5 Tips During Summer
Many of you may or may not know that I am a Muslim blogger and I do wear the hijab (headscarf) at all times, and during summer when the heat is nearing and going over 30 degrees Celsius, it becomes extremely difficult to dress modestly in a sense where you aren’t overheating and bringing a heat stroke on! This summer has been one of the hottest summers that the UK has experienced in a very long time, so within this post I will be giving you all 5 tips (maybe more) that will hopefully help my fellow readers!
(disclaimer: these are my opinions, they are in no way forcing someone to act, dress or do something a certain way, it is just my personal tips that I think could benefit other people, proceed!)
Tip 1: My first tip is more so aimed towards Muslim women and it is to try wearing thin material hijabs e.g. silk ones, and fashion it in a loose manner. During summer it is extra hard for us hijabi’s when the sun is scorching and we have a scarf wrapped around us, so I think it’s important to remember not to wear thick scarves, but thin ones.
Tip 2: Oversized clothing has become a very popular look for both mainstream and modest clothing, and I have to admit, I have succumbed to it. When i’m shopping online (usually on ASOS or something), I typically go onto the men section and look at the t shirts and buy them in a bigger size to what my actual size is. This leads to a top being big enough to almost be a dress, and with this, you can dress it in 2 different way. Either with leggings/jeans and trainers and the t shirt is just floating, or wear it tucked into a pair of jeans/trousers for a more smart casual look! The first way with the top floating covers your bum so you’re not revealing anything and due to the big size, it tends to cover at least ¾ of your arm so a jacket isn’t exactly necessary which is perfect in the heat!
Tip 3: This step is for anyone who wears makeup, make sure you’re setting your makeup with powder and/or setting spray, because my god, you will sweat!!! Today (whilst i’m typing it on the 7th July, let's see when this actually gets posted lol, and it was 28 degrees), I wasn’t planning on wearing a full face, I was going to go minimal with no base makeup, just some highlight, lipstick and brows, but somehow I ended up doing a whole ass full face! And I sweated. A lot… But, I did powder my face down before I left and set it with setting spray and it stayed intact all day, even as I visibly sweat around my nose area. Honestly, setting makeup is so important, especially in the heat!
Tip 4: The fourth tip is sun cream. Many south Asian people (including a lot of my own family) think they don’t need to use sun cream for some absurd reason. It is so important to reiterate that sun cream helps protect the skin from UV rays that can cause harm to the skin such as skin cancer. Anyone can get skin cancer regardless of your race, age, skin type, gender, any factor there is, none of them matter, so just use some damn sun cream. Using sun protection factor lotion/cream/spray, helps to prevent harm to the skin such as cancer as I said before, but also can help to stop hyper-pigmentation, wrinkles etc. I use Nivea Sun Cooling and Refresh Sun Spray and it is amazing, I spritz it onto a cotton pad and rub that into my skin every morning after I moisturise to make sure I am getting as much protection as possible. This spray is cooling and doesn’t leave any grease on the skin, I will leave a link to it at the end of this post! To sum up, USE SUN CREAM, SUNSCREEN, SUNBLOCK, SUN LOTION IT’S ALL THE SAME THING!!
Tip 5: HYGIENE IS IMPORTANT PEOPLE! I understand that it’s sunny, and the UK doesn’t get a lot of sun but please, do not forget to shower every night or morning or both, because maybe you can’t smell yourself, but (no offence), guaranteed other people can smell you. No amount of deodorant or perfume or aftershave can get rid of body odour, so please just get in the shower, use body wash e.g. Radox do a wide range of body washes in different scents and stuff, buy one, use it. Buy shampoo too, like come on, simple hygiene stuff. If you’ve been outside sweating, or not sweating, come home and shower.
Tip 6: The final tip I have for this post is self-care. When it’s summer a lot of people are busy working or don’t want to go outside for either financial reasons or ill health, but I think we should all make an effort to enjoy the sun. As I have mentioned a few times, we don’t get this sun often, so if there is any possibility of you leaving the house when you’re not working, or something, just try to go out and enjoy yourself. Going for a walk or to a park is always a good idea because you don’t need money or anything to enjoy yourself, just a nice walk refreshing yourself. Get a nice tan, have some fruit take some friends, family or a pet or something and just enjoy a chilled walk. On the topic of being outdoors, it is so important to make sure you are always hydrated, please make sure you’re drinking enough water (NOT FIZZY DRINKS OR JUICE, BUT WATER!!). It is important to stay active, please try and be outside for at least 20 minutes a day!
That’s it for this one and I hope you’ve all enjoyed it and took something from it hopefully?! *fingers crossed* Please do let me know on my socials if you have any other tips I’ve missed out and maybe I’ll do a part 2 to this?? Stay safe and stay blessed, my friends! (a quick message of thanks to Alisha, thank you honey for pushing me and helping me get this done!!)