Dear readers,

MCO is ending soon and I have to go back to the office and I am having mixed feelings about it. When the MCO first started, I felt like I was caged or a bird with clipped wings; how against nature it is for me to stay at home. There was not much work during the period and so I went a little nuts.

It started with me binge reading romance novels, to watching (not playing) Final Fantasy X & Final Fantasy X-II, playing Harvetmoon Back-to-Nature, Dream Day Wedding Series and FINALLY, I started to be just a little bit domesticated.

I started with spring cleaning my closet and dressing table to baking (just to let you know, I am a baking queen) to finally learning how to cook! Honestly, the Husband is the one who is very enthusiastic about cooking. Some of the dishes we made includes Tuscan Creamy Chicken, Lasagna, Teriyaki Chicken (we made our own Teriyaki sauce) and Salmon Teriyaki. For Salmon, we bought them at Tesco for about RM6 a piece! Thank you, Farah Najwa, for the tip! On a side not, Farah ate Salmon everyday during her confinement period and she told me that she got it for cheap from Tesco.

With my MIL, I learnt her recipe for Bread Butter Pudding and Apple Crumble. I also made Cream Caramel Pudding with the Husband. We tried two different recipes. On Mother's Day, as my mum is in Ipoh and I am in KL, we video chat to discuss Cream Caramel Pudding recipes and we made the same one that day while in different states. It was really fun!


Do let me know if you think I should cook anything and share the recipe here! I will share my favourite recipe for cream caramel pudding next!

Dear readers,

I think it's safe to say that every bride wants to look her best on her wedding day. Sorry to break it to you, bride-to-be, but THAT is no easy feat. There's more to wedding planning than venue, invites and catering. Your beauty prep timeline is also very important to ensure you look amazing and enchanting on your big day.

Having said that, I know that planning the wedding alone is already stressful, so think about your beauty prep as a way to relax and unwind. I know I had so much fun and felt so good doing my bridal beauty prep and when I accompanied my sister for hers as well!

I am writing this on the fourth week of the Movement Control Order (MCO) period because Mai asked me to blog but not about the MCO. So here's a brief recap about what happened just a few days before the MCO: My sister, Syuhada, got married! Alhamdulillah and congratulations.

Anyway, it got me to thinking about what I should write about and I thought, why not write about the things my sister and I did to prep her for her wedding! It's fun and something joyous to share during this troubled times. And some of the things can be done at home too! So have fun and enjoy!

1. Eat Healthy

I did not have any kind of diet routine for my wedding but my sister did have one for hers. The reason is because my metabolism rate is really high and also I have the opposite of stress-eating. So when I am stressed out, I lose my appetite. This is very unhealthy. So instead, I'm going to share my sister's diet.

As a Muslim, it is sunnah for us to fast on Mondays and Thursdays, so my sister did that. It's also a great way to do Qada' fasting. She actually woke me up one morning to sahur with her so I fasted too. Thank you, Syuhada.

"I went on a healthy diet - no sweet drinks, reduced my coffee intake and drink lots of water," says Syuhada. It's about being healthy because you would feel good when your insides are well taken care of.

By the way, Dr. Syuhada is a Medical Officer in the Hepatology ward. Lol.

2. Workout

Again, I did not have any kind of workout routine for my wedding. However, at that time, I was regularly playing futsal for my college, so I was super fit and healthy.

But for my sister's wedding, we were both already working. So after office hours, I would head to her place and we would do a bunch of workout videos together especially Blogilates' Bridal Bootcamp. We also did lots of cardio and worked out the sweat.

"I would do 10 - 20 minutes workouts that targets specific body parts and also 20 - 30 minutes run on the treadmill," my sister adds.

I think it's important to stress that when we say workout, it doesn't mean get skinny. It means get healthy. Your wedding day is a long day and you need the stamina to get through it and looking super amazing in your dress is just an added bonus!

3. Face

Some of us are lucky and already have great skin. So if you are the lucky few, you just want to maintain it. Do not do anything weird or try new things. There's a reason your skin is amazing, do not change your regime. Alhamdulillah, I too am the lucky few. So for me, I just went to Sothys and did their Lifeline Energizing Intensive Treatment and Hydra3ha Intensive Treatment on alternate weeks.

If you have major skin concerns like acne and uneven pigmentation, it’s best to get the situation under control well in advance. Visit your dermatologist or skin therapist and device a plan for you to get gorgeous.

In preparation for her wedding, my sister did facials almost weekly starting from two months before the wedding. The reason is because she broke out a lot before the wedding. She went for different types of facials at different places including Hannan Medispa, Herbaline, Wiwinmakes and Banyan Spa. She did extraction, peel and oxygen therapy as well as many other things to achieve that bridal glow.

Just make sure you do not do any extractions or anything extreme from one to two weeks before the wedding because some things require downtime for recovery. Don't go overboard with the treatments either, because flare-ups post-facials are likely.

Other than going to facials, your daily beauty regime is also very important. If you’ve been slacking on your skin routine, now is the time to start incorporating a more strict system. Cleanse, tone, moisturise and wear masks everyday. And don't forget to put on sunscreen every morning.

I will be blogging about my daily skin regime soon!

4. (S)pa-rty / Body


Okay. It doesn't have to be spa-rty, but we did have one! So for Syuhada's bachelorette party, we went to Ozmosis Health & Day Spa in Bangsar for the Classic Bridal Shower. There were 6 of us and Ozmosis prepared EVERYTHING including the decorations.

Syuhada and I also headed to Hammam Spa, Publika for some hammam and gomage. Every time I go, I would feel super clean and my sister felt the same way. Rasa macam tak pernah mandi sebelum ni.

There are so many other body treatments you can do. A more traditional one would include a full body massage and a floral bath. Both my sister and I have never done that but we really wish we did. Our problem was we didn't have enough time to do so much. Although, I did have the traditional Malay massage before my wedding. And it hurts! Well, beauty is pain and no pain no gain.

Planning the wedding is a lot of pressure and you need to de-stress for the wellness of your mind, body and soul. Going for body treatments is just one of the many ways you can relax and unwind.

5. Hair

Evaluate your hair needs. What style are you wearing? Try it out a few weeks before and make sure your hair is ready to be styled on the day.

My sister and I wore the hijab on our wedding day but you have to still take care of your hair. About two weeks before the wedding, my sister joined Jasyu, Mai and I at Hairkunist Hijabis, Melawati Mall after work to do our hair. It was actually an impromptu thing. Jasyu was there, colouring her hair, so all of us met up and did ours too. We did a scalp treatment to ensure we have healthy scalp and hair.

I also went to the salon for a hair wash the morning of my wedding. My makeup artist was so happy because she wanted to do an updo beneath my hijab so the veil would sit perfectly and due to the hair treatment, it was so much easier for her to style my hair. Win!

6. IPL Hair Removal & Waxing

I understand different people prefer different things such as shaving, waxing or IPL/Laser Hair Removal. If you are shaving, I recommend you do it the night before so that you do not have any stubbles from growing hair. For waxing, it is advisable for you to wax 72 hours before to ensure you do not have any redness due to irritation. If you're doing IPL/Laser, you should start about a year before as you have to go monthly and it only becomes permanent after many sessions. Cost wise, of course shaving is the cheapest followed by waxing at a salon which can be around RM200 - RM300. IPL is very costly. Laser is even more expensive. So, yeah, it's your budget and your choice.

My personal experience before the wedding, I never shave. Instead, I wax except for my underarms and upper lip which I started with laser and now I do IPL. Laser for upper lip and underarms cost me about RM700 per session. Also note that I did my laser with a very reputable cosmetic surgeon who is a Founder Member and Past President of the Malaysian Association of Plastic Aesthetic & Maxillofacial Surgeons (MAPACS) from a private hospital which is also why it was very expensive.

My first brazilian wax was a week before the wedding at STRIP Solaris Dutamas which cost me RM120. After that I continued at STRIP KLCC because I always go to KLCC.

Honestly, waxing hurts so much more than IPL and I am so glad I have stopped waxing and changed to IPL for everything but it does hurt the bank account. My first brazilian IPL was with STRIP KLCC and it was very expensive for a package of 7 sessions. However, I have now changed to Japan IPL Express and it can be really cost effective. For underarms, I paid RM99 for 12 sessions as they had this promo last year. That's RM8.25 per session!

A reminder for all of brides-to-be, please wax your fingers! I actually did not before the merisik and I am forever regretting that when I see the photos! But thank God for photoshop. My sister waxed her hands along with doing her nails.

7. Nails

Before you go ahead and do your manicure, you need to first determine what is the colour of your henna. If you are wearing white henna, then yes. Go ahead and do your mani pedi and I recommend French manicure to go with the look. My sister opted for this.

However, if you are wearing the traditional red henna, only have your nails cut and filed and clean your cuticles before henna but do not have all the oils and buffing on your nails. Your pretty buffed fingernails will not hold the henna. The henna won't stick so it would look blotchy and ugly. This has happened to my friends. Luckily for me, I did not have time to do my nails before my wedding. So my henna turned out perfectly.

8. Lash Lift

For Eid 2018, I learnt about lash lifting. I was very amazed by it because it's our natural eyelashes and there's no adding of synthetic things. I have done about 5 lash lifts and it gets better and lasts longer every time. I pushed my sister to do lash lifts in 2019 and she absolutely loves it too!

So about a week before her wedding, I managed to fit us in for a last minute lash lift appointment. It lasts about a month (or three in my case, after 5 sessions) but it's most gorgeous when it's freshly done. So set your appointment within the same week as your wedding for the best results.

9. Teeth


Your smile is one of the most important aspects of your bridal look—just think of how much you'll be grinning in all the wedding photos! So it's very important for you to get that sparkling smile just in time.

You should start by checking in with a professional. You should have a frank discussion with your dentist about what's making your teeth look dull and what you can do to get that gleaning grin. In high school, I wore braces for about 2 years and so my teeth is quite even. My orthodontist is Dr Eddy Ong of Ong Dental Surgery, Ipoh and his schedule is always FULL. I went to the clinic and told the receptionist that I really didn't mind any dentist as they have my full history on record but they gave me Dr Eddy anyway who did not charge me to clean my teeth as a wedding gift! I feel so blessed! My sister did the same for her wedding as well.

Teeth whitening is a bit costly (around RM1,000 - RM2,000) so opt for scaling (cleaning) if you don't have the budget. The Husband didn't go to the dentist but he used a special whitening toothpaste for that pearl white teeth.

While teeth whitening is often essential for showing off your whitest smile in your wedding photos, you should choose a method that works best for you—that means assessing any existing dental damage and consulting your budget.


10. Internal Beauty - Faith & Emotions

We’re living in a time where people are obsessed with planning the perfect wedding instead of planning for a perfect marriage. We should remember that a wedding is just one day – whereas marriage is for the rest of your life.

Before marriage, we have to go through a wedding crash course, kursus kahwin. I did a thorough research on the places that give the best course and for two days, I actually learnt a lot! I know a lot of people go through the course just for the sake of getting the certificate but that should not be the way. Put some heart in finding the suitable course for you and open your heart and mind when you listen to the lectures. The Husband and I practice some of the advise we received at the course even to this day.

The prayer of Istikhara (solat Istikharah) should also be undertaken in the selection of your spouse, asking Allah's guidance in choosing. I remember the clarity I felt after I did the prayer and I knew in my heart that The Husband is truly the one for me.

The reality is that marriage comes with some difficulties and some trials, so it is important that the we recognize the importance of comprehensive marriage preparation.

Hope this list helps!