Velvet Royalty

For those of you who don't know, apart from my full-time job as brand manager, I'm also a freelance designer. I love designing my own clothes, mostly party wear. I have had 3 showcases- 2 in Bahrain and one in India where I managed to sell most of my creations. I take orders from clients and custom- make garments to suit my customers.

Moving on to my outfit here, this elaborate full- circle skirt is meters and meters pure organza that I designed for my graduating show in college. I didn't want to sell this beauty,as the skirt was part of the showstopper outfit for my show. If you follow me on instagram, you know that I've over-used this velvet cropped top that I recently got stitched. I wear it with everything! Over dresses, mini skirts and even lehengas! Follow me on instagram @askthestylecouncil to see the ways I styled the top.

I will be making more crop tops and more elaborate ones to suit a few occasions that I have lined up. I also love how this look is so wearable to weddings and festive events. The full-ness of the skirt is extravagant enough without being heavily embroidered and an over-the-top necklaces acts as the bling factor! I personally love huge skirts and cropped top combos, what about you?

Cropped Top and Skirt: Ashwathy Shyamkumar, Necklace: Oasis, Bag: Bombay

My Davine's hair treatment experience at Gloss

 I  have a love- hate relationship with my hair. Some days, I love it and some days I want to chop them all off. And on days when I’m loathing my locks, Gloss knows how to take care of them.

After having my lowlights done by Nabil at Gloss, which I loved, by the way, and I know you guys did too, I recently had the Davine’s hair treatment. Now before I explain what exactly happens with the DHT, let me tell you how incredibly busy my week had been. I’ve recently been given some extra responsibility at work and with extra responsibility comes extra stress. And with stress comes hair fall and break outs.Yes, I’ve had a zit on my cheek and my head is throbbing with getting around all the new information I’m taking in. While it does give me a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day, I do however feel the need of a good massage, and the DHT is  like a massage and hair care treatment that is perfect if you feel my pain.

I was welcomed by my favorite hair expert Nabil and the other friendly staff at Gloss Salon and Spa. Nabil started off by analyzing my hair. We came to the conclusion that my hair was dry and needed some moisture and shine so he chose the Nourishing range of Davine’s treatment set. Jane then spent a good few minutes massaging the shampoo into my hair and leaving it for about 10 minutes for the product to sit. The foam on my scalp was an amazing, ice- cooling sensation-it felt like ice and mint and something that I really needed that afternoon. Jane then conditioned my hair after which it was time for the serum. My hair was sectioned carefully so that the droplets were massaged well into my scalp. Nabil says that this procedure helps to nourish the hair follicles.

After the amazing treatment, I felt so relaxed and walked out with my scalp feeling cold and my hair smelling and feeling fantastic. I highly recommend this treatment if you're feeling stressed out or simply need some hair pampering! 

Please keep in mind that this is not a chemical treatment. However, you start to see/ feel the difference on your hair after 3 or 4 treatments. The products are even available to purchase . The shampoo and conditioner retails at around 7 BHD each and the serum is 23 BHD.I  recommend a personal session with Gloss first before you buy.

For more information visit wwwglossbahrain.com or call 17826030.Alternatively, you can follow @glossbahrain on instagram .

Jeepers Creepers

Now that October is coming to an end and everyone seems to be working on a lot of Halloween posts, I thought I'd do one myself. Something wearable of course. This fool-proof color combination is easily related to the spooky month, but it is, in-fact, a great color combination. Then again, anything paired with black is.
Moving on, I didn't want to draw the attention away from the dress and the cardigan worn back-ways, so i paired nude shoes and a blush colored hand bag. A pop of a contrast color was very much needed, hence the necklace. While pink would work well too, I though purple was more appealing.

On a different note, I have a late Diwali post coming up, so stay tuned for that plus the reveal of my shoot with Devji and a hair treatment review!

Dress and Cardigan : Zara, Bag and Necklace: Iam, Shoes: Mango

Jungle Fever

I love playing match, , and I mean mix and match, not color blocking, but sometimes when you don't really know how to mix and match, you could end up with a risky look. Especially when you're trying to keep your outfit more work appropriate, it's tricky to get the colors right.  Here are a few Do's and Don'ts when fusing colors for an outfit:

• Do:
• Work with a base color or a print and then work upwards.
• Opt for solid colors to pair together.
• Keep the printed piece central to give an illusion to keep the viewer's eye level vertical.
• Work with the same color family and keep them complimentary.

• Don't:
• Wear too many colors.
• Mix too many prints. One is simple and enough. If you must, mix only 2 prints that sit well with each other.
• Wear boring shoes.Use accents of the print to match your accessories.

Blouse, Blazer, Jeans and Bag: Mango, Shoes: Shoe Citi

Fallen

 Since we can’t really dress up for fall in cute dresses and riding boots with cozy cable knit scarves, here’s a more middle-east weather apt look to sport at the moment.

I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again, lightweight scarves are a great layering piece because you can take them off when ever you want and don’t have to worry about being too warm in them. I paired this gorgeous printed infinity scarf with a dress that’s about 3 years old and has been sitting in my closet collecting dust. I love the idea of denim vests for a more rustic look and because riding boots would look ridiculous if I wore it out in this heat, I opted for burgundy peep toe ankle boots instead. Burgundy and Navy is one of my favorite combinations and I cannot stop leaning towards these hues. They’re great for Indian skin tone and really bring out a very warm fall look, even if you’re wearing linen!

That’s the trick , wear something breathable, but in fall colors- Forest green, Navy, Oxblood, Mustard and Black are my top colors ATM. What are yours?

Dress, Belt and Cuff: Mango, Bag and Bracelets: Accessorize, Shoes: Shoe Citi, Scarf: I am

Swing It

 I've fallen in love with a new silhouette, and it's the swing shape. Its easy, comfortable and extremely chic. Worn on it's own or thrown over cropped leggings, Swing dresses have taken over my wardrobe. It started with a black zipper swing dress that I grabbed on sale at Zara, which you may have seen on my IG account. I then went ahead and ordered this parrot green version from ASOS and now, my favourite from the lot is this bottle green swing dress from F21! That wont stop me from buying more or wearing the ones I currently have repeatedly! I cannot wait to layer these up when the weather gets cooler. A crisp white shirt underneath or paired with tan riding boots and cable knit tights would be perfect. Yes. Winter, Do come soon.

Another item I cannot get enough of is this mini structured Philip Lim look alike. The bag. This precious tote has been used for a whole month now and is still in mint condition. Hmm, Looks like  I might have to buy all the colors available in store!

Bag and sunglasses: Mango, Leggings: Camaieu, Shoes: Zara, Necklace: Accessorize, Cuff: Anna Dello Russo for H&M

TSCT collaborates with Daily Tribune

As some of you may already know, I now have a weekly style column in a local newspaper, Daily Tribune. 2 Articles have already been published and the third will be out the next Sunday.

As a lot of you send me emails and Facebook messages on style tips or general questions on clothing where to purchase etc, I thought this would be a great opportunity to answer some of your questions! So simply leave your comments or email me on topics that you’ll like to discuss and I can schedule this in my articles.

Below is the link to the E version of the paper! Happy Reading , and watch out for my column every Sunday.

Ashwathy Shyamkumar for Daily Tribune

Baby Blues

 While our team finished shooting for this look and I  was browsing through the contact sheets for image selection, I realized I didn't love these metallic snakeskin pumps with the otherwise pale color palette of my look.I always prefer pairing my pastels with neutral colors and I don't know why I even picked these metallic pumps. Nude would work better or even pink, which reminds me, I don't have many pink shoes in my closet. Tsk.
Moving on, my eldest sister is here with her 3 adorable children and I love how noisy the house has become with all the high pitched howls, nursery- rhyme singing and the occasional shouting. And even though my darling niece thought it would be fun to sweep the floor with my make up brushes and use my Dior hydra cream as an all-over body moisturizer, I love her to bits and cannot image the thought of parting with her and my two nephews again.  Of course I'm going to miss my sister too and what's even worse is my second sister will move out of the country for good soon, too.
Sigh. I've been blue and I need new shoes.

Jeans- Dickenson Jeans, HOBBS,  Bag- Mango, Bracelets- Monsoon Accessorize, Blouse- Miss Selfridge, Shoes- Dune