Woman This Month - January 2023

Light and Breezy

We’re welcoming 2023 with a fresh wardrobe that emulates positivity. Draped in white and lighter hues by Cecilie Bahnsen, charms inspired by history and unique timepieces is the way to go forward for Farah Baig this year. We hope you find inspiration too!

The colour white has long been associated with the concept of purity and innocence. The very sight of the colour can have a positive, uplifting and calming effect on individuals. With the start of a new year, we decided to refresh our wardrobes with lighter hues to attract and emulate a positive outlook in 2023.

One of the most attractive collections which resonated with our goals was that released by Cecilie Bahnsen at her first runway show in the French capital at Palais de Tokyo. The collection brings her modern Scandinavian interpretation of Parisian couture fabrics and techniques. Structural silhouettes, delicate bows, a glowing sheen and fabrics that seemingly float make this a truly dreamy collection.

Stunning layered dresses and matching sets, as presented in the Cecilie Bahnsen collection, can be perfectly paired with delicate or statement making accessories alike.

The recently released watches by the A-list fine jewellery label, Jacquie Aiche, in collaboration with the innovative timepiece brand TIMEX, stood out in this regard. The limited-edition capsule collection designed with the intention of empowering women features three mineral-inspired watchesMalachite, Tiger’s Eye, and Lapis. From this collection, the watches with the pastel blue and

pink dials were a sure favourite in our books. Aside from the watches, Al Fardan Jewellery caught our attention with their capsule collection in collaboration with the Emirati jewellery brand Rahi. The simple, yet beautiful collection draws inspiration from the Emirates’ rich history and consists of intricately embellished charms and necklaces. The exquisite collection, which can be layered, combines Al Fardan Jewellery’s farmed freshwater pearls with the nostalgic charms from Roots by Rahi, set in gold, diamonds and enamel.

Victorious Women’s Forum

Manama Entrepreneurship Week

The Journey to Wellness

Fatema Majdi is a yoga instructor, mobility specialist, personal trainer and functional strength trainer in Bahrain. By sharing her journey as a fitness professional, Fatema has grown to be one of the Kingdom’s most loved health and wellness influencers. This month, she spoke to Farah Baig about her thoughts on body positivity, the benefits of yoga and the need to have realistic fitness goals.

Ever since she was 14, Fatema dreamt of being an interior designer but life guided her down a very different path. “I had moved to India for a year during which I worked in Baroda, Gujarat for six months before backpacking through Manali, Rajasthan, Goa and New Delhi for another six months,” she reminisces.

“When it was time for me to leave, I found out that I was an illegal worker and ended up being stuck for over a month,” she adds.

Fatema had never thought of yoga as a profession until she taught two of her roommates who felt elated after the experience. “I felt the same way after my first lesson, so when I understood that I could make people feel just as good it clicked. Yoga made sense for me and taught me that I wasn’t working out for the right reasons before and eased my path to health and fitness,” she says.

Previously, she never saw herself as the one conducting lessons which she believes may be due to people being conditioned into thinking that trainers are meant to look a certain way.

“The second class I attended in India was actually conducted by a very old couple who didn’t have the typical yoga body but they were doing headstands and everything. I thought to myself, ‘Why isn’t this marketed to show that it is more inclusive than you think?’ because it is accessible to all body types,” she says.

“When I first started teaching, I was approached by diverse people with all body shapes, sizes and genders who were relieved that a body that they

didn't expect to do yoga, does yoga,” she adds. When it comes to the narrative surrounding body image, Fatema believes people wouldn’t be unkind to themselves if they understood factors, such as genetics, which can affect the way their body looks. “I was shocked at some of the interactions that my followers had with people who were close to them too. It’s 2023, do we still have to go through this?” she says. “Encouraging people to have a positive relationship with their body, and more self-awareness is very important to me.”

“I also believe the perception that if a person is thin they are healthy has to change. People that are half my weight can have an unhealthy lifestyle and not have the best bloodwork,” she adds.

Pursuing yoga or attending fitness classes can be stressful for some people, but having a trainer that you connect with can ease the process.

“People are often surprised by how much their body is capable of and how it can progress,” she says, adding that benefits of yoga include a better posture, better breathing and attention.

“You don’t have to be flexible to do yoga because that’s one of reasons we’re there – to improve flexibility. I believe that people should be open, be realistic, have attainable goals that are periodical and understand that we all have a starting point. You can dream big, but break it down into goals that are sustainable because any movement is good movement,” she concludes.

To keep up with Fatema, follow @bohemianfatema.

FRIZZ-

If you’re just about done applying heat on your hair every day, the new year is the perfect time to reset your goals for healthy, natural hair. The natural haircare platform, The Hair Addict, offers sustainable products and tips with the goal of giving you a much-needed self-love and confidence boost, that you can achieve, maintain, and embrace the best version of your naturally textured hair.

An issue faced by most of the GCC community is humidityinduced frizz. The Hair Addict’s innovative Frizz-Off range, developed specially for the GCC, helps keep frizz at bay and maintains bouncy locks throughout the day and night, without compromising the hair’s texture.

We love the Frizz-Off Kit trio for cleansed, moisturised, and frizz-free hair. This shampoo, conditioner and leavein conditioner is the best combination to keep your hair looking healthy and beautiful while facing the humidity of the Middle East. With a formula enriched by a tropical papaya extract, moisturising panthenol (pro-vitamin B5), and nutritious macadamia oil, enjoy a relaxing shower without the worry of the pesky frizz with this allinclusive hair kit.

Available at thehairaddict.net.

A new year is finally upon us, and with it comes a renewed sense of self. If you’re hoping to spoil yourself and recreate your aesthetic, you’ll love these new products. There’s something for everyone to love, or everything for one person to love! So, Happy New Year from the beauty addicts at Woman This Month!

With every new season comes new trends, and this winter, there’s a couple to watch out for. Here’s how you can nail the bold blush look with the super versatile and international makeup brand, Milani.

The Milani All-Inclusive Eye, Cheek Face Palette features two blush shades that are perfect to experiment with for this look. It also has three eyeshadows, a bronzer, and a highlighter which you can also use to add some extra glam to your look. This richly pigmented, ultra-wearable palette is

a must-have!

The flushed look is always a heartbreaker, and this season you can use as much blush as your heart desires – the more the better! Near your temples, over the apples of your cheeks or under your brows, go crazy. Using multiple layers of blush to achieve this look is key, ideally with a cream blush as a base and then a powder blush on top.

Milani’s everyday luxe products are available on Glambeaute.com.

EYEBROWS GELLED TO PERFECTION

The beauty and skincare brand, Silke has announced the launch of an incredible product that your brows will love! Shape It Eyebrow Gel is a divine product that massively enhances brow texture. Silke created the tried and tested, brow gel that shape your brows and make them pop to magnify your natural beauty! The result is a beautifully natural effect that does not dry white, with no “gluey” residue.

Using castor oil which is nature’s most restorative ingredient, this gel will not deplete your brows, but will leave them

LIVING LARGE WITH YSL

smooth and revitalised. The best part about this eyebrow gel is that it’s perfect for just about everyone. It will tame the most rebellious brows and “fluff up” the thinnest!

Silke’s eyebrow gel is available on Amazon and Silke.ae.

There’s no such thing as too much of a good thing, and nothing resonates more with this statement than YSL’s latest limited edition - the Oversize Libre 700ML. This iconic 700ml bottle of the luxury fragrance is truly bigger, bolder and insanely couture. An ode to the sheer, extravagant Iuxury of freedom, Libre EDP means living by the couturier's motto ‘Tout, mais terriblement’ which translates to ‘Everything, but in excess.’ Interestingly enough, Libre is a freestyle take on the fougère, a classic style for men‘s fragrances. YSL Beauté‘s provocative move was to gender-bend it into a feminine scent. For Libre, fougère‘s key ingredients, Diva Lavender Heart and Lavandin Heart from France, have been customised exclusively for YSL to highlight their flamboyance. Enhancing the sensuality of the torrid orange blossom heart, Jasmine Grandiflorum Superinfusion from India and Vanilla Bourbon pure Jungle Essence from Madagascar were also re-tailored especially for the brand.

Each Oversize Libre 700ML is numbered and delivered with a certificate of authenticity because luxury has a signature: Yves Saint Laurent.

SKIN STORY’S TWO TO LOVE

The clean beauty brand, Skin Story, has launched two new premium products: their first vegan DRAMA Mascara and the 2-in-1 GROWTH Lash & Brow Serum. The two-piece collection uses the brand’s signature cruelty-free, ethically-derived, non-GMO and fragrance-free formulas, giving your eyes a clean beauty experience. Appropriately named DRAMA, the mascara delivers dramatic results; composed of castor oil for lash strength, peach leaf extract for hydration, and peptide for volume and lengthening benefits. The mascara protects against clumping, flaking, and smearing while delivering day-to-night wear with a nourishing formula. Not your typical mascara; DRAMA is made without harmful parabens or sulfates to deliver healthier and fuller-looking lashes. An instant lift and length on your natural eyelashes, the deep, jet-black hued mascara DRAMA is the perfect union of a brush and formula that provides buildable volume. The serum, which is named GROWTH, works to promote exactly as the product says it does with its formulation of peach leaf extract, peptides, biotin, and panthenol. GROWTH gives your brow and lash follicles the ultimate nourishment, growth, shine and strength.

Skin Story’s products are available at skinstory.me.

a Perfectionist When Your Child is

It’s a great thing when children set goals and standards for themselves, but what happens when your child is a perfectionist? This month, Ouiam El Hassani tells us about the different kinds of perfectionism and how we can best parent our perfectionist kids.

Does your child have impossibly high standards for themselves? Do they worry about disappointing their teacher, push themselves to the breaking point or internalise failure as something immovable within themselves? This impulse to make everything “right” is more common in kids than we might think.

As parents, we want to have high expectations for our kids, while also helping our children accept the imperfect and not be afraid to make mistakes. It is, after all, how we grow. However, for kids who have a tendency toward perfectionism—or who get angry when they make mistakes or feel frustrated when something isn’t correct, getting the message across that it’s okay to mess up sometimes can be tricky. But first, let’s understand what perfectionism in children looks like. Over the years, three types of perfectionism have been identified:

1. Internally Driven Perfectionism

This child’s perfectionism stems from their own expectations for themselves. They’re highly motivated and likely to get upset if there is even one mistake in their work.

2. Externally Driven Perfectionism

This child’s perfectionism is driven by external forces. They believe that their parents and/or teachers have extremely

high expectations for them. They are concerned that if they don’t do their best, then their parents will be disappointed in them.

3. Mixed Perfectionism

Children in this last category are a combination of the other two types. They are both hard on themselves and believe that their parents/teachers have high expectations for them.

Of course, having high expectations for a child isn’t inherently bad; however, when those expectations are tied to affection and warmth, the child comes to believe that their parents’ love hinges on their success. It raises the stakes for the child to the point that they link failure to irreversible damage to their relationship with their parents. Many children who are perfectionists are

likely to have perfectionist parents. If you see your own child picking up on your perfectionist tendencies, don’t be hard on yourself. It may be overwhelming to try to do everything “right” as a parent—but when you make a mistake, acknowledge it, learn from it and move on. Just as a child can pick up on negative traits, they can also pick up on positive strategies to mitigate them.

Perfectionism isn’t always a bad thing. Children who are perfectionists are most likely to be highly motivated, have strong problem-solving skills and have high selfefficacy, meaning that they tend to believe that they are likely to succeed when they confront an obstacle or task.

Parents of perfectionist kids have a big role in helping their children. These few steps can reap great results:

1- Be mindful of how you react to your child’s mistakes.

Do you signal your disappointment in your body language or in what you say to them? To help them approach difficult problems the best thing to do is reminding them that you’re there to support them.

2- Pay attention to how you praise your child.

Specific, process-oriented praise reminds children that mistakes are an opportunity to learn, rather than a sign of failure. When a child works on a puzzle, instead of saying, “You’re so smart,” try saying, “I love how you tried so many different combinations of pieces!” Not only is this much more specific, it also refers to the process of problem-solving. Praising intelligence, on the other hand, can lead children to believe that their success hinges on a trait. When they eventually fail (and they will, for sure!), their failure will threaten their view of themselves as smart. They’ll be less likely to take on challenges and less likely to persevere when a task is difficult.

them is unconditional. This is especially important for children whose perfectionism is externally driven. They may need reminders that even if they don’t do well, you’ll still love them.

It is a wonderful thing to have children who can set higher standards and goals for themselves in order to achieve success, the only problem that arises is when these goals are unrealistic. Happy parenting!

President’s Run

Under the patronage of HH Shaikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, First Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Council for Youth and Sports, Chairman of the General Sports Authority and President of the Bahrain Olympic Committee, the Annual AUBH President’s Run was held in partnership with the Ministry of Youth and Sports Affairs. The event aims to promote youth empowerment through the teaching of valuable life lessons through sportsmanship.

3- Remind your child that your love for

The Things We Don’t Say

THIRTY-EIGHT IS A STRANGE NUMBER

Farrah Saville opens up about turning the weird 3-8 while living as an expat.

I’ve just hit the triple whammy; I have turned 38, my child is now a fully-fledged toddler and I have moved countries.

Thirty-eight is weird. You see, when you are in your teens, and rollicking twenties you think by 38, and at least by motherhood you would have life figured out but here I am, still figuring things out.

Thirty-eight is a weird number because you aren’t quite in your forties but you are definitely no longer 30 and flirty. Society tells us that by a certain age you need to have certain things ticked off “the list”- two kids, a white-picket fence, and a dog named ‘Fluffy’ at certain intervals in life - but the reality is far different.

I did not think that at 38 I would be making new friends or evaluating old friendships and this is not quite the same as when you establish your trusted circle during your formative years. Partying, clubbing and going

out to eat during the week isn’t always a viable option with a three-year-old so making friends and meeting new people might be a little tougher.

The obvious thing is to make friends with other moms but moms are not just one big group of people lumped together and having children doesn’t automatically equate similar interests. Also, you seek quality over quantity because time is a big factor, which brings me to my next point.

In another aspect the number thirty-eight is strange because it’ll make you question how you intend on living your life in the years to come. Up until a certain point you think “you have time” and that you can put off many things to the next day, the next week or the next year but as you see 40 on the horizon you begin to truly question how much you can put off and how to prioritise the moment while still planning for the years ahead. this is only

exacerbated by being “settled” as an expat.

More significantly, by 38, I really thought I would have figured out the routine aspects of life and be one of those 5am risers who works out religiously, drinks my eight glasses of water a day and has a shot of wheat grass before heading to work energised, and recharged. I am still waiting for the day when I wake up smiling instead of groaning and rolling over as my alarm buzzes away. I am still figuring out a routine that works for me.

And while all this may sound like whining and moaning, believe me it’s not. What I am realising about 38 is that while it may be weird it is also a wonderful number, one that allows you to dissect, analyse and change. Mostly, it’s a chance to start again and again while figuring out what works for you and how to make it work for you.

Which musicians would we find on your playlist?

My playlist is pretty diverse, but at the moment I’ve been listening to a lot of Jacob Banks’ songs.

Name three things you never leave the house without. My phone (of course), a water bottle, and my wallet.

What’s your dream holiday destination?

Ireland is right at the top of my long list.

InHerShoes

The Woman This Month team has the pleasure of meeting incredible women across the Kingdom of Bahrain every month. This month, we caught up with the ever-sovibrant Areej Masri - the Marketing Executive at Porsche Centre Bahrain. Let’s take a walk in her shoes!

Any hobbies?

I love to read, and I love to play billiards.

How would you describe yourself?

I would describe myself as resilient and caring, and a little stubborn.

If you could have a superpower, what would it be?

Hands down, teleportation. To be able to go anywhere at the snap of your fingers is the dream. Telekinesis would be pretty fun too.

What do you believe is life’s greatest lesson to you?

I think the greatest lesson I’ve learned is that everything, the good and the bad, happens for a reason. It’s a hard to pill to swallow sometimes, especially because you don’t always know the reason – but I truly believe that there’s always a reason for whatever life throws at you.

What’s your favourite childhood memory?

My family and I once went to a fair that had games, activities and entertainment. It was one of those great family days that you don’t forget.

A movie you don’t mind seeing on repeat is…

I have a long list of those, but my top two are The Dark Knight and 10 Things I Hate About You.

Motoring

Hilton’s Block 44