As I was boarding my flight back from Dubai to London, my eyes glanced over a book that did in face give me an impression of a good mindless read directed towards women. Quite an expensive looking slightly Arab looking lady covering the front page, I read a couple of paragraphs and decide that I might as well buy it to be my companion for my 7-hour trip back to London. What probably drew me to the book was the familiarity as most of the story takes place in Dubai and London. As well the opportunity to take a look behind the veil. The book revolves around the lives of Nadia, a North African lady who followed her husband to Dubai; Sugar, Muslim-Indian-British girl, who has been running away from complicated past; Leila, a Lebanese minx, looking for a rich husband and Lady Luxe, who has it all, but being an Emirati, feels restricted by what is expected from her. By far, Lady Luxe is my favourite character.
The pages clearly made me envision her Midnight Oud by Romano Ricci scent, pink Ferrari and her rebellious character. Whilst travelling to Dubai I had the occasion, thanks to my friend, to observe an Emirati wedding and Lady Luxe, in a way, represents these women I saw there. Hidden by their veils in the society, yet underneath wearing the most glamorous gowns and refined hairstyles and witty brains. I’m sure Lady Luxe is an extreme example, but her character will most likely help one understand the realities of Emirati women. The lives of these four women become so intertwined throughout the book, almost feels like watching the multi-narrative movie Babel, but on the pages of a book. All in all, I recommend reading it, especially if you’re opinionated or want to learn more about lives of Arab/Muslim women. Think it could easily be a global bestseller as it’s one of those books you cannot put down once finished.
Top 10 advice from Mrs. Moneypenny’s Career Advice for Ambitious Women.
It sometimes good to read books directed to women, particularly when it’s specially tailored advice for us on how to be ourselves, but become better. Below are some points of advice I picked up on Mrs. Moneypenny’s book, which I do recommend to read.
1. It is important to be to good with numbers;
2. Building a network is essential to ones career;
3. One needs to prioritise and find a balance between personal and professional obligations;
4. Degrees make you confident and more credible;
5. Be useful to others;
6. Keep in touch with people that can be your reference;
7. Have a Third Dimension, something that makes you stand out;
8. Hair matters;
9. Read FT, or at least carry it around with you;
10. It is never too late.
To find out more about the book, do read this article too.
Mary’s Living&Giving on Westbourne Grove
When on Westbourne Grove in London, there is one shop I never seem to walk past without ‘having a quick look.’ It’s Mary’s Giving and Living Shop for Save the Children charity run by volunteers. Based on a study by Harvard Business School, giving indeed does make people happier and this shop is a great combination of the two. In addition to the fact that shopping for charity, gives one the ‘feel-good-factor’, Mary’s shop in my opinion is for individuals, both men and women, who want to find unique pieces without feeling that they’ve been ripped off. On this Saturday stroll I found myself some leather like red jeans(£35), authentic Indiana Jones hat(£35)and Marc Jacobs Recycled statement bag(£45). Like!
Do you know of other places like that in London or elsewhere?
I heard the sound of wings flapping behind me, clumsy steps approaching, suddenly someone was climbing over my shoulder right onto my chest, started crunching her beak and fluffed up her feathers. Being so touched by her signs of affection, I gave her a KISS.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Kiss
Tara Smith – Tested on Celebrities
Couple of weeks ago my little sister sent me a link to an article about chemicals that should not be in ones beauty products – mainly parabens, which according to some sources have been linked to breast cancer, and SLSs ( sodium lauryl sulfate), which is also used in dish washing liquid, produces a lot of foam, but also hinders hair growth and can lead to a dry scalp, Petrolatum (or Petroleum Jelly, Mineral Oil, Paraffin) a by product of oil industry, which creates a filmy layer on the skin giving the impression that the skin is silky and moisturised at the same time disrupting the metabolism of the skin and finally silicone (or dimethicone, dimethicolon), which stays on the surface of the hair, hindering moisturising through the air, causing dryness and breakage of the hair.
I should be a chemist to be able to explain it all, which I unfortunately am not, however I prefer to avoid potentially harmful chemicals in my skincare, so I started going through all the creams hair products that I have. Turns out that even though I have been relatively selective with my products, quite a few still have the above mentioned chemicals in their ingredients list, for example Body Shop, l’Occidental and Kérastase.
Tara Smith’s at M&S in Oxford Street
There were couple of bottles of shampoo and conditioner, which were given to me for Christmas and I hadn’t used until now, which stood out during my inventory – Tara Smith’s products.As my partner was complaining of itchy scalp and Kérastase hadn’t done magic this time, I suggested he used it and it works. I’ve switched to TS’s for now and I have to say that my hair does feel softer and healthier. Downside of TS’s seems to be that the products are relatively expensive (£10 for 250ml) and difficult to get hold of – in the UK they’re sold only at M&S and only in selected stores! As I adore parrots, I might stick to it for some time. If you do know any other paraben, SLS free products, please do share!
Book review: Looking for Transwonderland
Looking for Transwonderland is an utterly amusing travel book by Noo Saro-Wiwa,who grew up in London and goes to explore her home country Nigeria. As a child, her father used to bring her to Nigeria for summer holidays. All she could think of instead was going to a tropical island like her school friends and equalled it to ‘being in prison.’Her father, Ken Saro-Wiwa, environmental activist and a critic of the Nigerian government, insisted his children to experience various layers of their home country. Sadly, he was hanged by the regime of Sani Abacha in 1995. Noo hadn’t returned to the country since that time. Looking for answers to questions her father could not answer anymore, she boarded a flight to Lagos to have an independent view of the country.The pages of her book are filled with colourful overview of local means of travel, peoples relation to religion and numerous accounts of losing electricity at various points of time. I adore her non-judgemental insider-outsider views, that made me not want to put down the book.
Despite having a family in Nigeria and many of her relatives urging her to go back, she is not convinced. She observes that Nigeria is a place where ‘who you know’ is more important than anything else and her lenient view on religion is not most welcome by her family. However, she feels warm-hearted by the entrepreneurial character of Nigerian people and encounters people who point out huge prospects for agriculture and other industries, which have been forgotten under the shadow of ‘Black Gold’
Despite of her falling asleep whilst watching a Nollywood movie, she would turn on the TV every evening(in case there was electricity) to watch the next one as each of them would turn out to be better and open a new angle on Nigerian society. Similar is the impact of Noo’s book, expect for just being the right length, in engaging the reader right until the last page with stories that make you want to know more.
Stationery Special
Often I walk past the cutest print shop I’ve ever seen on one of the most pleasant streets of London – The Mount Street Printers. I always wondered what they do. 
Once I saw them have Chinese lanterns, so I stepped in to buy some, but as they didn’t sell them I stepped out with bunch of envelopes with ladybirds on them. Most special stationery experience in London at least I’ve had. Step in, go on.
Spoon Wash .
Just wanted to share a wonderful poster I found at Bright Young Thing .
Snow, Standstill in London
I thought it would never see the snow fall onto the ground in London. Apparently it has happened before, but I have never been around to see it. So yesterday it snowed, and oh boy it snowed big time. Walking in central London was amazing, powdery snow was falling on the ground, some, like me, were sliding away on the street and few crazy ones even laid on the ground in the middle of the street to make snow angels. Along with the fun in the snow came the chaos in the London transport. Not having luck with buses or taxis, we tried the tube. Even if most of trains were suspended, after a couple of changes, we did get closer to where we wanted to get to. When normally people on the tube are grumpy and avoid any sort of eye contact, then last night people were singing in unison the ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart,’ loud and proud and smiling! It felt like a shame to leave.
Once out of the tube, we needed a taxi, we really needed a taxi. And there were none. Or there would have been one in an hour or so. We started waving and begging and eventually one of the drivers showed some mercy and took us on. He was telling us, how the snow takes away all their businesses, even there were many people like us, who really wanted to get home for a cup of tea, the roads of London become dangerous and taxi drivers would rather not risk getting stuck in small streets or denting their car and have a day off instead. Although he did say to take the risk that night, because he needed the money. Oh well. Snow, anyway, I love you!
Triin's travels 