I am working with Al-Mujalbaba, a Texas-based hijab and niqab store! Their products are extremely affordable, which is why I am so excited to be working with them!
I have never used half-niqabs before. As shown in my review of Sadika Fashions' niqabs, both of the niqabs I own are full, one-piece niqabs. I received two half-niqabs from Al-Mujalbaba, one in black georgette and one in burgundy pebble georgette.
The one major qualm I have with these niqabs is just how large the elastic is. While I'm a very small person, my Husband has a HUGE head (true story...) and the niqab was big on him!
Picture for reference so you can see how huge my Viking Hubby's head is.
To combat this, I pinned the elastic where it was comfortable on my face. I've found that if you have the niqab too tight, it hurts my nose and ears (both stick out a bit), so I recommend using pins to find the perfect fit before sewing the elastic. Once you find that perfect fit, take a needle and thread and sew it up! I recommend keeping it folded instead of cutting and then resewing, so that the stitching can be removed and redone if need be, such as if you gift the niqabs to new niqabi sisters after you no longer wear them, etc.
This is pretty dark, sorry, edits wouldn't show up...
The pebble georgette niqab is thicker and a bit warmer than the regular georgette. Both are incredibly light and you can hardly feel them on your face once they are sized correctly. I also really like that you can change which way you wear them as one "flap" is slightly longer than the other so you can create a layered look that I love! However, in the winter, these are easily blown by wind and the fabric does not help keep you warm at all (though that could be a benefit if you wear glasses, as it may help keep them from fogging up).
Overall, I am REALLY a fan of these niqabs, and while I may prefer full niqabs, these are really nice to mix things up! They are perfect for sisters who want to try wearing niqab, because they only cost $4 each! Since they are a United States company, that makes it even cheaper for sisters, both Muslim and non, who want to try out wearing niqab without investing in a $30 niqab. Al-Mujalbaba also makes full-niqabs which cost about $12. Both full and half-niqabs come in georgette and pebble georgette and in a wide range of fun colors, such as hot pinks, purples, teals, and more! You can get them here, and many are able to be gotten in sets with matching khimar!
As many know, I am sure, there are Muslim sisters, and even sisters who are non-Muslim, who wear niqab Some also wear gloves with their niqab, either for extra modesty, ascetics, or mental health issues (I plan to expound upon hijab, niqab, gloves, and mental health in a post all it's own soon, insha'Allah! Some information on the Sunnah of wearing niqab and gloves can be found here). When I started to wear niqab, I did so for modesty but also due to some mental health issues/anxiety, as I had heard others say that it helped them. A month or so after wearing niqab I decided I also wanted to wear gloves to help me develop healthy behavior patterns and avoid picking at the skin on my hands. That was about a month ago, and I started to research the gloves on the market that would fit my various needs - make it difficult to pick at my skin/hurt myself in other ways, look appropriate for work and school, and be easy to use with touch screen devices.
Unfortunately, most gloves on the market do NOT fit these categories! If they are touch screen capable, they are usually winter gloves and thus too thick or warm to be used every day. If they are sold by Islamic clothing stores, they are thin and come in various colors, but they aren't touch screen capable, OR, as in the case of the "Esteem" gloves by Sunnah Style (product here; YouTube review from Sister Jeanie here), they are touch screen capable BUT they currently only come in one size, which is medium.
From my searches, I found that Kohl's was selling some gloves by Isotoner:
Two different Isotoner performance gloves.
So, we went to Kohls. The Isotoner performance gloves are thinner, more light weight winter gloves which are meant to be worn while running or doing other work-out activities during colder months. The black ones on the left are the ones I purchased, solely due to the fact that they are matt-black, but the version on the right, with the grey striped design, were actually slightly thinner and cooler. Both came in color variants, with the ones I purchased having full-color variants and the grey ones coming with different colored piping, like the purple piping shown in the photo. (The kind I bought here and the grey ones here.)
These work really well for outside and running errands! They are comfortable; keep your hands moderately warm, which I liked as my fingers and joints hurt during the winter so warmth helps keep them from stiffening up; and they work well on touch screens. However, when it came to typing, things got difficult since they are relatively thick.
Due to this, I went back to looking at the gloves from Sunnah Style. While I can't order from them since they don't yet come in smalls, I noticed that they were copper compression gloves. So I researched those! There are three brands on Amazon, but the most trustworthy of the three is Tommie Copper, which I was looking at off-Amazon. I went to Amazon to see if they were sold there, since we have Amazon Prime which means free shipping! You can get free two-day shipping, which is what I thought I requested... Apparently I never clicked that button, so I received mine in four days. Alhamdulillah, still much quicker than it could have been!
The price of the Tommie Copper gloves is comparable to the prices of the "Esteem" gloves from Sunnah Style. The Isotoner gloves were actually $5-$10 more than both the Tommie Copper gloves and the gloves from Sunnah Style. They are really thin, which is perfect for everyday wear and wearing them in the summer. They also boast 50 SPF. They work very well for touch screen and the smalls I order fit me perfectly! They are thin enough you can wear other gloves over them for being outside. Tommie Copper also makes half-finger gloves, fingerless gloves, sleeves, and all manner of other clothing that are made to be worn in all climates while helping people heal injuries or deal with various pain and joint issues such as arthritis. You can also order these particular gloves in nude and some of their products come in fun colors as well. You can get the gloves pictured below here, and you can also order them on Amazon by searching Tommie Copper, which allows for free shipping with Amazon Prime! The only downside was very minor, which is that on the pointer finger there is some silver threading on the finger nail area, not just on the pad.
What I really enjoy with thinner gloves is that I can layer on fun arm warmers, fingerless gloves, and even rings to change things up!
So this is all that I've found! Please let me know what you think and I hope this was helpful!
Today I'm reviewing the above item from Al-Moultazimoun. I've included the photo from their website for reference since my video a) can't show the entire outfit because I'm so short and b) to show what I perceived myself to be ordering, which was an abaya. This listing is in the women's abayat section. The above picture, and others on the website, give no indication that the product is actually "pantajupe" or palazzo-type pants. However, the item is named "Jumpsuit Softness." I assumed this was a translation mistake either by the company or Google and that it was describing an abaya made of sweatshirt/sweatpants-like soft, comfortable material which is very warm and fall/winter appropriate as well. Unfortunately, this was actually a jumpsuit, which I find extremely impractical, but I will elaborate more after the video.
So, I want to apologize about the poor quality of the video, but daylight savings took away an hour of daylight after work for me, and I already held off about a week on this review because I wanted to wear it in cooler weather as I thought it would be warm, so if I didn't do it today, it likely would get pushed off for a very long time. So, then, onto the review...
As I said above, this was actually a jumpsuit, which was very disappointing to me. It is very inconvenient to have to unzip and pretty much take off your entire outfit in order to use the restroom. It also makes the aadaab of how to use the restroom a bit more difficult. The second most disappointing thing was that it wasn't made of sweatshirt/sweatpants material and wasn't extremely warm. The material is more of a thin-ish, spring/autumn fabric. That being said, the fabric is VERY soft and comfortable. If it were an abaya instead of a jumpsuit, I wouldn't really have much to say in the way of negatives.
Also disappointing was that the excellent stitching I saw on my jilbab and that other blogs have said you can expect from Al-Moultazimoun was a bit lacking. I found two very long strings of stitching thread coming out of the waist area, one on the outside and a longer one on the inside.
Other than that, it's basically just my usual qualms of things being very large on me due to my being the size of a child... Jumpsuits also tend to look awkward unless you are tall and thin, at least from what I have seen, so It just doesn't look fantastic on me, in my opinion.
So, before, I was thinking of turning it into an abaya, but that would mean awkward center seams, so now I'm thinking of altering it into a pair of wide-leg slacks and a bolero. If I don't end up doing that, I might donate it, but I'm hesitant to donate a jumpsuit to anyone given just how impractical they are.
Feel free to weigh in if you have an idea on what I should do!
So, reading that title, I'm sure you are a bit confused. "How is God like a cup of tea? Aren't we supposed to avoid comparing God to earthly things?"
Well, ya got me there. What I meant isn't really that God is like a cup of tea. Rather, God is holding the cup of tea. And the cup of tea? That's you.
Think about carrying a cup of tea (or coffee, or hot chocolate...). If it isn't filled up all of the way and your walk is stable, you can quickly move forward without having to worry about your grip on the handle of the cup. You are sure of yourself and know you won't spill it. You don't worry you'll burn yourself.
Now think about carrying a cup of tea (or whatever hot liquid as above) that is filled to the brim. Perhaps it's even not filled that high. But imagine having to walk slowly in order to watch the cup and prevent spilling the liquid or splashing yourself. You have to hold on tighter to the cup.
Imagine that you are the cup of tea, and God is the hand holding the cup of tea. God is still there for those who are sure in their Imaan, He is still present. But maybe their Imaan is lower even though they are so sure of themselves. Maybe it isn't, but they still don't rely as much on God for stability. However, for those who struggle and stumble with their Imaan, even if it is low or high, God holds a tighter grip on you; your Jihad is all the more beautiful to Him and will be rewarded.
We can see this in the following Hadith:
"Verily the one who recites the Quran beautifully, smoothly, and precisely, he will be in the company of noble and obedient angels. As for the one who recites with difficulty, stammering or stumbling through its Verses, then he will have TWICE that reward." Sahih al-Bukhari and Muslim.
Just a little thought. I haven't gotten to post some reviews I wanted to in the past couple of weeks due to... obvious reasons if you know what its going on in America.
Insha'Allah, I will be posting more reviews and also some more theological writings. I just thought of this one today and wanted to share, as many are struggling right now.
Assalaamu alaikum everyone! Hope this day is treating you well!
Yesterday alhamdullilah I received my packages from Al-Moultazimoun in France and Gerard Cosmetics! It was a happy thing since I was stuck in class on Halloween. :(
So first I'll review the Jilbab Makkah II. The version I ordered was with nidha fabric (which I absolutely love! Insha'Allah I will do a product review of my very first nidha abaya soon) in the color "burgundy-fig." Here's the review video:
So, downsides:
This jilbab is not meant for tiny girls. Al-Moultazimoun's website lists the size range from 1m60 to 1m73, which equates to 5'3" to 5'7". As such, the skirt was much too long for me. Additionally, the elastic waistband itself was too loose. I have to roll the waistband of the skirt 3-4 times to make the skirt short enough that I don't trip on it. Luckily my best friend and several other people in my life are handy with sewing machines (which I am decidedly NOT), so insha'Allah someone will be able to take it in and hem it for me. Also, the headband means that if you have a small head you either need to deal with the jilbab slipping back throughout the day or you will need to alter the headband, since Al-Moultazimoun does not utilize tie-back headbands. The thumbholes in the sleeves are also a little stiff, but they get more comfortable as you wear them, I think.
Al-Moultazimoun utilizes Colissimo for mail both within and outside of France. The website, while you can translate your shipping info into English, German, and a couple other languages, is completely in French. This makes things difficult if you are trying to request a status update. The FAQ state that international mail should expect 3-8 day delivery (luckily I can read SOME French!). However, it took me about 14 days to receive it, with a significant gap (about a week) between when the shipping info listed it as leaving France and when it was received in customs. However, I received it very quickly once it had been logged in customs (2-3 days).
I also don't remember what shipping was for me, but a sister in Canada said she couldn't order as shipping to Canada was $50 Canadian Dollars.
You can see how big the gap is in this.
The upsides:
As said in the video, I chose this jilbab due to its unique shape. The khimar is cut in such a way that the front and back actually come to a kind of scoop or point instead of going straight across like many jilabib appear to do. This means it drapes very beautifully! In fact, this is probably my favorite jilbab when it comes to draping, the second one being the jilbab Jiza II from Nabira. The cut combined with the nidha fabric made it seem like the skirt and the top were one piece, it was so fluid and pretty!
Nidha fabric itself is very light weight and a favorite for places like KSA and UAE. I wore a nidha abaya pretty much all summer once I got it because it kept me cooler than wearing jeans and a long sleeve shirt. While microfiber is nice and comfortable, I don't think anything can really compare to the luxurious feel of nidha and the coolness you get from wearing it in the heat.
You can purchase the Jilbab Makkah II nida (and other wonderful products, including men's clothes, children's clothes, and Arabic education items) here: https://www.almoultazimoun.com/en/two-piece-jilbab/2574-jilbab-makkah-2-nida.html
Here is the video for Gerard Cosmetics HYDRA-MATTE liquid lipstick in Knight Rider:
I received this lipstick very quickly, less than a week. It was on sale 20% off and free shipping when I purchased it. Wallahi I only have good things to say about this lipstick! I will say I encourage you to use a lip primer prior to applying the lipstick, as it may not apply evenly otherwise, but once it is dried, it stays on FOR GOOD. I wore effectively ONE application of this ALL day. I ate a giant freaking cupcake, and no lipstick got on it. Barely any got on my coffee cup. I dabbed my lips after eating lunch, barely anything came off. This video is after 9.5 hours of wear!
Gerard Cosmetics offers this lipstick in 26 shades, of which Knight Rider is the darkest. It's a very very dark purple. You can buy it (and their other products!) here: https://www.gerardcosmetics.com/hydra-matte-liquid-lipstick.html
Thank you for watching and I hope you enjoyed!! Please let me know if there is anything you would like me to review!
Jazak'Allah khairan (yes I'm trying to spell that more correctly. ;) )
So, I really love painting my nails. When I was in the military it felt like I could never really have them painted so once I got out, I kept my nails painted as much as possible. However, upon reverting to Islam, I had to stop painting them except for while on my period, which many sisters can relate to. However, a few companies have come out with halal (water permeable) nail polish! For them to be halal, they have to allow water to reach the nail/nail bed.
Here's a North American fatwa on nail polish: http://askamufti.com/question-details.aspx?qstID=4905
So, obviously, I was super excited. I've been waiting around to get some, because for a while no one was sure if it was really halal. However, several scholars have come forward and said that various brands are halal and many many bloggers and reviewers have tested the various brands.
When I was looking at brands, the first one that comes up (usually), is Tuesday in Love. However, from my understanding, these polishes are water permeable (a sister tested them and let me know), but they are also peel-off, which I've never been a fan of, not even when I was nine and peelable nail polish was (for some reason) all the rage.
The fatwa above gives information about O2M by Inglot. https://www.inglotusa.com/o2m They have a LOT of colors but base, color, and top coat all run $16-$17 a bottle. Another brand is Maya. https://maya-cosmetics.com/ This brand has less of a color range, but they all come with cute names, many of which can be related back to Islam, and they have a glitter top coat! However, their polish is about $14 a bottle. Both of these brands, however, have halal certifications.
ORLY just recently launched their breathable polish, and let me say I was very very excited when I heard about it! The polish itself is a combination of color and nail treatment, with vitamins and argon oil to help strengthen your nails and make them healthier (my nails are constantly breaking and I have bad ridges). Further, there is NO NEED for a base or top coat! This cuts painting time down significantly. However, ORLY has not yet received its halal certification, from my understanding (I'm in communication with someone at ORLY to see if we can get an update on this). But, since the polish is available at ulta, I went to the store and got some - for $9 a bottle! (Actually, ulta was running a sale when I got mine, BOGO 50% off!)
So, as you can see above (please excuse the coffee-stained counter!), the polish IS water permeable, to a great extent, actually! It looks like you may not even have to do the "rub for 10 seconds" step, but I was just following what Maya recommended for their products (keep in mind, theirs has base and top coat as well). This was actually the second test, as my original video wouldn't save for some weird reason.
Now, on the product itself:
I really love how this polish applied. The brush is wide and flat, which I prefer, because I can cover my entire nail in one or two swipes. (Last night when I painted mine, I just didn't care so honestly my nails are a mess right now.) It's quick drying. The polish itself feels different when you touch it after it's dried. I can't really explain it, but it just feels different from normal polish.
Like I said, I was going to bed so I REALLY didn't care! lol
Colors I got: sparkly red, burgundy purple, magenta, light grey
The only real downside with this brand is they don't have a black polish, so I will have to purchase from a more expensive brand to get that. But so far I'm really liking the purply burgundy color they are calling "The Antidote" and it should match my new jilbab which I should be receiving soon and then reviewing, insha'Allah!
So there you have it! AFFORDABLE halal nail polish, sold in a relatively wide-spread specialty make-up store in the US. Insha'Allah they receive their official certification soon, but for now I'm going to say, based on the fatwa given above and my test, that it's safe!
(UPDATE: I have been informed by Orly that they have received their UK certification!)
@RivkaZee Hi Rivka, we've had confirmation from our brand team that ORLY Breathable Colour is officially Halal certified x
Asalaamu alaikum! Today I am showing the review videos for my new jilabib from Nabira and also giving a little more insight, inshallah.
The first one I will do is the Jilbab Mina II:
This jilbab was fantastic over the cool weekend. I think the only time I didn't wear it was to sleep! It kept me comfortable while studying outside. As stated in the video, the color was not as expected. Here is their color scheme below:
So I was expecting the dark red toward the bottom left, but the color I received was actually more of a burgundy with brown. Here are the colors of the jilabib with my gloves I received for contrast, because I thought I ordered plum in those as well (but I may have ordered Raspberry...):
The left shows the colors in dim lighting, while the right is with flash. The right is closer to what the colors look like in daylight but if it is cloudy or dim they look darker. When I received the package, I thought i had received two black jilabib, that is how dark the fabric looked.
The gloves I received are wonderful and very comfortable. The website says they are chiffon but I don't believe that - they are quite stretchy and I've never owned chiffon with stretch. They go up past my elbow on me, but I'm quite small, so I would assume on a "normal" sized person they would reach about mid-forearm.
Here is the Jilbab Jiza II:
The Jiza II is a 1/2 jilbab, you only get the top/khimar and no skirt or sarwal with it, though they do have Jiza II sarwal available.
The sleeves on this are kind of cotton/lycra and very long, with the intent that it be easy to wear with jacket or blazer for work. Here are some photos of Jiza II:
As you can see in the above pictures, the sleeves are quite long. Without a blazer or jacket, the fabric will flow down, creating a larger silhouette, more like what we are used to seeing in French Jilabib and Saudi/UAE style abayat.
The sleeves go just above the elbow on me, much like the gloves I received, so it's likely that the sleeves would be shorter on someone more "average" size. It fit wonderfully under my blazer and was quite comfortable, with the fabric creating beautiful folds in the front. The only downside to this jilbab, for me, is really the lack of thumb holes! However, it got a little warmer today here, and I will say that the sleeves on this are warmer than the Mina II, so I've had to remove my blazer at school today and while outside because of the warmth of it. Additionally, this jilbab had a few loose strings, but that isn't really a problem to me (pretty used to that, thanks to military uniforms!).
Now, on to the technical stuff!
Nabira is a French brand, so you should plan to pay a little more in shipping. Shipping offered was in the mid-$20s, and you have two choices: 8-10 day shipping or 5 day shipping. 5 day shipping is only $2 more so I would highly encourage everyone go with it! They use a brand called DHL for their 5-day international shipping and the company is absolutely wonderful. I got email and text alerts saying when it shipped and one the day it was to arrive, letting me know. If you need to, you can call DHL and ask questions. They were wonderful when I asked how late I could expect my package as it said "end of day" (the answer to that is 8 pm).
Now when I first asked Nabira about colors they assured me colors would match (I was comparing the plum color from another listing to see if it would be the color of my Jiza II jilbab). However, they haven't replied yet when it comes to the dark red being a very different color. It's not that I dislike the color, but it is much more brown and darker than expected, and I'm honestly not a huge fan of brown though I do like the jilbab I ordered.
Finally, both of the jilabib I ordered have light microfiber fabric (other than the sleeves for the Jiza II). When you put it on, it can have a "crunchy" kind of sound when you move your head, but you get used to it after a bit. Only downside is if my Husband or the boyfriend are talking and not looking at me, and I'm not expecting them to talk, then I have to ask them to repeat themselves as turning my head covers their words with fabric sounds.
One last thing is that I would encourage girls to tie their jilbab TIGHT and/or use a bow knot, because otherwise the band will loosen significantly and this could end up happening multiple times during the day which can be extremely annoying.
Alrighty, thank you all for reading/watching and I really hope you enjoyed my review!
Asalaamu alaikum, all! And Happy New Year/L'Shana Tovah!
Alhamdullilah I was able to go outside and do some video reviews today. The one I want to highlight right now is the review of my niqabs from Sadika Fashions. Sadika is a US brand, based out of Philadelphia, PA. The sisters who run this shop make the niqabs themselves, allahumma barik lahum. The two that I have are both good quality Saudi crepe and alhamdullilah very breathable. (Little anecdote, my friend Cas in Texas ordered some cheap niqabs online and almost passed out at work! Alhamdullilah she bought from Sadika Fashions three niqabs that night and hasn't had an issue since!)
So here is what I'm talking about with the eye holes on my new, more casual niqab:
As you can see, the side on the left is about an inch longer than the side on the right. Also, the string divider is very short.
I shortened the long side, matching it up and stitching over the previous stitches to keep it from being noticeable. I also used a seam ripper to open the headband and pull the string down to make it longer, stitched that back in, and realigned the string as it had a 1 cm diagonal shift. After these quick fixes (maybe 20 minutes), I was left with the above, which I am SUPER happy with! I think that it was just a fluke, not really anything to worry the sisters at Sadika about when I could fix it easily. Plus my first niqab from them had absolutely no issues.
Inshallah I will order from them again. Right now, I am waiting on a niqab from Austria so inshallah it arrives soon and I can review it for you lovelies!
Welcome to Chai and Chocolate! This is not my first blog, but, for the life of me, I can't recall what my old one was. So, to the beginning we go!
So, why chai and chocolate? When I think of chai, I think of curling up outside with any number of theology or religious books, wearing a comfy sweater and a warm hijab. I think of warmth, peace, but with a nice kick. When I think of chocolate, I think of summer s'mores, or winter's hot chocolate in front of a fire, sweet, yet with a dark depth and a measure of bitterness. The flavors of these two things are wonderfully complex, which is what I hope you will find on this blog.
To introduce myself, I'm Paige but I will probably sign as Sajida, which is part of my Muslim name (the first part being Rivka, from my Hebrew name). I'm a Jewish revert to Islam, hold a Baccalaureate in Comparative Theology with a minor in Social Anthropology, I currently am pursuing my Masters of Theology at a Christian Seminary, and I consider myself a Queer, Feminist Theologian with major Orthodox leanings. My Islamic theology looks to be a mix of Salafism and Sufism, and my ideas are out-of-the-box when it comes to Queer application of theology within Islam and Abrahamic religions as a whole.
I'm 24 (as of now), married to a Viking, polyamorous and dating a Firefighter/Marine, guardian of a 17-year-old whom I will refer to as "my kid" (but who is technically my brother), and fur mama to a sweetheart pittie pup who has seizures (alhamdullilah not since we got her on meds!).
Like I said: Complex.
So make up some chai and settle down. Let's see what we have to talk about. :)
To combat this, I pinned the elastic where it was comfortable on my face. I've found that if you have the niqab too tight, it hurts my nose and ears (both stick out a bit), so I recommend using pins to find the perfect fit before sewing the elastic. Once you find that perfect fit, take a needle and thread and sew it up! I recommend keeping it folded instead of cutting and then resewing, so that the stitching can be removed and redone if need be, such as if you gift the niqabs to new niqabi sisters after you no longer wear them, etc. 
