The year 2016 has been incredibly – everything from wedding preparations, to starting my PhD, to moving houses and travelling across the globe, left me with minimal time for my blog (thus my long absence). As we approach the end of the winter wedding season though, I’ve decided to dive right back into writing about the unique mixture of customs, traditions and rituals, and of course, attires that give Bangladeshi weddings their own special identity.

Naveela and Tonmoy’s engagement ceremony took place a few weeks after mine, and the rituals that took place night were very much like the ones that were performed in mine (elaborated here). The event was hosted by Naveela, my sister-in-law’s family, and it was essentially an announcement of Naveela’s and Tonmoy’s desire to commit to a lifelong relationship and an opportunity for them to seek blessings and well wishes from their close friends and family. It provided a platform for members of the extended family to be formally introduced to one another, and for them to be able to meet, greet, and socialise with each other.

And of course, it gave all of us involved a perfectly good reason to dress-up, feast and celebrate!

The stunning bride-to-be, Naveela, was dressed in a mixture of golden-beige and royal blue, a combination not frequented by many brides. Her dress was adorned with embroidered lace, fine zardozi needlework, and glass-cut mirror embellishments. Many of the traditional dresses focus heavily on crystal embellishments and embroidery, the detailing of which although beautiful, is sometimes in my opinion, overwhelming. What I truly liked about hers was the clarity of design the glass-cut mirrors provided, something that my mom and I kept into consideration while designing my own wedding dress – stay tuned for upcoming posts on that.

Dress: Nabila

Tonmoy’s look was classic and timeless. A sleek navy suit, paired with a crisp white shirt and a subtly printed blue tie to complement Naveela’s blue ensemble.  I had a special appreciation for the finer details including the visibility of the cuffs the white dress shirt and how that perfectly complemented his white pocket square and fine white print on his tie.

The pair looked gorgeous and perfectly complemented each other on their engagement night. Having been a part of their wedding festivities as well, I cannot wait to cover some of their fabulous looks!

 

I’ve written about our attires for our Engagement (click here for mine, here fore and Naveed’s) and the activities preceding our Engagement Ceremony (Pre-Engagement Dala exchange, my attire, his attire for the evening), but what actually happened on the night of the ceremony?

 

(Not a reader? Scroll down below for links to the video)

Essentially, it was opportunity for our close friends and family to come together (this is a lot of people if you have two Bengali families), celebrate our engagement, the union of our families and for our loved ones to bless us for our lives ahead.

The Engagement ceremony is typically hosted by the bride-to-be’s family in Bangladesh, and my family and I, especially me and my mom planned every detail of the ceremony from months ahead. My mom even personally designed many of the decorative accessories used in the hall.

I am a huge fan of bright colours, and although I knew that although pastels are the go-to choice for Engagements in Bangladesh, I wanted mine to be different, and after discussing our ideas with my fiancé, Naveed, and his family we decided to go with a purple and white colour scheme for the event. The décor of the entire event had a pearl white base with accents and highlights of colours of the orchid flower.

Speaking of flowers, I adore Chanel’s use of its now iconic Camellia, and so I was inspired to use large white, blooming floral arrangements throughout the decor of my engagement hall.

The entrance 

Metal structures adorned with flowers and accessories – designed by my lovely mother  

Pearls were also featured in the décor, particularly the entrance and the stage on which Naveed and I sat. I also wore a purple dress which my mom designed (more on my dress here), pearl and polki (uncut diamond) jewellery and wore orchids in my hair to bring every element of the theme together. Naveed too had purple touches in his outfit, namely his bow-tie, cummerbund and lapel pin (more on his outfit here) as on our night we wanted to complement each other.

Butterfly chocolate boxes for our guests 🙂

The event went as follows:

• Close friends and family arrive
• My brother (hosting the evening) welcomes Naveed and his immediately family on stage
• I walk into the hall accompanied by my family and join Naveed and his family on stage
• Speeches by parents (there were tears)
• Exchange of rings – this usually happens at the Engagement stage in Bangladesh
• We receives gifts from parents
• A small prayer with everyone in attendance
• We cute a massive cake
• More gifts from relatives (because you can’t have too many)
• 
• 

After this, all the guests came up on stage to congratulate us, take photos and give us their blessings. Of course, food is the centre of event in Bangladesh so we also invited ours guests to join us for a feast.

It was an extremely busy night for me and Naveed, and we were overwhelmed by the love and good wishes we received.

I’ve included links to a full video and a trailer of our Engagement below. Also included, is a link to a full video, and trailer to our Pre-Engagement Dala Exchange 🙂

Enjoy!

Our Engagement (full video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAp8QyZDcuM

Our Engagement (4 minute trailer):https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3OrerjTvLs

Our Pre-Engagement Dala Exchange (full video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gHZ1K4qCvs

Our Pre-Engagement Dala Exchange (trailer): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kp-H9L-pRp0

 

 

This Halloween I really wanted to transform myself with make-up, so Naveed and I decided to take on the role of a demented plastic surgeon, and his tortured/mutilated patient.

I took on the role of the patient, a bruised up, blood-stained, disfigured patient. I used absolutely nothing fancy for this look, nor did I do anything that is overly complicated. It was also super cheap.

Here’s what I did:

The bruises and the eyes:

I used a blend of four eye shadows, all from the same Coastal Scent eye-shadow palette from (88 colour palette). It’s an inexpensive palette, and it’s good for costume make-up or for when you need a color you seldom use at other times. Some of the colours are pigmented and great (such as the red) and some barely stain (such as the black).

The colours I used are the purple, blood red, black and royal blue and I only used my fingers. I started off my applying the black shadow on the inner corner of my eyes, under my eyes and on the top of my eye-lids. I then applied the blue and red eye shadows in the same areas, however when using the red eye-shadow, I blended it down to my cheeks. I blended it out futher using the purple and a little bit more of the black. I continued blending until I thought I had acquired a bruised-ish look.

The stitched up mouth:

This was actually quite easy to do. I started off by taking a black liquid eyeliner (Maybelline master precise) and drawing a smile that extends upwards from my lips. I also put a little bit of the eye liner on the center of my bottom and top lips. Next I applied a deep red lipstick (from Make Up Store) on my lips and smudged it unevenly with my fingers. This was all that was required for the base of the lips – it’s a messy look so just smudge it well and you’re good.

The next thing to do was to create the “stiches.” I took black threads, (thick, such as knitting threads) cut them up into 1.5cm to 2cm (1/2 inch) (approximate) pieces. I used eye-lash glue to stick them across my drawn on smile and (again, I did it unevenly). To make sure that I was still able to talk, eat and drink after I had done my makeup, I did not glue the threads across my actual lips. Each “stitch” was placed either on the top lip OR the bottom lip. For example, to create a stich above the lip, I used the end of a thin paintbrush to place a dot of eye-lash glue above the top lip line and on the top lip itself. I then used a piece of thread to connect the two dots.

Once the dots of eye-lash glue had dried, I applied a small amount of black liquid eye-liner and red body paint on those spots. This was to make them look more like wounds.

Finally, I cut up two small pieces of sticky bandage and put them at the ends of my drawn on smiles. I applied a small amount of red body paint, blended with a little bit of black liquid eyeliner to make it look like there was blood seeping out of the bandages.

The skin

As I had used my fingers to do most of my make-up, my hands had become rather messy by the end. Instead of washing them right away, I smeared the make-up that remained on my fingertips all across my face and blended it out. This gave my skin more of a gray (dead) look.

The neck:

I dropped a few drops of red food colouring on cotton balls, placed them on my neck and kept them in place by using a strip of sticky bandage. I then applied red body paint and red food colouring on the bandage itself to give it a bloody appearance.

The T-shirt:

I made this out of a $3.00 t-shirt, some (poster) watercolour, red food colouring and red body paint.

First, I tore up the t-shirt using a pair of scissors. There was no pattern here, I just randomly cut out bits and pieces.

For the colours: I used my fingers to smear bits of red, brown, and yellow paint across various parts of the t-shirt. I then applied water on those parts, bundled the t-shirt in a ball and really rubbed the surfaces together so that the paints blended and the t-shirt looked messy. I then took some red body paint, mixed it with some red food colouring and applied streaks of it across the t-shirt with a large paint brush (to give the look of fresh blood). I bundled up the t-shirt again and rubbed it so that the paints blended. I basically took a bunch of colours, mixed it together and had fun.

Naveed’s look:

His look was super easy and took 5-10mins to complete. I applied the blue, black, purple and red (small amount) eye-shadows under his eyes in order to give him dark circles. Next, I applied little dots of red body paint on the sides of his face on in order to give the appearance of dried blood splatter.

He had a facemask, on which I applied streaks and dots of red body paint to give the appearance of bloodstains. He also had a lab coat (he’s a chemical engineer, so he just had that stuff lying around), which I cut up and smeared red paint all over. I also covered the palm of my hand with red paint and dragged a print of my palm across the coat in order to make it look like a bloody hand had tried to grab onto the coat.

Finally, he put on a pair of disposable gloves. I applied drops of red food colouring on the gloves, which stained the gloves and made them appear bloody.

And that was it! We were ready to go

Dress: Nabila

In traditional South Asian clothing, the use of sequins, crystals, beading and metallic threads is extremely popular, especially in the case of evening wear. Although I generally love such detailing, sometimes, I feel like dressing up without the use of any garment or jewellery that’s flashy. This black and white anarkali is perfect for such times.

The georgette body of the dress allows it to drape and fall beautifully and its rich black colour is flattering on all body types. Traditional motifs have been embroidered all around the bottom of the dress, the chest and the ends of the sleeves with contrasting white threads.

The dress also comes with a long dupatta/ orna (scarf) that you can style in a variety of ways, so you wear the same dress on different occasions in different styles.

It’s also an extremely comfortable attire! It’s perfect for the times when you’ve had a busy day and have to dress up for an occasion but want a dress that keeps you comfortable.

Dress: Nabila

I decided to wear minimal jewellery and chose to pair the dress with black patent leather loafers. I know loafers and anarkalis are not a traditional pairing, but to me, the uniqueness of the pairing just makes it more appealing.

I’ve lately been receiving quite a few questions about the make-up that I use so I decided do a post about the products I use to achieve different looks. I’ve put the products in order of use and I’ve also added a little description for how I use them and their pros/cons.

This look is a little something I did for a spring time event (it’s just getting warmer here in Australia). I find this particular look to be great for the daytime as you look done up, but not overdone.

FACE (in order)

Primer: Laura Mercier – Radiance

I have dry skin so this product is great for me anyway, but for a ‘luminous’ look I could not imagine starting off my make-up without it. May not be the best for oilier skin types in the heat though

Corrector: Bobbi Brown – Dark Bisque

Essential for anyone with my skin tone that wants to cover dark circles. Pink/red tones cover blue so although it might look too ‘peachy’ in colour, if you apply foundation or concealer (of your skin tone) over it, it blends perfectly and covers the dark circles.

Foundation: Laura Mercier Silk Crème – Bamboo Beige

Light coverage and definitely not cakey, but it may not be the best for you if you’re trying to cover blemishes. I apply extra around the eyes to help blend the corrector and skip the concealer by doing so.

Translucent Setting powder: Laura Mercier

Yes, I’m a Laura Mercier fan. I love the fact that many of their products give light coverage. If you’re going for the dewy skin look, avoid excessive setting powder as it can give a matt finish. Another tip, wait a little after applying your foundation+corrector/concealer (so that it’s almost dry to the touch), otherwise more setting powder will stick to the wet areas and give you an even finish.

Contour Kit: Australis ­­– Light

This contour kit was such a bargain! It is almost exactly the as the Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour kit and comes in at less than ¼ of the price. Word of warning though, the powders are quite dark and pigmented. I had to go for the ‘light’ shade and I pretty much never do that in Australia. If you have very pale or fair skin, this may be too much for you.

Highlighter: Mac Minerlise Skin Finish – Soft Glow

I LOVE this product

I apply it under my eyebrows, bridge of my nose, cupid’s bow, on the cheekbones and in a reverse ‘C’ shape (from under the eyebrows to the top of the cheekbones). It’s super easy to apply!

Blush: Mac – Dollymix Sheertone Shimmer Blush

Only on the apples of the cheek but I blend upwards towards the cheekbones

EYES (in order)

 Eye-shadow: Maybelline – Expert Wear Natural Smokes and Mac Minerlise Skin Finish – Soft Glow

I use a small amount of the dark brown eye-shadow shadow from the Maybelline palette across the crease, and blend it very well with the shimmery Mac product, which I apply on the tops of my eye-lids. I use more of the shimmery shadow in the inner corners of my eyes for added shine in that area.

Eye-liner: Make-Up Store

The company is actually called Make-up Store and in my experience, they produce the most pigmented (black-est) eye-liner. Application is also very easy – feels like controlling a felt tip pen.

Mascara: Maybelline – Volum’ Express ‘The Falsies’

I have a range of mascaras that I often pick from and this is great for when I’m in a rush. This is because one coat is sufficient for a daytime look and it’s also easy to apply. I have, however, sometimes found little flecks of mascara on my face if I have this on for the whole day.

I also don’t apply false lashes on a regular basis. Yes, they look great but the thought of applying glue and fake hair on my eyes for a simple daytime event puts me off. I’m lazy.

Eyebrows: Maybelline – Expert Wear Natural Smokes

I usually just fill in my eyebrows with a little bit of dark brown eyeshadow with a flat brush (for the daytime look). Although bold brows look great in photos, no matter what time of day, I feel like if I go overboard, under direct sunlight they can look like they’ve just been drawn on.

LIPS

 Lip Liner: Bobbi Brown – Rose

I apply this on my lips under a variety of light coloured lipsticks. Gives my lips a nice pink undertone.

Lipstick: NARS Satin Lipstick – Niagara

Very smooth and I love the colour but it’s not the most long lasting lipstick out there.