Doll Inspired Street Style Lookbook

It's finally SUMMER! Time to get all our dresses out of the wardrobe and show them off to the world! Hehe xx

Comment below: What's your go-to summer outfit? DRESS or SHORTS? 

Dress: H&M

Shoes: Primark

Bracelet: Etsy

For the makeup, we decided to create a more doll-like effect to enhance the summer vibes; hence 

the flowery dress, shoes, and braid! xx

Makeup/Beauty CRISIS of the day: I neeeeeed to get some new eye-liner, has anybody got a good brand they can recommend?? 

BlogLovin: Embrace the Light 

Twitter: @beboldbebright

Instagram: @embracethelight

Confidence.

Light.

Happiness.

Love, 

Ayah & Kimmy xxx

Model: Kimmy Levey
Photographer: Ayah Mokhalalati

The Versatile Blogger Award!!

Thank you to the lovely Amy from SmoothAmy for nominating us for the Versatile Bloggers Award!

The rules:
1. Thank the person who nominated you and link their blog.
2. Nominate 15 other blogs.
3. Give 7 facts about yourself (Because there are two of us we decided to split the facts between us and answer the extra about us both!)

All dressed up for Ayah's birthday!
Ayah is on the left and Kimmy is on the right!

3 Facts about Kimmy...
1. My birthday is on April Fool's Day (and yes, I've heard aaalll the jokes before...)
2. I do the odd bit of sketching, so you might see a couple of pieces on here in the future!
3. I taught myself to use a proper camera at around 15 years old on a reeeeaally old film camera using negatives and slowly moved onto modern cameras!

3 Facts about Ayah...
1. I love dancing and started ballet from a veeryy young age, then picked up hip-hop, contemporary, modern, lyrical and street jazz!
2. I am a singer and sang at a big charity ball in front of around 500 people which was prettyy funky!
3. I lovee film-making and acting! I've directed and produced my own films and tv shows and even had acting roles in them too!!

Our final fact is that when we're together we are suuuper talkative, we pratically live in each other's flats! Definitely our funniest moment is when Ayah saw someone with gooood fashion sense and sub-consciously said "Oooooh la laaa!!" so loudly they turned around!


We're nominating:
Ivana Avitabile
Ink Dreaming
Glitter Infatuation 
Through New Eyes 
Kiran Alix
That Gent
Chasing Rubies Chasing Pearls
Scottish Stef's Nails
That Everyday Girl 
Amy Farrell Says 
The Flower That Blooms
Bethany Georgina 
Dizzy Miss Lizzy 
Miss Mandana
Running White Horses


Hope you enjoyed finding out a teeny bit more about us! It's so hard to think of interesting facts about yourself! What do you guys like to do in your spare time?

BlogLovin: Embrace the Light 

Twitter: @beboldbebright

Instagram: @embracethelight

Confidence.

Light.

Happiness.

Love, 

Ayah and Kimmy xxx

Balance Me, Pure Skin Face Wash REVIEW!

I will be brutally honest and say that I have really awkward skin. I would say it's combination and I get quite a few breakouts. I've tried preeetty much everything and nothing really had much of an effect so I wasn't feeling too optimistic about this product.



*Especially because it came as a freebie tester with a magazine and I tend to be a little suspicious about those!(hehe)*



To add to the list of skin-woes, my skin can be really sensitive and I have to be super careful about what products I put on my skin in case it causes any damage!



The product claims:
"Our hydrating, sulphate-free water-based cleanser blended with anti-oxidants and gently balancing spruce knot extract effectively removes make-up and daily grime and enhances the skin's natural radiance."



Sounds decent right??

First of all, this product is kind to my skin! It doesn't work miracles, I still have the odd breakout and my skin can be problematic but it hasn't caused any irritation which might be some good news for my fellow sensitive-skin girls out there!



Secondly, the formula feels soooooo nice!



It is so soft and is really gentle when you're putting it onto your skin. It doesn't really foam up loads like some face washes which is a bit weird because it's like putting cream on your face but the up-side of this is that it feels much less harsh.



It ALSO leaves your skin feeling really SOFT ~which is FAB~



AND........It leaves a really clean feeling and you feel quite refreshed after using it which is perfect for in the mornings!



Negative point: It doesn't work miracles.


If you have quite bad skin then it might be worth using it in combination with some treatments for spots or blemishes



BUT...as a daily cleanser it does everything you expect it to!



It also has quite a strong smell, I don't really like because it's quite musky and kinda reminds me of the perfume that old people wear.



I think the best thing about this product is that it uses a LOT of natural ingredients and I checked it against a list of things to avoid and it doesn't have any of them! That is absolutely fab news for everyone who wants to steer clear of potentially harmful chemicals rightt?!!



I'm kinda obsessed with itt!

Have you used any Balance Me products before? What did you think??
What are your daily essentials??



Make up CRISIS of the day: I need to buy some dry shampoo for SUMMER, can anybody recommend a good (and affordable!) range for me?!

BlogLovin: Embrace the Light 

Twitter: @beboldbebright

Instagram: @embracethelight

Confidence.

Light.

Happiness.

Love, 

Kimmy xx

How to get a summer body!? Tips & Advice! | Embrace The Light

NOO!


NONONO!
NO!

There is no thing such as a summer body!
If you exist during summer and you have a body, then guess what? You have a summer body!
Being thin and slender is not your aim and it shouldn't be!

The world is full of diverse shapes and sizes and that is something to be celebrated- not hidden away or changed. 

As we get closer to summer we get crowded by adverts and magazine covers all trying to sell us the 'perfect' body. They tell us to slim down, fill out, tone up, but not too much. The world is full of double standards when it comes to how a person 'should' look and frankly, it's frankly just a load of rubbish.

Perhaps you've seen the Protein World adverts for weight loss which imply that in order to look good on a beach you have to lose weight and fit their criteria of a 'beach body'. You may have seen their responses to people's criticisms of the adverts saying things like: "why make your insecurities our problem?" Guess what? It is their problem. In fact, this is a GLOBAL PROBLEM.

According to BeReal: 8 is the average age that girls start dieting and half of men feel bad about their appearance after reading a magazine.

1 in 4 of us feels bad about the way we look.

INSECURITY
It is an issue for everyone. EVERYONE.

We need to come together and give the media a strong message that this is not going to work. The media, advertisers, companies cannot shame us for our natural appearance. You want our money? Then don't make us hate ourselves, and don't make us hate you- like what kind of a marketing strategy is that? HUH?.

Now lets get one thing straight.

By all means, live an active life, exercise, eat healthily, go to the gym and get rock hard abs- if that is what you want to do. If that is not for you, then rock on! Who cares? Nobody can tell you how to look or how to live your life, so get out there, put on whatever clothes make you feel good and don't let anybody shame you.

It is ALL just a twisted body image that is being portrayed in the media.
It is not healthy.
It is not okay.

Eating disorders and a dissatisfaction of one's body

It's UNHEALTHY

PLEASE

Embrace your body and the way you LIVE

Stay HEALTHY!

Eat whatever you want to eat (except if you're allergic, we don't want that hehe!)
Drink whatever you want to drink
BUT Most importantly, take care of yourself and your body.
Be who You want to be, not who someone forces you to be.


Don't let photos deceive you, it is incredible what can be done in editing


Both of us at Embrace the Light have felt the pressure to look a certain way and that's part of our inspiration for running the blog. To encourage confidence and body positivity, to remind you that you are beautiful!

If you find this hard to believe then we want to challenge you to look in the mirror every day and say, I Am Beautiful. It's truly amazing how your life changes when you realise that you look darn awesome and nothing will change that.


We'd love to hear your thoughts and opinions:

Do you agree with what we said? What do you think should be altered in the media?
Do you think having a summer body is even a thing?!

BlogLovin: Embrace the Light 

Twitter: @beboldbebright

Instagram: @embracethelight

Confidence.

Light.

Happiness.

Love, 

Ayah and Kimmy x


PLEASE NOTE: If you feel you need someone to talk to about the issues raised in this post, please go to one of these links for advice and professional advice.
UK: B-eat
US  NEDA
A country by country list of support lines can be found here, credit to Together We Are Strong


Disclaimer: This post is NOT sponsored in any shape or form, this is just a topic that we really care about and wanted to write about. 

The Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award!

Thank you sooo much to the lovely Constance from Conk's Canister for nominating us for the Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award! Check out her beautiful blog and say hi for us!

These are the questions Constance gave us to answer:

1. What is your favourite song/band at the moment?

Kimmy: My favourite song at the moment is Bright by Echosmith, they're a super talented band and this song is really beautiful. Makes me smile!

Ayah: Fav song atm: I'm good - The Mowgli's & I wana get better- bleachers & Talk- Kodaline
Fav music video: Bad blood- Taylor Swift

2. What is your favourite kind of blog post to write?

Kimmy: I love any blog post with loooads of photos! Anything that is fun to write, maybe a little bit quirky or unique. I love this post: Windswept: Spring Lookbook 2015

Ayah: Windswept and the mac review are defo my favorite ones!

3. What is the story of your first kiss?

Kimmy: London Waterloo train station. It was short and sweet. 'nuff said.

Ayah: I had my first Hershey's kiss when I was 5 and omg it was amazing!

4. Your biggest regret and proudest moment?

Kimmy: I reeeaally regret on giving up so much extra-curricular stuff when I was younger, like dancing or martial arts or music- I used to get scared and so I'd give it up, I just wish I'd pushed through that! My proudest moment was probably getting onto my dream course at my favourite University.

Ayah: Biggest regret-~not learning how to cook! ( I'm dying at uni..) The most delicious thing I could do is literally a nutella sandwhich......
Proudest moment~ Getting into uni, living on my own in another country, having a lot of my friends/fam ask me to do their makeup/hair-does, performing (dancing/singing) in front of a large audience, BUT the proudest moment ever is when I did the BEST NUTELLA sandwhich anyone could've ever tried.. (like FO REAL)

5. What is the one make-up product you can't stop buying?

Kimmy: I love a bright, sparkly, shiney nail varnish.

Ayah: Mac studio fix foundation ( I actually CAN'T live without it) BUT i'm still looking for the perfect lipstick! HELP ME?!

6. What is your clothing staple for summer?

Kimmy: You either love 'em or you hate 'em. But I have to admit I'm quite the fan of flip flops when camping or just wandering around the village, They're so cheap, they're comfy and they're perfect to shove on when you're running after the ice cream van!

Ayah: A short pastel colored summer dress! So obsessed with it..

7. What do you do to find inspiration?

Kimmy: I like to go on a walk or a run through the countryside, listening to some music and just step away from the hectic nature of life! It gives me a chance to breathe and really think things through- and come up with new ideas! #DEEP

Ayah: Dancing ballet, modern, hip hop, and contemporary are definitely one of the main inspiration factors for me. Also singing and acting in films make feel very adventurous and in the zone.

8. What do you do during "that time of the month" to make yourself feel better?

Kimmy: CHOCOLATE. Dark chocolate or a high cocoa bar can actually give you that happy feeling! Science! Aside from that it's paracetamol, a hot water bottle and a good film with loved ones.

Ayah: Eat a lot (and i mean A LOT) of ice cream! and ofcourse, chilling with my 2 year-old nephew and 2 months old niece are two of my fav thingss that make me so happy!

9. Do a short and sweet "What's in my bag"?

Kimmy: Notebook, 5 pens of assorted styles, patterns and colours, a tablet for lectures, earphones, keys, purse, tissues, a random crayon, jewellery I took off once and forgot to take out my bag, more tissues, medicine, more pens, a variety of snacky food, loose change that I can never be bothered to put in my purse, my diary, lipbalm, about 10,000 receipts, a pocket mirror and a charm my sister made for me.

Ayah: Everything you can imagine is in my bag.. EVEN a bag of pringles hehee xxx

10. Why did you start blogging?
We started blogging after a conversation about how much we love fashion, the arts and photography and how we'd love to see something that brings it all together. And then we realised- why not us? Ayah is definitely the expert in all things fashion and make up and I prefer the more technical side and it works perfectly.

The Rules:

1 | Answer the ten questions you have been sent, thanking the blogger who nominated you.

2 | Come up with ten questions of your own.

3 | Nominate up to ten bloggers.

Our Questions:

1. What is something you can't leave the house without?

2. Tell us one of your happiest moments?

3. What's the best play/film you're ever seen?

4. As a kid, what did you want to be when you were older?

5. What is your favourite style tip?

6. Do you have a favourite pair of shoes?

7. What's the best piece of advice anyone has ever given you?

8. Your favourite foodie treat?

9. Who is your inspiration?

10. What are your hopes for the next year?

Our nominees:

 @Milleaker 

@daisychainsizzy

@lilglads

@scotstefnails

@tftbblog

@chasingrubies2

@amyfarrellsays

@everydaygirlxo

@pores4thought

@glitterinfatuat

Comment below and link to your post and we will totally check it out!!

Sorry we couldn't tag everyonee! Let us know what your answers to the questions would be!! We'd love to hear it!!

BlogLovin: Embrace the Light 

Twitter: @beboldbebright

Instagram: @embracethelight

Confidence.

Light.

Happiness.

Love, 

Ayah and Kimmy xx

MAC Lightful moisturizer REVIEW!

I have always had an issue with finding the right moisturizer since my skin constantly changes from oily to dry to combination depending on which country I'm in.

Two months ago, I decided to purchase the new Light mac moisturizer which is supposed to not only moisturize your skin but also create a flawless glow.

In the beginning, I didn't know whether it will be helpful to mee or not..

SO...

I tried testing the moisturizer when I was in Dubai and it worked!
My face was moisturized and it did ACTUALLY create a really beautiful glow! (kinda like a highlighter but less)

A few weeks later, I tried putting it on in Lebanon and it had the same exact effect on my crazy skin!

Finally, when I returned to England, nothing changed and the product was still so great!

What I loved about this product is that it has a consistency that works for all skins (at least that's what it did to me)
The packaging also looks very funky and classy at the same time!

What I didn't really like is that once you apply the moisturizer on your face it drys in a split second.. am not sure if that's a good thing or not but it drys too fast..

However,

I'd deffo recommend this product if you have a confused skin!

Make-up CRISIS of the day: 

I still have't found the perfect lipstick! They always make my lips so dry!

What lipstick/brand would you guys recommend for mee? xxx

Also, what moisturizers do you guys usually use that works well for your skin type?

BlogLovin: Embrace the Light 

Twitter: @beboldbebright

Instagram: @embracethelight

Confidence.

Light.

Happiness.

Love, 

Ayah xx


Disclaimer: This post is not sponsored what so ever x

Let's Go To London!!

If you follow our Instagram account you'll know that Kimmy recently went on a trip to London!

We love visiting London. It's so unique as a city- so incredibly full of life, colour and tradition. Every step you take shows you something different, from the loud fairground to the calm parks, from gratified back-streets to the pristine up-market lanes.

We were so inspired and we hope you are too!

We hope you enjoyed the pictures! What was your favourite?

What's your favourite city to visit?

BlogLovin: Embrace the Light 

Twitter: @beboldbebright

Instagram: @embracethelight

Confidence.

Light.

Happiness.

Love, 

Ayah and Kimmy x