedding planner this might not be needed for your ceremony or reception but it is always a good idea to appoint a family member to be in charge (not your mum or dad – they should be stress free too) and let all vendors know who this person is and their contact number. The last thing you want on your wedding day is to be hassled by vendors disturbing you and asking questions. At the end of the day you want the day to be your fairy tale moment and a trustworthy family member can deal with any questions or issues that arise without you even knowing!
Accommodating for extra guests
So you’ve made your seating plan after many stressful attempts and some people still have the nerve to show up on your big day even though they didn’t RSVP! Are you going to let them in?
You might decide to have an extra table laid out just in case more people do come along. However, if everyone has sent their RSVPs back to you then this might not be needed. Just note that most caterers will charge per head and will include that extra table as well even if no one sits there. This also goes for people who said they were coming but couldn’t make it on the day.
Pack an overnight bag
Whether your the bride or groom you might be having an outfit change or staying the night at a hotel. With the craziness of the wedding day make sure you don’t forget to pack an overnight bag.
Security for your home
With Asian weddings there’s usually a week’s worth of celebrations before the wedding and anyone who drives past your house will know about it. They may even know when the wedding day will be and therefore know when the house will be empty. It might be a good idea to hire a security company to stay outside your home to keep an eye on it. It’s unfortunate to have to consider this but it’s always better to be safe than sorry.
It’s always good to consider the above points when planning your wedding and I’m sure your big day will be completely magical!
October Hair & Makeup Academy – Day 5
Nov 05 2019
• Assessment Day
• Portfolio Photoshoot Day (2 looks of your choice) with a Professional Model; Professional Photographer; Outfits & Jewellery which are all provided.
Here are some gorgeous photos from the looks the students created.
Well done to our amazing students who created the above looks!
Outfits by Zoya Birmingham and Khushboo’s by Chand
Jewellery by Kashmir Kreations
Flower wall by Balloons & Blooms Cov
Dress up with Anu, Soltee and Kashmir Kreations
Oct 28 2019
So you might have seen on Instagram and IGTV that I’ve started shooting fashion videos where I match my makeup to various outfits and see which jewellery looks the best too. I collaborated with Soltee and Kashmir Kreations to create a few looks. It’s fun to mix and match jewellery and sometimes even a nice pair of white trousers goes with an Indian outfit too! I wanted to inspire people to have fun with Indian outfits and hopefully give others ideas of what to wear or how to do their hair and makeup.
Below you can see the beautiful outfits and jewellery Soltee and Kashmir Kreations provided for me.
Watch the full video here and let me know what you think in the comments!
A Wonderful Day at our Masterclass
Oct 24 2019
We had a fantastic day at our recent Birmingham masterclass and wanted to thank everyone for coming. We released the tickets to our private mailing list first and then announced it publicly on our Instagram where it sold out very quickly. If you’d like to be added to our private mailing list, just send us an email to [email protected] to let us know!
Goodie Bags
On arrival everyone received goodie bags with fantastic products worth over £250! Anu and her team love using these products.
-Anu Malhi brush set
–Tamaar London Creams (Tamaar have give us a huge 30% off their products for a limited time only. Simply use code anumalhi30 at the checkout.
–COOLA daydream mineral primer
–Roots & Rituals hair mask
–Roots & Rituals scalp & hair oil
–Pavan Henna Bar tattoos
–Urban Decay products
–Nip + Fab products
Look 1
Look 1 was all about bridal glam where Anu demonstrated the products and techniques she uses for a flawless bridal look.
Look 2
Look 2 was all about reception glam where Anu demonstrated the products and techniques she uses for a breathtaking reception look.
Thank you to the amazing brands we collaborated with!
COOLA | Tamaar London | Pavan Henna Bar | Roots & Rituals | Prestige Suite | Soltee | Golden Events | Infinitive Music | AutoGraph Weddings | Kashmir Kreations | Mendhi Min
How To Make Your Guests RSVP
Oct 15 2019
Getting married is stressful enough and just when you begin to relax as another thing gets ticked off the list, you realise another list has appeared out of nowhere!
So you’ve just sent you’re invites out and are eagerly waiting for replies! Here are some tips you should think about when trying to get all your guests to RSVP.
Designing your invitation
When designing your invitation make sure it’s clear that RSVPs are needed and the date they are needed by. You can even put the date in bold to stand out.
- You can also include an envelope that has your pre-written address and a stamp ready to post back to you.
- Have more than one method to RSVP by such as an email address, phone number or website.
- Make sure the deadline date gives people enough time to reply but also gives you enough time to chase up after.
Giving out invitations
Depending on how you are giving out your invitations, you might be able to get a family’s response straight away if you’re hand delivering. You can simply ask them to check if they’re free that day and to give you the numbers of people attending. Usually this will be close family and friends but it still helps!
Delegate to parents
Now that the deadline date has passed, your parents or a close family member are the best people to chase up RSVPs as they know all the families. Simply say how it would be great to know if they can attend and how you need an answer ASAP as the caterers and other suppliers need to know etc. If they can’t tell you there and then, set another deadline for them.
No replies after chasing
Time has now passed and you’ve chased people but you’re still missing some responses.
You have two options now:
- They haven’t responded so assume they’re not coming and do not allocate them a seat.
- They haven’t responded but just in case allocate one table for guests that turn up on the day.
If you go for option two and are brave enough you could even use the below as their name card LOL!
5 First Steps for Planning Your Wedding
Oct 08 2019So you’re newly engaged and thinking about planning your wedding! Firstly, a huge congratulations! You’re probably feeling a variety of emotions – excited, happy, nervous, overwhelmed. Well hopefully our guide to completing your first 5 steps to planning your wedding will help you out.
1 – Set a Budget
It’s a good idea to set a rough budget first and estimate what you think the whole wedding will cost. This includes everything from venue hire to outfits, decor, food, etc. Ask friends and family for advice on how they budgeted their wedding and what they paid for their suppliers. You may find that decor for example costs more than you first thought so you can either increase your budget or try reduce the cost of something else.
2 – Search for Venues
This is a really fun part of planning where you shortlist some lovely venues for your big day and go to view them. It’s a good idea to find out when the venue is having a wedding open day as usually other suppliers go there and it’s good to have a chat with them too. A lot of venues have peak and off peak prices with summer months being peak so if you don’t want a summer wedding you might be able to get a discounted rate.
Once you decide on the venue you like you can let them know of some dates you are looking to get married. Be flexible with your dates as popular venues get booked up pretty quickly especially if there’s less than a year left.
If you’re having a religious ceremony you’ll have to find a venue for this too.
3 – Set your Date
Once you’ve decided on your venues and know their availability, it’s time to choose a date! Once your deposit has been placed you’re date is secured and you can begin planning the finer details of your big day. It’s a nice idea to send out save the date’s so all of your guests know to keep the date free. Here’s some save the dates we love.
4 – Choosing Suppliers
Now that you’ve set you’re date, you need to start booking other suppliers. This includes caterers, DJ, Decor, Flowers, Entertainment, Toastmaster, Wedding Car, etc. You probably would want to start with choosing your caterers. This can involve going to a few food tastings with various caterers until you find the right one. Next you should choose your decor company as they can get booked up pretty quickly too. Look around at a few suppliers and discuss your theme ideas and budget. Once these have been decided, you can begin finding whatever other suppliers you want such as DJ, entertainment, toastmaster, etc.
5 – Guestlist
Write a list of people you will be inviting and group them into families so you know how many invitations need to be made and sent out. You have to remember that your chosen venue has a maximum capacity and to make sure you don’t go over this number.
Hopefully these first 5 steps will help you get started on your wedding planning and we’ll be writing more about wedding planning tips soon so keep an eye out for those!
Natural Lightening & Moisturising Cream – Tamaar London
Sep 27 2019As you can see from my YouTube video I don’t have the best complexion and have light and dark tones. Recently my skin started to peel and flake around my cheeks down to my jaw line and it became very dry, flakey and irritated causing it to go much lighter in that area, and for us girls we start to panic & stress out which doesn’t help!! I started using this wonderful product from Tamaar London as I wanted something to help this issue and the pigmentation caused.
Pigmentation, Colour & Skin Texture
This product has helped dramatically! It’s improved the colour and texture of my skin. I’m in love with this product! I have only been using it for 3 weeks and friends and family have noticed the difference, which makes me so happy 😊
Tamaar Skin generally say it takes up to 4 weeks to begin noticing any difference.
Natural Ingredients
Tamaar use natural ingredients in their products that have been clinically tested by pharmacists. Some key ingredients include turmeric root extract, tamarind seed extract, rosehip seed oil, kefir milk probiotics, holy basil and many other wonderful ingredients. I personally prefer using natural products as my skin is quite sensitive and therefore I’m always wary of other products I use.
Product Texture
This cream is really light weight so sits really well under makeup. Watch the best way to apply your makeup once you’ve used this product. It’s not thick and oily which is it great as it soaks straight into the skin and starts working it’s magic!
Wrinkles, Eczema, Redness, Oily & Blemished Skin, Hyper-pigmentation & Dark Spots
Tamaar have products to help all of these conditions so give them a go as they offer a 60 day guarantee satisfaction too!