Secrets To The Arabian Princess Scent

Secrets to the Arabian Princess Scent 💐🧴🪷

So with Arab perfumes becoming popular in the West due to their strong projection and beautiful smell, and the Arab world becoming known for our knowledge on how to smell good af, I (a half Moroccan) am going to reveal some other ways we ensure we smell amazing to the girlies on Tumblr who are interested in Arab perfumes or just in generally smelling amazing 😍 Most tips are Moroccan but many apply to the Arab world in general (under the cut because this turned into a long post) ✨💞💐

1) Good Eating Habits: When my mother moved here to Europe, she was immediately struck by how the people seemed to smell like "pig." And that's no coincidence. You are what you eat, so coming from a country where nobody eats pig to one where everyone eats it, of course you're going to be struck by people smelling like it from the inside out. Not just that, but in the Arab world, it's also way less common for people to eat takeout and drink alcohol, whereas in many parts of the West, these things are a normal part of many people's diets and affects their natural scent. A lot of Arabs have also talked about how Westerners smell like "milk," and this is because Westerners tend to consume more dairy products than people in the East do. It's also common for Arabs to eat fruit as dessert instead of having cakes or cookies all the time (although speaking of cookies and cakes, the scents of rosewater, orange blossom water, almonds, honey, vanilla, oranges and lemons commonly used in Arab baking fill up the house with a wonderful smell while they're baking). Teas made from various herbal infusions are popular throughout the Arab world. Spearmint, peppermint, sage, cardamom, cinnamon, hibiscus, chamomile, anise, and thyme are commonly used to flavor tea in MENA. Dried lime tea is drunk in the Arabian Peninsula. Coffee flavoured with cardamom is also common. I especially like Turkish coffee. Spices like cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves are commonly used in cooking, and the scent of them can cling to your clothes and hair. Herbs like mint and parsley, which have natural deodorising properties, are often used in meals.

I'm not saying that you need to cut any foods out in order to smell good, but you should consider reducing the amounts of unhealthy foods and red meats you eat, and make sure to drink plenty of water and eat veggies and fruit daily.

2) Keeping a Clean House: Here in Ireland, a lot of people don't clean their houses every day. I know multiple people that only clean their floor once a week, and have a couple of neighbours who don't do much cleaning themselves and just have a housekeeper visit to clean once a week. But in Morocco, people clean daily. The home is also deep cleaned once a week, we even wash the walls. We don't wear shoes inside, and not just that, but we also have different slippers specifically for wearing inside the bathroom. Living in a clean space is important for smelling good, because no matter what you do, you'll always end up smelling like wherever you live due to spending so much time there. The scent will cling to your clothes and hair. Which means if your house smells dirty, you will also smell dirty.

As well as making sure the house is clean, Arabs also make it smell pretty with extras. For example, in Morocco it's common to burn incense or bakhour (perfumed wood chips), and the scent permeates your clothes. People also keep pieces of musk in their wardrobes (wrapped in a handkerchief). It come in scents like orange blossom, jasmine, amber, sandalwood, chamomile and lavender. An unused bar of soap or a sachet of potpourri in your wardrobe will do the same job though if you can't or don't want to buy musk. The musk can also be used as a scented wax melt, a home scent (you just leave it in a bowl), a body perfume (rub it on your skin), a hair perfume (rub on your palms and run through the hair), or to scent bathwater. Solid perfume made from natural ingredients has the same effect. I like Lush Rose Jam solid perfume, as it smells like sweet roses and Turkish delight, and a little goes a long way.

Specific to Marrakech, you can buy jasmine balls which you just leave around the house (if you're not in Marrakech, you can just leave potpourri or dried flowers and herbs in sachets on your desk, bedside table, etc). The Marrakech herbal shops also sell sandalwood bark which you burn. Oud and amber are also burned. Herbs like lavender are sprinkled under carpets and rugs so the scent rises as they're stepped on.

3) Personal Hygiene: In the Arab world, people shower daily. In Morocco, we also go to the hammam (public bath) once a week, and we sit in the sauna room, and then rub our bodies with sabon beldi (black soap), a natural soap made from olive oil and black olives, leaving it on for a few minutes before rinsing it off. Then we scrub our skin with a kessa glove after it's marinated. Exfoliating dead skin regularly makes perfume cling to you better (if you order Korean bath towels from Amazon, they're very similar to Moroccan kessa gloves and you use them in a similar way). Then after washing our hair, we use a ghassoul clay mask (some people also rub henna into their skin). After washing the clay off, many people rub rosewater or argan oil into their skin before heading to the relaxation area to enjoy refreshments. As well as helping us smell good, it also makes our skin incomparably soft. When my parents were newlyweds, my father remarked on how he'd never felt a woman with such soft skin in his life before. My mother attributes it to regularly using the hammams before moving here.

Obviously not everyone has access to a hammam, but you can create a similar experience at home. Just sit in a steamy hot shower for 10-15 minutes, wash your skin with a natural soap and leave it on for a few minutes before rinsing off and exfoliating with a glove. Then tone with rosewater and apply oil to your body.

Dukhan treatments (smoke baths) are practiced in Sudan. Married women and brides anoint themselves with oil, before sitting over a chair with a hole in the centre. Under the seat, there is a pit, in which acacia wood, frankincense, or other aromatic woods and resins are burned in a clay vessel.

As well as showering daily (and using the hammam regularly if you're Maghrebi), many people in the Arab world also perform wudu (ritual cleansing) five times a day before praying.

Alum was commonly used as a natural deodorant in the Arab world in the past, and some still use it today.

Bidets are also common in the Arab world. In the Northern Hemisphere they're uncommon, but it's easy to get a portable bidet (a small squeezable bottle with a nozzle) online.

We also wash our hands before meals, with a pitcher of water which is passed around the room. In Turkey, they use kolonya, made from fig blossoms, jasmine, rose, or citrus to disinfect their hands.

4) Fragrances, Lotions and Potions: In the Arab world, perfumes are incredible. They're oil-based, so they have excellent projection and longevity. The olfactory notes commonly used in them are beautiful too: delicate rosewater and orange blossom water, exotic oud, sweet amber, vibrant roses and jasmine. In Morocco, gardenia scents are popular, even among men.

Emirati perfumes are the most well known in the West and are super good. Some personal favourites of mine include Oud Mood by Lattafa (Caramel, rose, saffron, and oud), Fatima Pink by Zimaya (Sweet rose that smells like a bit like Turkish delight. it's a dupe of the French Parfums De Marly Delina, however, the actual Delina smells very similar to generic rose oil perfumes you can get in the Arab world to begin with so Zimaya was basically able to dupe it to a T. Their version lasts really long too), Ameerat Al Arab by Lattafa (jasmine, a hint of oud, slightly citrusy. Also the name means "Arabian Princess" in English), Fakhar Rose by Lattafa (sweet, fruity, and very floral) and Yara by Lattafa (floral, amber, vanilla and strawberry). I buy my perfumes from Dubai Perfume Shop in Dublin, but they can be easily found online. Some well-known Arab perfume houses include Lattafa, Al Rehab, Zimaya, Al Qurashi, Amouage, Afnan, Ajmal, Asdaaf, Al Haramain, Armaf, Kayali, Maison Alhambra, and Swiss Arabian, but there are hundreds more.

As well as sprayable perfume, perfume oil is also used. It usually comes in rollerballs or small containers, is inexpensive, and lasts for ages. Like spray perfume, it comes in a huge variety of scents. You can also put it in diffusers or add some to cotton balls and leave in your wardrobe to scent clothes and linens.

Arabs know when to wear perfumes. For example, a rich, sweet, strong oud and vanilla scent will be beautiful in colder weather. But in warm weather, it will become cloying and sickly. Musk, amber and saffron are popular in winter, while rose, orange blossom and jasmine are popular in summer.

In the Arab world, many stalls in the Medina sell gorgeous oils, fragrances and soaps that are inexpensive. For example, the musk I mentioned above. As well as making your home smell incredible, you can also rub it on your body and you'll smell good for days.

Rosewater is commonly used as a toner and to remove makeup. In the town of Skoura, where my great grandparents were from, men even use it to shave with! Orange blossom water is also used in Arab beauty routines in a similar way to rosewater. You can apply either to a bath for extra luxury.

Argan oil is commonly used in Morocco on both skin and hair, as well as the less well-known but just as good prickly pear oil (which is very high in vitamin E). Pure argan oil actually smells a bit stinky fyi, but for beauty, things like rose oil and menthol are commonly added, so it smells pretty good. Throughout the Middle East and North Africa, jasmine hair oil, castor oil and sweet almond oil (I like putting it in my baths and on my body) are easy to find. Usually Middle Eastern and South Asian shops in the West sell them too.

Honey and almond masks have been used since ancient times, and to this day are still popular. You can buy them basically anywhere. Homemade face masks made from honey and yoghurt or crushed figs and yoghurt are also used.

Aloe Vera is used to treat dry skin, acne, and sunburns. It has a cool and refreshing scent, perfect for the hot climate in many parts of the Arabian world. I like applying it after shaving as it's soothing, natural, and absorbs easily.

Frankincense, a resin used in the Middle East and North Africa for thousands of years, was traditionally used as a natural perfume. It's commonly used in incense. Frankincense oil is also good for the skin.

There are many beautiful scented soaps available in the Arab world. If you go to Turkish or Arab supermarkets, a lot of them will have a section where they sell hygiene products, including soaps with ingredients like argan, rose and oud, and olive oil. I've even found Syrian Aleppo soap before. You can just buy soaps from regular stores in scents like rose, jasmine, honey and almond, orange blossom and sandalwood for achieving that exotic scent though.

As well as using various oils, perfumes, and fragrant beauty treatments, Arab women also know how to layer these different scents to add dimension to them and avoid clashing. For example, a rose perfume over a vanilla lotion will always smell good. Other combinations that are good include almond and vanilla, rose and oud, rose and jasmine, lavender and lemon, rose and orange blossom, and orange blossom and vanilla. But there are many different combinations you can use to achieve a delicious scent that's unique to you.

I hope this was helpful, stay pretty ✨

Beauty Secrets from Morocco 🇲🇦🪔🌹

Hey girls, after my post on the secrets to the Arab princess scent, I decided to write this second post on more generalized beauty tips from Morocco (some are also used throughout the Maghreb and MENA regions). I've tried to include not just beauty secrets that are internationally known, but also tips that you wouldn't know unless you grew up in a Moroccan household or live in Morocco. This ended up being another long post so most of it is under the cut. Enjoy ~

🌹 Use argan oil not just on your hair but on your skin too. It makes your skin feel supple and evens out skin tone. It doesn't clog the pores either so it's suitable for people who suffer from acne. At the end of my skincare routine I always massage 100% pure argan oil into my face, also rubbing it on my brows and lashes as it strengthens them (use it at the end of your routine after moisturising as oil can penetrate moisturiser but moisturizer can't penetrate oil).

🌹 As well as facial skin, argan oil is also used on the full body and argan oil massages are available in the hammam. Argan oil has healing properties, particularly for stretch marks and improves the elasticity of the skin.

🌹 Argan oil for haircare should be massaged into the scalp and all over the hair before double washing, and massaged on the ends of the hair daily to prevent them breaking due to daily friction.

🌹 Buy pure argan oil, not brands like MoroccanOil or OGX. Few people in Morocco use those brands (tbh I think it's a fairly common part of the Moroccan diaspora experience to buy Moroccan Oil because of the name and then feel sorely disappointed because if you've used real argan products from Morocco you'll instantly know how low the concentration of argan eil in it is). Instead, buy real argan oil beauty products from Moroccan or Middle Eastern supermarkets or order it online. It's about the same price as the Western brands that have a much lower concentration of argan oil. Real argan is yellow-gold and smells nutty.

🌹 You can use argan oil to remove makeup

🌹 Strengthen your fingernails by dipping them in a bowl with 5tbsp of argan oil and 5tbsp of lemon juice for 10 mins, then massage the nails and hands, pushing the cuticles back. The argan oil strengthens the nails while the lemon juice brightens them (especially helpful if you just removed nail polish and your nails are discoloured).

🌹 Use a mix of rosewater and argan oil to moisten aker fassi (powdered pomegranate rinds and dried poppies commonly used as lipstick) instead of plain water and olive oil, it feels more luxurious

🌹 You can use aker fassi not just as lipstick, but as a cheek tint, eyeshadow, face mask (combine into a thick paste with rosewater, honey or yoghurt and leave on for 15-20 mins), hair rinse (combine with warm water and pour over your hair and scalp after shampooing, leaving on for a few minutes before rinsing. If your hair is light enough it will give it a subtle red sheen), and body scrub (combine with sugar and olive oil and gently scrub it on your body in circular motions). You can also combine it with water and ghassoul clay to make a body mask which is left on for half an hour before being rinsed off.

🌹 There's no such thing as too much jewellery if you're going to a special event. Go all out with those intricate dangling earrings and that layered necklace and those gold bangles and that delicate anklet.

🌹 In Morocco women will commonly just throw a djellaba over their pyjamas in the morning to go to the bakery or market, so if you're having one of those days where you don't want to get dressed just throw on a loose, long dress, nobody will know.

🌹 Put some scented musk in a hanky, an unused bar of soap, or a sachet of potpourri or herbs in your drawers to make your clothes smell good

🌹 You can also use scented musk as a solid perfume (rub some on your pulse points), as a hair perfume (rub a small amount on your palms and run them through your hair), use it to perfume clothes by rubbing some on your clothes and scarves, add some to your bath for fragrant bathwater, and use it to perfume your home by leaving some in a bowl or using it like a wax melt.

🌹 You can also light bakhour (scented wood chips) or incense which as well as making your house smell good also permeates your clothes and hair

🌹 A few drops of essential oil (a light coloured one, not a dark one as that will stain your clothes) in your washing machine also makes your clothes smell amazing, like a bougie laundry detergent

🌹 Dried lavender is sprinkled under carpets to scent rooms

🌹 There's way more detail on this on the post I linked earlier, but ensuring your space smells good is a way of ensuring you smell good, because due to spending so much time there the smell will cling to your clothes and hair. If your home smells dingy, you'll smell dingy. But if it smells like lavender, you'll smell like lavender due to the fragrance in the air clinging to your clothes and hair. Which is why I include traditional ways we make our homes smell good in this post, as smelling good is a part of beauty and having a pleasant smelling living space is an oft forgotten but important part of that.

🌹 Applying attar (perfume oil) on your pulse points before spraying perfume will make it last longer.

🌹 Musk Al Tahara (white musk) is an especially popular perfume oil. Seen as purifying, it's traditionally used after a period, applied externally with a piece of cloth or tissue on the vulva. It smells like soft musk, vanilla and flowers.

🌹 As well as on your skin, attars can also be used in diffusers, and applied to cotton balls and left in the closet to scent your clothes and linens.

🌹 Gardenia is currently the most popular perfume scent in Morocco. Other popular scents include oud, neroli, amber, orange blossom, musk, jasmine and rose.

🌹 You can use a slice of beetroot to tint your lips and cheeks

🌹 Full hammam routines honestly feel healing as well as beautifying. A typical hammam routine will consist of laying in the sauna room, leaving sabon beldi on your skin for a few minutes, an attendant scrubbing your skin vigorously with a kessa glove, rinsing, applying a ghassoul clay mask to your hair and skin, and rinsing again. You can also get massages with argan oil or red ghassoul clay and full body treatments with tabrima in some hammams. And afterwards, you go to a different area and relax on a chaise loungue while adjusting to room temperature with peppermint tea and cold water.

🌹 Tabrima is a full body treatment made from herbs like henna, rosemary, chamomile, thyme, verbena, lavender, basil, rose, nila, and white ghassoul clay, which is moistened with rosewater or argan oil. It brightens skin, improves circulation, and reduces blemishes, scars, and hyperpigmentation. Gently massage in circles and then leave it on your body for 15 mins before rinsing off. You can also dissolve some of the herb mixture in a basin of water to use as a relaxing foot soak, mix it into a paste with water (or argan oil for a more nourishing treatment) and apply it on your hair and scalp, leaving on for 20 mins before washing out with shampoo, put some in a sachet and use it as a bath soak, or use it as a facial steam by adding some to a large bowl and pouring boiling water on top, holding your face over the steam for 10-15 mins.

🌹 Korean bath towels from Amazon do the same job as the kessa gloves we use in the hammam, they're the only exfoliating glove I've found that are as good (most physical exfoliaters are disappointing).

🌹 Ghassoul clay is a volcanic rock sourced from the Atlas Mountains and is detoxifying, softening and cleansing. Rich in calcium, saponins, potassium and iron, it is most commonly used as a face mask (mix 1-2tbsp with orange blossom water or rosewater until it forms a smooth paste and leave on for 10-15 mins. Moisten the mask with floral water or face mist if it starts drying out as it should always be a bit damp) and a natural shampoo (mix 3-4tbsp with enough water or rosewater to form a paste and apply to damp hair, starting at the scalp and making your way to the ends of the hair. You can add aloe vera, argan oil, honey, or anything you want to make the treatment more nourishing. Leave on for 15-20 mins, preferably with a protective cap on to keep it moist, before thoroughly rinsing off with warm water and following up with conditioner). You can also add 1-2 cups of ghassoul clay to warm water to make a detoxifying bath, add a tbsp of it to a litre of water, mix it until it foams and use it as a cleanser, or make a thick paste with water and a few drops of essential oil (optional) and use it as a foot mask, leaving on for 15-20 mins before rinsing with warm water and moisturising. Make sure not to use metal tools to mix ghassoul clay as metal can react with it.

🌹 Some women also like to infuse rose, lavender and cloves in boiling water and then combine it with ghassoul before applying it to the body or hair.

🌹 Kohl is a black powder that has been used as eyeliner since ancient times and is still popular today. Traditionally it is applied using a wooden stick. It can also be used to darken the eyelashes and eyelids.

🌹 Shampoo brushes (small, round silicone brushes) are a non-negotiable part of hair care. Massaging your scalp with them greatly reduces dandruff and stimulates hair growth

🌹 Get your clothes tailored if possible. When you buy clothes from shops in the qissaria, there will be a tailor there who will take your measurements after you try them on and make adjustments accordingly. Clothes look sooo much better when they're tailored to your body instead of straight off the rack.

🌹 If like me you live somewhere you can't easily get your henna done, order some henna and a henna stencil online for when those random urges to get henna hit

🌹 Mix henna powder with an acidic liquid like lemon juice or apple cider vinegar to make it last longer

🌹 Henna can be used as a natural dye for hair and nails (it strengthens them too) as well as for temporary tattoos.

🌹 Colourless henna can be used as a face and body mask as it leaves no stain

🌹 In most of Morocco floral henna designs are the most popular, but in Southern Morocco geometrical shapes are often drawn

🌹 Natural soap is the best soap. Sabon beldi (black soap) made of olive oil, crushed black olives, and sometimes a second oil like lavender or rose, is the best known soap in Morocco, but there's a whole world of natural soaps made from ingredients that have more benefits than just getting your skin clean, like sandalwood, milk and honey, chamomile, and charcoal. You should wash with natural soap and leave it to rest on your skin for a few minutes before rinsing off at least once a week.

🌹 Prickly pear oil isn't as well known as argan oil outside of Morocco, but it's three times higher in vitamin E than argan oil is (and argan oil is high in vitamin E). It's also high in vitamin K which helps reduce dark circles. It's ideal for plumping and firming the skin. You can moisturise your hair, face, under eyes, and nails with it. Just mix a few drops of prickly pear oil with a tsp of almond or olive oil and apply to your face, hands, and body. Or mix a tsp of olive oil, a tsp of honey and a few drops of prickly pear oil and use as a mask.

🌹 Apply rosewater or orange blossom water after shaving to soothe irritation

🌹 Rosewater and orange blossom water are also commonly spritzed on the body after a vigorous scrub at the hammam.

🌹 Rosewater and orange blossom water are also good toners

🌹 Orange blossom water is a good toner for oily skin as it is mildly astringent

🌹 If your eyes are tired, soak two cotton pads in rose water or orange blossom water and place them on your eyes for a few minutes

🌹 Women often scent their hands with floral water after a meal

🌹 You can also keep floral water in a spray bottle and use it as a facial mist if your skin feels dry or tired throughout the day

🌹 Orange blossom water is a nice hair rinse. It adds shine and gives your hair a subtle fragrance.

🌹 Rosewater is used as a makeup remover

🌹 Rose oil is good for dry and irritated skin

🌹 Dried rose petals can be ground into a powder and mixed with honey or water to create a face mask

🌹 Gold embroidery on your clothes and shoes feels really delicate and pretty

🌹 Small silk or satin headscarves (foulard) are lifesavers when you're having a bad hair day

🌹 In some parts of Morocco it's common to embellish a foulard by hanging ornaments such as silver pendants, beads, and tassels from it.

🌹 This is well-known in pretty much every country, but I'm including it because my Moroccan mother drilled it into me from a young age: don't forget your neck, decolletage, and hands when doing skincare! The skin in these areas is thin and they're often the first parts of your body to show signs of aging even before your face. Whatever you do to your face, do to your neck and decolletage during skincare, and reapply hand cream and SPF every time you wash your hands (personally, I apply SPF on every part of my body that shows).

🌹 Gandouras are the best nighties. They look so pretty with their jewel colours and embroidery, and they're also light and perfect for hot weather. They'll make you feel extra pretty when you're going to bed.

🌹 Souak/swak is the dried bark of black walnut, which comes in small brown strips wrapped around a rosewood branch. It's used as a natural toothpaste due to its antiseptic and whitening qualities. You can chew a scrap of it or rub it directly on your teeth and gums.

🌹 Chewing mastic gum also whitens the teeth and freshens breath

🌹 Aloe juice or aloe gruel is applied morning and evening and face masks are made from a mix of aloe and honey. It's good to apply after shaving as it's soothing and non irritating.

🌹 Louban (frankincense) is ground into powder, then mixed with honey and rosewater and used as a face mask. It can also be added to a bowl of hot water and used as a facial steam, used in toner (add a few pieces of resin to hot water, let steep until the water is cool and slightly milky, strain and add to a spray bottle), and added to sugar, olive oil, and essential oil to create a body scrub.

🌹 Chaba/shabbi is an alum stone which is used as a natural deodorant. You moisten it lightly with water and rub on clean underarms. It can also be used to reduce acne and as an antiseptic for minor cuts and burns. It is an astringent so it may be irritating if you have sensitive skin.

🌹 Sefidah (dried sea foam) is exfoliating and brightening. It's combined with plain water or rosewater and mixed until a paste forms. You massage the paste on your face in circular motions, avoiding the eye area before rinsing and patting dry. It can also be combined with an equal amount of sugar and enough argan or olive oil to form a thick paste to form a body exfoliater. It can be used in face masks too, combined with yoghurt or honey and applied for 10-15 mins, or used as a foot exfoliater by adding some to a basin of warm water, soaking your feet for 15-20mins and then scrubbing with a pumice stone. It can also be used to cleanse the scalp of excess oils, by combining with water and gently massaging the paste into your scalp, rinsing out with warm water after 10-15 mins.

🌹 Cowrie powder, made from ground cowrie shells, is also used in the same ways that sefidah is used. A face exfoliator can be made by mixing cowrie powder with water or rosewater, and a body scrub can be made from combining it with a few drops of olive or argan oil. A foot scrub is made by mixing cowrie powder with coconut oil until it forms a paste, soaking your feet in warm water for 10 mins to soften them up, and then slathering your feet with the paste, scrubbing gently. A brightening face mask can be made by combining cowrie powder with lemon juice and plain yoghurt to create a thick paste, and massaging a mix of cowrie powder with argan oil into your scalp before washing your hair promotes hair growth and stimulates blood flow.

🌹 Ground almond shells can also be used as an exfoliater

🌹 Nila powder (also known as indigo powder) is brightening, soothing, and antiinflammatory. For a face mask: mix 1tsp nila powder with 2tsp yoghurt or honey. Add a few drops of rosewater and then apply the paste to your face for 10-15 mins. Another kind of face mask consists of combining 1tsp nila powder with 1tsp aloe vera gel and adding a pinch of turmeric powder. You can also combine it with equal parts of henna and water and apply the mixture to your hair for 1-2 hours to tint your hair black or dark brown. A body mask can be made from 2tbsp nila powder, 1tbsp olive oil, and enough milk to form a paste. Leave on for 20-30 mins before rinsing to even out and brighten your skin.

🌹 Sulfur is used for fighting acne. Combine a small amount of sulfur powder with water or aloe vera gel to form a paste, applying to acne prone areas or individual pimples for 10-15 mins. Moisturise afterwards as it is drying.

🌹 Mhakka is a volcanic rock used similarly to a pumice stone. Use on your feet and other areas with rough skin like the elbows and knees, rubbing in a gentle circular motion.

🌹 Mint leaves can be steeped in boiling water so that the steam will open up your pores before cleansing. It is cooling and refreshing.

🌹 In some parts of Morocco bordering Algeria, a long, thin piece of cloth or ribbon called a kardoune is tightly wrapped around damp hair in a low ponytail, starting from the top and tightly rolling until you reach the bottom. It prevents frizz and stops your hair getting tangled during the night. You can secure it using scrunchies or use hair oil beforehand. You can also slip your hair in a fluffy sock instead of wrapping ribbon around it if you want. This tip is more specifically Algerian, but I included it because there is some limited use of kardoune in Morocco among people who share a lot of culture with Algeria. And it's also just a good tip for preventing frizzy hair.

🌹 Lavender oil is used to promote hair growth and help reduce scars. Usually it's used in its pure form but you can also mix it with almond oil before applying directly to the scalp, hair and skin.

🌹 Sweet almond oil is high in vitamin A and used to moisturise skin, nails and hair. It can be applied in its pure form or mixed with argan oil.

🌹 Hare Moroccan Magic Lipstick is a popular colour changing lipstick which looks like a funky colour in the tube (like green or purple), but turns red when it makes contact with your skin. The colour is buildable and can go from light pink to terracotta red. It's moisturising as it contains argan oil. It also lasts for hours.

🌹 Fenugreek seeds are used for hair growth. The seeds are soaked overnight and ground into a paste, which is applied to the hair and scalp to boost growth and prevent dandruff.

🌹 Eating fenugreek also makes your natural scent sweeter and is said to help naturally enlarge breasts.

🌹 Carob powder can be mixed with water to create a paste that strengthens and adds shine to your hair

🌹 Black seed oil reduces acne and strengthens hair

🌹 Camel milk (or just whole cow's milk) can be used to soften and moisturise skin and is mildly exfoliating. Adding two cups of milk, one cup of honey, a cup of sea salt, 1/2 cup of olive oil, and some essential oil to a bath makes it feel really luxurious and is really moisturizing. Mixing equal parts milk and honey makes a good face mask. Mixing milk with egg or banana is nourishing for hair. Rinsing your hair with milk and leaving it for a few minutes before rinsing it out makes it softer and shinier. Dipping a cotton pad in milk and wiping it on your face helps cleanse impurities and dead skin. And combining milk with oatmeal creates a gentle exfoliating scrub.

That's all I have for now, hope you enjoyed ~

“What I've learned from women who are totally killing it”

Part 1

🐚 The whole ‘be kind cause it's free’ is a lie. To become kind requires compassion for the world. Humans who are kind are the bravest humans to exist. So be kind and let your kindness have no motive.

🐚 Let go of all the past situations and people who aren't serving you anymore. It all happened for a reason, trust the higher power.

🐚 The moment you let go, magic begins. Try it yourself!

🐚 Take your studies seriously and do it with discipline. Knowledge is power.

🐚 Self love is not selfish instead it's the most selfless thing to do.

🐚 Develop a strong relationship with God/Universe.

🐚 Leave the victim mindset right now. It won't lead you anywhere & you'll end up questioning why all the bad things happened to you.

🐚 The moment you actually leave the victim mindset you'll immediately enter your lucky girl era.

🐚 Don't feel shy, guilty, bad, scared to ask for help. Remember help will be given to those who'll ask for it.

🐚 Use silk pillowcase. It is going to be so benefitting for your skin and hair. They'll thank you!

🐚 Read newspaper/news headlines. Be aware about what's happening in the world.

🐚 Being financially independent is a necessity. You don't want to feel guilty for every purchase, do you?

Mascara running down her little bambi eyes

quick tips and tricks on how to get your beauty sleep ⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩 .𖥔˚

a sad girl's guide to summer

if you can't get rid of it, you might as well romanticise it, right?

lying awake on hot summer nights and listening to a sad girl playlist

sitting by the ocean or lake while looking melancholic

collecting sea shells and other little trinkets to look at

reading ancient philosophy and russian literature in public

strolling around your neighbourhood and befriending stray cats

eating way too much fruit

thinking about the fig tree

watching the moon and staying up until sunrise

mourning your non-existent summer romance

wired headphones

getting really good at making iced coffees

watching sad summer movies

writing poetry on postcards that you will never send

taking lots of Polaroids of mundane things

crying

I myself have been dealing with what I like to call "the summer blues" so I felt like writing something like this, I hope it resonates with some of you!! As always, please feel free to share your own suggestions and tips in the comments! <3

love ya ･:*₊‧✩