Bridal Makeup Story

So, I have a bunch of weddings I have to attend this coming summer break and also a lot more weddings I'm gonna miss at the end of the year. 

You know sometime you look through people's wedding albums (nowadays so easy on facebook, dulu-dulu bila kita pergi rumah family pengantin few months later kita tanya, nak tengok gambar kenduri!). Every girl wants to look pretty on their big day, but the question is, how pretty?

I don't wear makeup much when I go out, but I loooooove watching tutorials on youtube. My first makeup set is because I did the makeup for Malaysian Day mock wedding ceremony for the bride. Haha. comot-comot je masa tu.. It was my childhood ambition to work as hair-stylist ( Yes, I do hair for girls too - to be exact, I do hair rebonding, buat house-call pun pernah diknon :-) ). Of course that was one ambition I didn't pursue seriously but I enjoy sitting in salons and see how the stylist work. 

In Irbid, if you go to their beauty parlor, you'll see how Arab women take care of themselves. They wear the hijab and abaya but they dress amazingly inside the abaya and take good care of their hair and skin. Jangan kau mentang-mentang pakai tudung, rambut bila dekat rumah, Cik Kuntilanak pun kalah! That's the beauty of Islam that they practice, I guess - berhias di rumah, tidak di luar. Tak dinafikan, yang over dekat luar pun ramai, tapi still, dia jaga penampilan di rumah.

Okay back to bridal makeup issue kan.. Sementara ingat ni.. Actually, the science behind bridal makeup is too look more radiant than you usually does. Well, that's easy sebab pengantin memang ada seri pengantin kan from the excitement, and nervousness. So, just to cover some skin problems, and highlighting some of your underappreciated features is good enough. Not to look like a totally different person!

Pernah tak tengok gambar before and after and you was like - gile lah makeup die sampai jadi macam artist. Ye la, dah dia pakai makeup artist kan.. Oh ya, just to share with you tahukah anda mak andam and makeup artist is different? Makeup artist ni dia buat makeup you je, tapi mak andam dia mengandam la.. Dari baju, makeup, and lain-lain lah ye. 

So, the secret is... hari biasa, korang tak payah la makeup sangat, supaya bila on your wedding nanti, makeup sikit pun dah nampak meletopz dah.. Kalau lebih rajin, why not you practice and practice and practice, and do your own bridal makeup. Aku ni cakap banyak-banyak pasal wedding, balik mau kena bash ni..haha.. 

my dream bridal makeup. as if no makeup!

And, do you notice, culture mana yang ada makeup lebih-lebih ni? Indians, Arabs, Pakistan... Chinese and the western usually go for very earthy and natural look (google Bridal makeup for proof). Kalau bahasa orang kampung kita tu, makeup nye udah rupe burung jampuk.. Kalau daily makeup macam burung jampuk - on wedding day, nak makeup macam mana lah pulak.. Kalau I jadi makeup artist I punnnn fenings you..

Baru semalam I saw a lady nak pergi his brother's wedding - makeup and rambut dia macam dia pulak yang kahwin kan, tapi dah culture diorang berhias time wedding.. Kita tengok je la kan..

Ok lah, akhir kata... Selamat jaga kecantikan kulit! Usaha tangga jaya.. Kalau terigin nak merasa rebonding, boleh calling-calling.. nak iklan kat ruang iklan segan kan...  :-p

threat : to educate or to create an ideal environment

I have been working on this post for few days but I still can't get a way to put it out nicely. This is the best I can do. For now.

Personally, I think the way students are handled in islamic schools are ridiculous. Allow me to provide you with some example.

Larangan mendengar radio selain IKIM.FM dan memasang lagu selain bergenre nasyid.

Seriously? I remember masa dalam satu usrah wajib di sebuah institusi pengajian tertiari di Malaysia, my naqibah bagi contoh benda yang kita kena tegur kawan kita ialah "contohnya, kawan kita dengar radio ERA". What is so wrong about dengar radio selain nasyid? Masa sekolah pun, in my school you can only play nasyid - I got nauseous setiap kali they put In-Team song on. I wish I could tell you how anti-nasyid I was in school. The only nasyid I can tolerate at that time was Raihan and Saujana. Others were too disturbing. Come on, I can name you few other songs of other genre that has better messages than C.U.D.I.P.T, insan bernama kekasih yada yada yada.

The thing is, you can do that but then comes weekend when we can go home and do whatever we want. Dalam kereta, naik je terus tukar Hitz.FM. So, what's the point?

I went to girl school, so we get all the privacy and freedom we need in the school. But at that particular institution, the girls have to buy their food from the canteen's back door. That is just too unacceptable. Adakah budak-budak dekat situ too vulnerable that they can't even handle to be in the same room with the opposing gender to buy food? Then what happens during the pasar malam? Boleh pulak nak berjual beli dekat same stall sebelah-sebelah berdiri tunggu order?

So what message are we trying to convey?

Bagi saya, orang yang buat peraturan macam ni, hanya fikir masa pendek. Berapa ramai budak keluaran sekolah agama yang pakai tudung labuh dalam sekolah, balik hujung minggu pakai tudung pendek. I didn't get to be consistent with my tudung labuh as well. Betul, bila kita pakai tutup aurat, kita rasa sangat secure dan selesa, tapi bukan semua orang mampu rasa macam tu. Some people need explanation of why do they have to do so. In my school, tudung standard mesti bawah siku, in that institution tudung mesti sampai pergelangan tangan from lateral view.

Majalah dan surat khabar went through penapisan, no internet, laptops not allowed. That was in year 2007. So if we want to use friendster masa tu, we have to go outing la. (even my high school allowed friendster! lol). Ingat dia balik rumah dia tak boleh bukak ke?

I am sorry if I offend anyone with this entry, but I need to make it a point - THAT is not how we deal with threats.

We educate. We teach them how to choose. Tidak dengar benda lagha disebabkan tak dibenarkan, dengan tak dengar benda lagha because you choose not to - is a huge different. Tak mencuri sebab takutkan Allah berbeza dengan tak mencuri sebab tak ada peluang mencuri. Tak couple sebab tak ada orang ajak couple berbeza dengan tak couple meskipun ramai yang masuk line. Jangan rasa kita sempurna, padahal ujian belum datang pada kita.

Berilah kefahaman. Tutup aurat itu sempurnanya bagaimana. Begini setidak-tidaknya, tapi yang lebih baiknya begini. And we let them choose. Kalau tidak, kita akan menghasilkan produk-produk bertudung labuh kerana peraturan sekolah/kolej tapi bukan dengan ikhlas, rela hati sebagai ibadah. Rugi?

Didiklah orang supaya professional dalam berurusan, bukan lari seberang jalan bila nampak lelaki Melayu tapi lebih flirtatious dari biasa bila berada dengan lelaki bukan Melayu. Macam budak Taayah tak bercakap dengan budak Izzudin, tapi kalau budak sekolah harian, budak STAR, budak St Michael, tak apa. haha.

Jangan ambil jalan singkat. Kesannya nanti - cultural shock yang tak terbendung. Mulalah semua nak merasa sebab masa dulu tak boleh semuanya. Bukan semua orang akan terdidik dengan cara macam tu. Ramainya perlu pada kefahaman. Hentikanlah melahirkan produk yang tidak berjiwa dalam perlakuannya.

facebook eyesore : The "I'm single" Parade

Hello lovely people :-)

Sebelum ni I dah membebel pasal iklan-iklan nikah muda di facebook. Which is, really annoying - orang tengah sibuk pasal pilihanraya Mesir, kezaliman di Syria dan tidak dilupakan saudara di Palestin - dia sibuk ke situ pulak kan..

Lagi satu facebook eyesore sekarang ni orang yang nak declare ke-single-an diri masing-masing.. I ni memang conservative, abah I cakap.. Orang dulu-dulu merisik, pergi rumah jiran tanya, anak orang tu dah ada yang punya ke belum. Anak daranya bangun pagi ke, basuh pinggan berbunyi kelentang kelentung ke.. Tu yang mak I cukup pantang kalau basuh pinggan bunyi kelentang kelentung... So, lain kali pakai pinggan plastik je lah senang kan.. Kalau memasak pun jangan nak berdentam dentum sangat sudip dengan kuali, bukan kerja restoran char kuey tiau pun nak ting tang ting tang.. Kalau menyambal, lesung batunya biar berlapik dengan kain - rosak tiles pulak kan kalau tak lapik, bunyi pun boleh menganggu gugat ketenteraman jiran...

TETAPI, zaman sekarang ni, apa susah nak merisik, tengok je kan dekat profile Facebook masing-masing.. Single ke, In A Relationship ke, Divorced ke, It's Complicated ke... I always thought putting your status as "Single" seems so tacky and inappropriate. Macam nak market pulak kan. Tapi takpe, sebab fb masing-masing, up to your own preference.. TAPI....

Yang paling tak tahan sekali kalau orang yang, meroyan je dekat Fb berkenaan ke-single-an nya.. Ya rabbi... Ada dua jenis kumpulan I'm Single parade ni.. Satu ala-ala muslimah gitu kan, post-post pasal pengharapan nak dapat suami soleh, cari the missing rib lah... My advice, I don't think la lelaki yang betul-betul soleh nak perempuan yang kerjanya facebook je 24/7.. and sebenarnya what do you really expect from others? To notice that you're single and take some action so you won't be single anymore?

Don't you think you're a lot more interesting by being mysterious?

Jenis lagi satu, jenis bertabah.. Post dia biasanya quotes berkenaan it's ok being single. Better be single and happy than being in a relationship but lonely, yada yada yada.. Bertabah tentang being single but bila ada orang kata kesiannya you, dia cakap, "yela...manade orang nak kat I..." pastu orang tu cakap, "alaa... I kan ade".. jeng jeng jeng.. Sleek strategy! Yang tak bertabah pun ada, memang buat post sayu je pasal dirinya yang single itu.. Ha, itu takpe..terus je I rase nak tolong matchmake kan...

Ok la, I bukan nak bash orang pun... Cuma nak share my P.O.V as a girl to another girl... Kita ni orang perempuan, ada harga diri... Tak appropriate rasanya kalau perihal diri kita ni terlalu diketahui umum. Jadi, berpada-pada lah dalam menggunakan social network ni.. Biarlah lelaki yang nak mendapatkan kita tu ada effortnya sedikit, bukan setakat duduk depan laptop klik-klik, do some potential-wife-browsing on facebook je.. Your availability should be exclusive.. Not like anything on ebay - available, out of stock..

Just my two-cents.

muhasabah : how the internet ruins your future with your past

you see, the problem with our people is that they are not that forgiving. they forget your kindness and good deed, but they remember your sin forever. Which is why, you should not, one, share your sin on your facebook profile, two, share other people's sin. 

you could repent, and God might have forgiven you, but people around you, unfortunately LOVE to talk about your past. and Malays, we don't do well with accepting that people changed - it's either you're prententious or you're up to something. why why why???

when you see someone good, people will come up to you and say, "tapi dia tu dulu...". dulu is dulu la...sekarang bukak buku baru. dosa dia dengan Tuhan, bukan urusan kita nak masuk campur. mudah-mudahan taubatnya Allah terima, dia bersih macam baby baru lahir. kita?

kadang-kadang takut kan mengenangkan habit suka bercakap pasal orang. I honestly think it's very difficult to have self-control, but kita sama-sama cuba, inshaAllah... yang penting, kita jangan biasakan bukak aib orang, kita kenangkan je la yang "Kalau kita tutup aib orang, Allah tutup aib kita". and I believe, we all have the need for that. for Allah to cover our wrongdoing and stuff.

anyhow, alhamdulillah, because more and more people are accepting the fact that people DO change for better. so, kesimpulannya, kita jangan buka ruang untuk orang sebarkan aib kita, kita pun tak perlu buka aib orang.. ada orang, suka share dosa di facebook - i swear i've encountered a few - no need! kita bukan macam agama yang kena buat pengakuan depan orang lain, baru Allah terima taubat kita. you go direct to Him la.. i don't have to know about your sin, orang lain pun tak perlu tahu.

pernah tak kita fikir, benda-benda kita post kat facebook, satu hari nanti bila kita patah balik, kita menyesal that those thing even go up on our facebook page... sebab tu, always THINK before you post. and kalau benda-benda tunjuk dosa orang tu, tak payah rajin sangat nak share.. esok-esok orang tu bertaubat, kesian dia sebab kita dah jaja cerita dia, and we both agree kan orang kita ni doesn't forgive and forget. 

facebook eyesore : marriage Vs postpaid plan

Assalamualaikum.

So yesterday, I bumped into this picture on facebook that has something about "saya suka awak, tapi takmo kapel, jom kita kawen then buat pahala banyak-banyak".

Honestly, I have nothing against young age marriage, bercinta lepas nikah and all other terms used in these campaign. But it hit me, lately kebanyakan poster-poster galakan bernikah, bercinta selepas nikah ni lebih kurang macam iklan postpaid plan. They highlight all the good stuff about the plan, and what you don't know is the fine print, somewhere on that poster, *Terms and Condition Applies. At least those telco providers was considerate enough to put the fine print!

Marriage is not just about you guys boleh bercinta bagai nak rak and it's all pahala. There are responsibilities, other considerations and MORE RESPONSIBILITIES involved. Well, I think young married couples kinda need to be blamed sebab most of them post all the good things about marriage, tapi tak ramai yang pesan what also comes with it. But to come to your senses, takkan nak share pulak isu suami isteri bergaduh kan? I pity those girls in high school yang dah mengimpikan nak menikah awal, tapi bangun hujung minggu pun masih liat, masak nasi terkadang mentah, goreng ikan pun terkadang hangus! Lebih sedih lagi kalau bakal imam pun ke masjid cuma untuk Solat Jumaat, sekali sekala di bulan puasa, tapi dah excited berbincang isu kahwin muda!

Enrolling into marriage is totally different than signing a postpaid plan contract. Say you sign for 24 months, if you don't like it, you can terminate the contract with certain fees, or you can just wait until you finish 24 months and walk out from that contract. Tapi kalau nikah, boleh pulak kalau agak-agak tak berkenan dengan pakej selepas beberapa bulan nak terminate akad, pay some damages and then walk away?

Bagus usaha iklan-iklan ni, nak menghapuskan atau meminimumkan budaya couple. Tapi, caranya tak kena. Kasihan ibu bapa susah hati, anak baru di tingkatan lima sudah mula bicara isu kahwin muda. To me, kesedaran biar datang dari pihak ibu bapa - so they can "turunkan" the kefahaman, and maybe help prepare the youngsters to be responsible, and eligible for marriage. It HAS to work from above downward, not the other way around. And really, I disagree that sometimes people tends to blame parents yang tak benarkan anak kahwin awal as tak faham... Ibu bapa ni lebih banyak pengalamannya, so seek first to understand then to be understood. Cubalah lihat dari perspektif yang berbeza, they do have their rationals why they stand firm by their belief.

this is one discussion that was fair to both sides.

I am not commenting much on the kahwin muda issue - because I'm not in the right position to do so, just the way people promote the case that's bothering me. If I were to unfriend people who share those poster on my facebok, I would definitely have a cleaner facebook friend list. hehe.

next on facebook eyesore series : the "I'm Single" parade.

p/s : bosan kan, apa budak-budak sekarang tak ada isu lain nak bincang... s

MarkaVIP shopping experience : The Good, The Bad and The Ugly : Part Two

After I posted about MarkaVIP shopping experience : The Good, The Bad and The Ugly few days ago, I received a call from MarkaVIP yesterday morning. Honestly, I wasn't really expecting that to happen. I forgot to ask the name of the representative who called, but it was very thoughtful of them to send someone who can converse fluently in English to call me - after almost 5 years in Jordan, I still have difficulty speaking in Arabic on the phone.

Apparently, MarkaVIP found that post, I didn't even send any link to them, but I guess they do survey feedback from customers in any way possible. Again, I told their representative I don't mind if I'm not entitled for the refund - just like what was mentioned in their return policy. My feedback was genuinely to let them know there is possibility they're not getting authentic item from their respective supplier. This time, I think they got the message and responded well to this and promised they will send someone to take a look into this matter and have the item checked, if possible.

In the beginning, I still wasn't very confident - I admit I am skeptic about the situation until this morning when I check my account I saw this.

Well, I guess they meant what they said, and that's something I'd appreciate. So, we'll see how things will go after this.

Being a regular online shopper, I know how important it is for a online shopping service to have a good customer service that respond quickly to their buyer. Even though they kinda disappointed me in the first place, they did apologize and try to correct things, and I believe they deserve a second chance. 

Will update more on the issue, inshaAllah. :-)

Click here to join MarkaVIP.

p.s : I think it's something great that some vendor in Jordan really care about what their customer have to say about them outside of their suggestion box. In 2009 I got a pizza re-made because I posted the picture on my blog and the owner was not satisfied about it. Salute!

MarkaVIP shopping experience : The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

My first purchase with MarkaVIP was a pair of Skechers sneakers, somewhere in January 2011. Back then, MarkaVIP was still new, they don't have much customers, and orders were sent to our home by their manager if I'm not mistaken.

A year goes by very quickly, I ended having dealt at least 10 transactions with them, some with ease, and the rest with full of longing, waiting and having to contact their customer services many many time to get my order. Perhaps it was the larger number of customers that caused this.

But I was okay with it until one day, I noticed I got one fake item. I didn't file my complaint in the first place - busy with exam, until 3 weeks later I have to contact their Customer Service because another item have been marked as shipped, but I still haven't got them. So, I decided to bring up the fake item issue, but the respond I got is that I should tell them 3 days after I got the order - as mentioned in the Return Policy.

Anyhow, I don't really mind the fact that I can't get any refund. But what frustrates me is their unwillingness to admit that they MIGHT HAVE screwed up with their suppliers. And, if you're not sure that all your items are authentic, WHY put 100% authenticity guarantee om your page. I simply don't think I deserve to receive a fake item in the first place.

I think I've had enough with MarkaVIP. Buying from e-bay is apparently safer, cheaper and more reliable than MarkaVIP. Usually item from ebay ships within few days after payment was made, MarkaVIP makes you wait at least 1 month to get your stuff.

Goodbye MarkaVIP.