BLACK FRIDAY-Biggest Sales Of The Year!

Every year several countries prepare themselves for the biggest shopping day of the year. On the last Friday of every November, millions of people prep up to buy anything and everything available on enormous discounts that are being offered in stores. While the major categories are electronics such as TVs, laptops, gaming systems and mobile phones, fashion and beauty are a close second. It’s the ultimate discount day, getting more and more popular each year. People can afford what they normally wouldn’t be able to on any other regular day.

Originally starting in America, the concept was initiated by Macy’s during their Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1924. Next year other stores followed their example. The trend soon caught on and massive sales became a nationwide sensation, marking the start to the holiday season. Several countries such as Canada, Germany, India, The UK, Nigeria and Costa Rica have very recently seized the concept and introduced the annual sale as well. Pakistan is fashionably late to the party but thanks to Daraz.pk we finally made it.

Although it has been around for almost a century, the day was officially given the name Black Friday in the 1960s and by the 1990s it had become a worldwide phenomenon. People often wonder why black, a colour with a negative connotation is linked with a day that is so widely celebrated. There is, however, a well-thought-out reason behind this, profit is recorded in black ink on the balance sheet and since this day is incredibly profitable for retailers and shoppers alike, it was given the name Black Friday.

Each passing year, the number of shoppers is increasing, 89 million in 2012 were 140 million last year, however, there has been a change in consumer behaviour. More and more people are choosing an alternative to standing and queues and camping outside stores – they are shopping for the same deal available in brick and mortar stores online.

Retailers are rapidly adapting to this change in consumer shopping habits as now most of the Black Friday sales are being made online. Ecommerce in Pakistan is also at an all-time high, more and more people are shopping and online and the timing of Daraz.pk bringing Black Friday to Pakistan is absolutely impeccable. No standing in queues or waiting outside stores for the shops to open – just a few clicks needed to avail the best discounts. Daraz.pk is bringing this glorious shopping day to Pakistan for the first time ever. The much awaited sale will hit the website at 12am on the 27^th of November at www.daraz.pk/black-Friday, bringing discounts Pakistan has never seen before! So don’t get in line, go online!

                                                      

Say hello to Fall, 2015 with Sweet Touch England.

Sweet Touch England, is a cosmetic brand, known to many, locally available in Pakistan. The brand has numerous products, from lipsticks, to the famous Sweet Touch nail paints, to eye-shades, lip-liners, glitters, mascaras and so much more. Recently, Sweet Touch England came out with Matte Lipstick range, available in 63 vibrant shades.

Sweet Touch England, recently organised a get together for bloggers, where the fall range was revealed. The event was attended by various bloggers from the Pakistani Beauty Bloggers Community. Event took place at Karachi's local New York Coffee Cafe.

The evening was perfectly organised, there was a lot of makeup talk, makeup goody bags, food, whole new range of lipsticks to swatch and what not! 
Let's talk about the new range of matte lipsticks. The colours are truly fit for the Fall season. Ranging from light lavender nudes to dark browns to dusty corals and maroons, there's definitely a colour for everyone from this range. Wanna have a closer look at the colours? There you go..

Let's get to the most exciting part of the event, the goody-bags! 
So the take-away goody bags came in really cute cage-like packaging consisting of two lipsticks (from the new matte range), lip-liner, eye-pencil and a sparkling liquid eye-liner. 
I got Sweet Touch England Lipsticks in 772 & 723, Sparkling eye-liner in Brown, Lip-liner in 834 Carmin & Eye-pencil in Turquoise.

Detailed review+swatches of the products will be up on the blog soon, keep checking this space. 
In a nut-shell the event was quite a success and I truly love my ST England goodies.
Cheers! 



P.S: These pictures belong to Team Sweet Touch England.

Color Studio & Debenhams Spring Summer 2015 Trends Reveal.

I'm sure all of you must be aware of the leading cosmetics brand Color Studio and one of the UK's top fashion and beauty retail store Debenhams. This Spring and Summer season Color Studio in collaboration with Debenhams brings their customers some really great beauty and fashion must haves.
A small bloggers meetup was organised at Debenhams, Dolmen City Mall, Karachi where various summer spring 2015 fashion and beauty trends were showcased. The event was attended by several bloggers from the Pakistani Beauty bloggers community. 

Fashion and beauty trends showcased at the event included: 

1. Famous Seventies Chic
2. Blues & Stripes
3. Urban Safari
4. Sherbet Shades

The event was a pretty success, followed by a discussion session with the Color Studio brand manager Farah Shahid and Debenhams brand manager. 
This was followed by a quick make-up tutorial session, where Color Studio's official makeup artist Sobia Aqil demonstrated a makeup look for the audience.

Looking forward to an amazing Spring Summer 2015! :)

                                                    

Scentsation Valentine's Promotion, 2015.

Valentines is one day which a lot of us look forward to. People express love to their loved ones on this day. This valentines, Scentsation has a lot of creative and amazing ideas in store for all of us which'll help people celebrate love and make their Valentine's day a memorable one! 
Lately there was a bloggers meet-up on Friday, 6th February, 2015 organised by Zarmina Khilji who happens to be the business development head Scentsation. The meet up was attended by various bloggers. The idea of the meet-up was to create an awareness regarding Scentsation's upcoming Valentine's promotion. This time on Valentine's day, Scentsation has come up with mind-blowing ideas like customised mugs, t-shirts, notebooks, key chains and even customised perfume bottles! Ain't that cool? 
This was followed by picture sessions, Scentsation giveaway good-bags for the bloggers and a scrumptious dinner at Gun Smoke, Dolmen City Mall which was organised by Scentsation. 
Would definitely recommend all of you out there to go celebrate this Valentine's with Scentsation & of course with your valentine! *Wink*

Scentsation Valentine's Day promotion goody-bag for the bloggers, includes:
A gorgeous pink Escada makeup travel bag.
Borjouis notebook.
Jean Paul body lotion.
Trendy green colored hand bag.
Customised Red mug with my name and my picture on it.
Few perfume testers.

                                                   

Daraz.Pk Launches Luxury Brand Watches by Michael Kors, Burberry &Emporio Armani.

Hello peeps! I'm here with some mind blowing news for you all. I'm sure we're all aware of the Pakistan's leading online shopping website Daraz.pk, aren't we? Daraz.pk brings us some really exciting news, yet again! Hold on tight, this might make you fall off your seats and go all crazy, haha!

Popular International Luxury brands like Michael Kors, Emporio Armani, Burberry will now be available online on Daraz.pk! All the brand conscious, fashion lovers will now be able to get their favourite luxury brand watches right on their doorsteps via Daraz.pk. Daraz.pk is going to be launching some more international luxury brands in near future.

With Daraz.pk, who says shopping for international luxury brands here in Pakistan is not easy, eh? 

Fashion Pakistan Week Autumn/Winter 2014.

The most awaited & thrilling event of the year is here, yet again! Fashion Pakistan Week brings it's second fashion week of the year 2014. This time the destination is Karachi. Gear up Karachites, the fun is about to begin!

Fashion Pakistan Week holds two fashion weeks every year based on different seasons; Spring/Summer & Autumn/Winter. The event will take place from 25th-27th November, 2014. It is going to be a three day event. Apart from this, another event called MILLENNIAL Fashion show which was formerly known as GenEX, will take place prior to the Fashion week on 22nd November, 2014. This event is basically a platform for new emerging designers to showcase their talent and hard-work and make it through to the Fashion Pakistan Week. Venues for both the events will be different.

Designers displaying their work & talent at Fashion Pakistan Week Autmn/Winter 2014 include; Aamna Aqeel, Ayesha Farooq Hashwani, Adnan Pardesy, Deepak Perwani, DnF, Emraan Rajput, Faraz Mannan, FnkAsia, Ishtiaq Afzal Khan, Gul Ahmed, Levis, Maheen Karim, Maheen Khan, Nauman Arfeen, Nida Azwer, Sadaf Malaterre, Sana Safinaz, Sanam Chaudhri, Shehla Chatoor & Zaheer Abbas.

Official Makeup Stylist for all three days of the event is NABILA (N-Pro & N-Gents).

Color Studio Bloggers Meet & Greet.

Color Studio Giveaway boxes for the bloggers.

Makeup goodies (newly launched) for the bloggers at the event.

Kohl Addict customized cake at the event.

Team Color Studio Professional; Farah Shahid & Sobia.

Me along with fellow bloggers at the event.

Won these Color Studio Nail Lacquers in Espresso & Antique at the bloggers meet-up.

Color Studio Professional, organised it's first ever bloggers meet-up on October, 25, 2014 on the launch of their new, star product "Kohl Addict Black Kajal Pencil" along with the launch of few others; Hypnotic Curve Mascara, Lash Obsession Mascara, Eye Stylist & Hypno Eyeliner.

The meet-up was held at Cafe 44, Karachi, Pakistan. Bloggers from Pakistan's Beauty Blogger Community were present at the meetup. 

Team Color Studio, which included Farah Shahid, who happens to be the Brand Manager Color Studio Professional & Sobia, who is the Makeup Consultant for the brand, gave a detailed introduction on the newly launched products, emphasising on the key ingredients of each. 

This was followed by, high tea served to the bloggers and picture/selfie sessions and not to forget the exciting game part! To make the meet-up one fun event, team Color Studio arranged a fun quiz for the bloggers where they were generously given gifts (Color Studio Nail Lacquers) on each correct answer. Guess what, I won two of those nail lacquers! :D 

And the best part is yet to come, the giveaways! Bloggers were given Color Studio Makeup goodies which included the newly launched products in a cute, nicely decorated black box wrapped with a silver ribbon on the top! 

Reviews on the newly launched Color Studio Professional products will be published on the blog soon.

Generation debuts its high-street fashion online on Daraz.Pk

I'm sure all of you living in Pakistan must be aware of these two names; Daraz.Pk & Generation.

Although these names are in no need of an introduction but for readers who aren't aware, daraz.Pk is Pakistan's Online Shopping Website for men, women, children everybody! 

Generation is a women clothing retailer in Pakistan. 

Both went ahead & decided to collaborate, as Generation will now be available online on Daraz.Pk

Spa day at Nina Lotia Salon.

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Pedicure Station at Nina Lotia Salon*

Pedicure & Manicure Stations at Nina Lotia Salon*

Girls at work, at Nina Lotia Salon*

Essie Nail Colors booth at Nina Lotia Salon*

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Getting a relaxing Manicure & Pedicure done*

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My hands & feet after getting pampered at the salon*

Snacks served at the salon.

Nina Lotia herself with Maheen at the salon.

Birthday cake for the First Birthday of Nina Lotia Salon.

Fresh Cupcakes: Token of love from Nina Lotia Salon*

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(Picture Credits: All Pictures with an Asterisk* belong to Faryal Pechuho/ Curls & Cookies
and pictures without an Asterisk* belong to Nina Lotia Salon)

Nina Lotia Salon is located at Bukhari Commercial, D.H.A Phase 6 area of Karachi, Pakistan.
The salon celebrated it's first birthday on 14th October, 2014. Few bloggers and twitterati were invited over for a luxurious spa day at Nina Lotia Salon.
Nina Lotia Salon is located in a three-story building. The salon is pretty big with a very good interior decor and satisfactory hygiene. There is a separate floor for each kind of service. Like there is a separate floor for hair related treatments like blow dry, haircut, hair wash etc. Then there is a separate floor for body massage, manicure, pedicure and other likewise services and so on.
On arrival at the salon we were given a menu which included manicure, pedicure, facial cleansing OR a massage & blow dry with hair wash.
I have to admit that the Pedicure I had at Nina Lotia Salon was one of the finest I have ever had. The pedicure stations were very comfortable (which is not the case at majority salons here). The staff at Nina Lotia Salon was well-trained & with a very professional attitude. I was offered coffee and snacks throughout my pampering session.
Over-all from the the hospitality to the services offered to the professional attitude of the staff at the salon I loved everything. I would definitely recommend you guys to try Nina Lotia Salon if you reside in Karachi, Pakistan. You will be pampered like a queen I'm sure!

For more info & queries please visit Nina Lotia Salon Facebook page here

Elemis Launch at Amethyst by Roohi Salon.

                          

                                                           

   

                             

                               

Goody Bags for the bloggers.

Bloggers at the launch of Elemis.

Maryam Amin getting a consultation by Faryal at Amethsyt by Roohi.

                            

Snacks served at the launch event of Elemis.

(Picture Credits: Amethyst by Roohi)


There was an exclusive event for Elemis launch on 27th September 2014 at Amethyst by Roohi Salon and Maryam Amin from Curls N Cookies attended the launch.

About the brand:Elemis is the leading luxury British spa and skincare brand favoured by as many as 6.5 million spa-goers per year. The successful combination of natural active ingredients with cutting-edge technology has enabled Elemis to bring to market some of the most influential anti-ageing products and professional spa-therapies the beauty industry has ever seen.

It is basically a UK brand, that is recently introduced in Karachi, Pakistan. Pakistan being the 54th country it has launched in.

Their anti-aging facials include:

- Pro intense lift effect facial

- Visible Brilliance Facial

- Pro-collagen quartz lift facial

- Tri-enzyme Resurfacing Facial

ABOUT THE LAUNCH:

A few bloggers were invited from Karachi to be briefed about the products and to try and test them and get skin consultation.

When we arrived at the location, i.e at Amethyst By Roohi Salon, we were greeted and provided information about the brand and to clearly tell us what Elemis was all about as it was a pretty new thing for us in Karachi. A presentation was given in which we were briefed about their skin-care range and their facials were introduced.

In skin consultation we were asked a few questions by Faryal (at Amethyst by Roohi Salon), for example sleep pattern, smoking, allergies, any medications and depending on that we were recommended an Elemis facial out of the four.

I, having a sensitive and dry skin was recommended Visible Brilliance Facial, which according to her wasn't very harsh for skin, and will restore moisture and bring radiance to face. I will be going for facial soon after coming back from vacations and bringing tanned skin back from the sunny countries, then will update about my experience.

At the launch, after being briefed about the products of home skin-care range and spa therapies, and consultations, we were provided with goody bags including full sized Elemis skin-care products according to our skin, so we could have a better idea after using for ourselves.

In the end snacks were served to us and a discussion session took place, where we could clear our minds of any questions we had about the brand and products.

Also, we were told their Marine Cream is one of the best sellers, and they sell one every minute, which is a big claim. According to them it has marine extract of padina pavonica which transforms complexion in 2 weeks. We were given this Marine Cream in our bags to try and decide for ourselves.

They have also recently introduced a richer version of their Marine Cream for more hydration and moisture for even more dry and dehydrated skin, we were asked to try it out, and trust me it stands true to its words, even in the first application I could tell what an amazing cream it must be.

The reviews of my products will be up after I have used them for a good 2-3 weeks.

My Goody bag included:

1. Elemis cleansing balm 
2. Elemis pro-collagen marine cream
3. Elemis balancing lavender toner.

Goody bag containing full sized cleansing balm, marine cream, lavender toner

So far this brand looks promising, do visit the salon and get your consultation and facial to try it for yourself, or wait for my reviews. It's just been a few days using it and I have only good things to stay about the products. Book your facial and see for yourself!