Hijab - It’s All or Nothing
From days where your hijab won't stay in place, to finding the cutest maxi skirt after hours of searching, only to realise it has a huge slit up the side; Internal battles of whether you should curl that front piece of hair or tuck it away, the journey of a hijabi is not linear.
We're living in a world where following trends seems like the only way to be socially accepted. Unfortunately, most of these trends are at the expense of your modesty. Seeing the curtain bangs, caramel balayages, and the 90s blow dries, can be very tempting to also want to flaunt in the same manner. But that doesn't mean that as a hijabi, you can’t also do the same. We can for sure participate in these trends, but in the safety of our boundaries.
Don’t feel like you are destined to miss out due to the religious choice you have made. Let me tell you, a good honey balayage with a cute little money piece is not reserved for the non-hijab adorning women. Sometimes we can fall into this rabbit hole of not making an effort with our hair because the world can't see it, when we should be participating in all this pampering for ourselves in the first place anyway.
Its always important to reflect and remember why you wear a hijab. Where your journey began and what ushered you to take these steps into falling in love with hijab. For me, I like to remember that the most empowering part of adopting hijab is that you are in total control.
How you chose to adorn and honour yourself is in your hands. You have the power to control your own privacy; who sees you, how you choose to present yourself, how you want to come off across - you control the narrative. There’s no denying that it's hard when you see the hair trends nowadays, but actually, us hijabis have a knack for hijabifying practically any trend. My personal favourite and current go-to is the clean girl aesthetic.
So How Can I Achieve The Clean Girl Look As A Hijabi? Here Are My Tips:
- Spf - Ladies, I cannot stress enough how important the use of SPF is. It protects you from the sun's powerful and harmful UV rays alongside acting as a protectant for many other things. A good quality SPF should be implemented in your daily routine as of likeeee 10 years ago!
- Brows - It’s all in the brows. Slick down those brows with some brow gel to hold them in place for a more sculpted look; I like to go for a soft brown gel.
- Clear Lip gloss - Vaseline is and will always be my go-to, but when I'm feeling a bit more fancy, my Dior lip oil has my heart. Another good option is the NYX butter gloss in Praline.
- Lip liner - You can't have a cute lip gloss without a pairing lipliner. 420 in Kiko is a universal shade that fits everyone
- Mascara - I prefer to go with the no mascara look, but if you choose to wear it, I recommend trying brown
- The Fit - For the outfit, I'd choose the Oat classic closed abaya, paired with our white jersey hijab - keep it simple, minimal and light
- Jewellery - For the ultimate clean girl look, you must incorporate minimalist gold jewellery as part of your look, i’d choose our plain bangle, and noor pendant Sometimes, the higher you get in terms of practising, the easier it can get to look down or judge those who are at a stage behind you in their journey. Whilst gaining closeness to your religion should humble you, if you’re doing it right, it can be easy to fall into the trap of looking down at others.
It's important that we check ourselves, and make sure that we are not slowly adopting the ‘it's all or nothing’ mindset. Everyone is on their individual journey in this life and no one becomes a saint overnight. We should encourage those that make the effort to take baby steps towards doing the right thing, and not fixate on their errors along the way. It's inevitable to make mistakes whenever you are trying something new but what makes the process easier, is support from those who have reached the goal.
Remember girls, it's so normal to have days where maybe your deen isn't at the place you want it to be. We’re human at the end of the day, Allah says to try your best. What’s not normal is that you're on level ten every single waking second, although it's a nice goal to have, even Allah recognises that we are human and mistakes will be made. Intention is key in Islam, keep your heart clean and your intentions pure and leave the rest to Allah.
Abu Dharr Reported:
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Allah Almighty says: Whoever comes with a good deed will have the reward of ten like it and even more.
Whoever comes with an evil deed will be recompensed for one evil deed like it or he will be forgiven. Whoever draws close to Me by the length of a hand, I will draw close to him by the length of an arm. Whoever draws close to Me the by length of an arm, I will draw close to him by the length of a fathom. Whoever comes to Me walking, I will come to him running.
Whoever meets Me with enough sins to fill the earth, not associating any partners with Me, I will meet him with as much forgiveness.”
Source: Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 2687
Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that everyone's experience is different. Person A may find it hard to keep on time with prayers, but may be a total pro at hijab, whilst Person B may have the totally opposite problem. Everyone is on their own journey here in this life. Your ticket to jannah may just be that one moment where you stopped yourself from having a bad judgement and made dua that Allah makes it easy for the individual (and the angels pray the same for you too!)
Abu Darda Reported:
The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “No servant supplicates for his brother behind his back but that the angel says: And for you the same.”
Source: Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim 2732
With that, I leave you, my beloved readers, with a little challenge. I challenge you to implement the hacks I've written below and get back to me with all your thanks and praises for how they've changed your life. As hijabis it is important that we take care of our hair and not neglect it just because we cover it to the public.
Hijabi Hacks:
- Try to not tie your undercap too tight if possible
- Oil your roots, condition your ends
- Brush your hair before you wash
- Wear a protective hairstyle under your hijab - a low bun, a pony tail, braid your hair, use a claw clip
- When you're not wearing your hijab, have your hair open and untied to release the pressure and strain from being pulled back
- Invest in satin/silk lined undercaps (we sell them!). Silk pillow cases changed my life
- Alternate your parting under your hijab - this will reduce any hair thinning thats concentrated to one area
- Don’t over wash your hair - You shouldn’t be washing your hair everyday, or even every two days. Allow some time between each wash
- Drop the Holland & Barrett Hair growth tablets, and pick up the mustard oil for those roots
- Go heatless!
Remember ladies, all good things take time, and consistency is key! All the best in your journey,
Love, Em xx