Sapna’s Mallorca Trip, Monikh Dale’s Lip Combos & Team Fashion Finds From H&M, Zara & Mango... | SheerLuxe Podcast

0:00On this episode of the Sheer Likes podcast, we discuss Monique's hack that you need to take to Taylor. Can you make a bag out of the excess? She was like, yeah, WhatsApp me pictures. WhatsAppped her pictures. I found a bag, like showed her all different angles. And then I picked this up yesterday. Plus, if you've got an Indian wedding coming up, this is where you need to go. Arshney & Co. in Westbourne Grove. Lovely. It's stunning. I mean, like they've got like such an incredible selection. You walk in, it's like Sabia Sachi everything. The Bollywood films we grew up loving. Bend It Like Beckham 2 has been announced.

0:27Yes! I'm so excited. I know it's so cliche, but it's genuinely one of my favourite movies. Thus we answer your dilemmas. It's a very good one. Enjoy.

0:43Welcome to the Sheer Likes podcast with me, Satna. Today I am joined with Monique Dale and Billy Bhatia for a very exciting episode. We're going to chat through all the usual new and noteworthy fashion finds, our favourite beauty products. but also it's South Asian Heritage Month so obviously we're going to have some chat about that too but before we kick off I'm going to announce our giveaway winner this is the winner of the Beauty Effect competition and the winner is I feel like we need a drumroll Sophie Willis 25573 Sophie all you need to do is write in the comments or email podcast and we'll arrange that for you so thank you so much for entering before we kick everything off we're going to go through outfits that's how we start off every pod so Monique do you want to run us through what you're wearing today?

1:24okay so i love lazy luxury yeah i'm lazy luxury fan yeah love super basic but like elevated yeah so the coat is the row of course so gorgeous i was thinking about this this morning it's signature but i used to get such a good discount at the row and that's why like i could build my wardrobe yeah anyway the last place that gave me the discount has just cut it so we'll just see what happens But this was on discount. It was fantastic. So this is a row. The vest is St. Agni. Their base sticks are amazing. The trousers, my toe. I've got them in white. I wear them to death. And then flip-flops are the row.

2:01But I mean, you could just wear Havianas. Where's this little necklace from? Oh, this is like, I think it's Bagabita. Bagabita. Oh, yes. I wear it all the time. I've had it for a few years. I just feel like the red complements my skin tone. Yeah, you're really good with that color. I feel like it's like warm. I like associate that color with it. thanks babe it's like rusty red which we were talking about before about like makeup have you tried anything rusty yet? no I need to do some like toasted teddy road I think that's what I'm wearing today are you? yes that's my favourite I'm so pinky but I want to be more rusty honestly especially in summer when you're a bit more brown I feel like you're really compliments I do think I've got blushed blindness today so I apologize no it's gorgeous it's more pinky it's always very pinky I love it but Billy what are you wearing today?

2:44contrary to Monique in head to toe the road I am in head to toe ASOS lovely ASOS mainline ASOS Arrange barrel jeans I live in these they're the best and then just some June chunky suede sandals and these are my favourite silver earrings they're by by Olona I don't know what are you wearing I am wearing a sleeper set which I found on net in the sale which is lovely I basically saw it on Jennifer Lawrence and I was like that's amazing and then I was like doing research to find out where it was and another publication had posted it literally at the same time I was like oh my god I need to buy it straight away I literally fell for the thing like this is now in the next sale and I was like right instantly buying um but it's so comfy it is giving pajamas but no it's so nice and then just my Zara like mule flats which I have been wearing literally every day it's just like the perfect shoe for at the moment where I don't really want my toes out because it's a little bit wet still but it feels summer and then just my earrings earrings let's go to new and noteworthy this is where we chat about basically things that we've seen things we're loving at the moment billy what's your new new and noteworthy um okay i've got two i had a really really really delicious lunch at mount street restaurant i saw that i'm very jealous i took my mom and dad my dad was uber brat and ordered the lobster pie which is like their signature dish but i mean sadly i do have a shellfish allergy otherwise i would have like dug right in because it looked delicious and it comes with like this massive like lobster claw in the top and anyway it's very shoozy and beautiful but the restaurant is owned by the same people that own house and worth gallery so you're surrounded by like original artworks there's like original warhol picasso like i think the art is worth more than the entire building where is it um it's on it's on mount street okay and beneath it is a really nice pub the audley so like go for a couple of pints there like have some lovely food have a couple more pints after yeah it's a nice way to spend right day it's on my list is it new it's no it's been I feel it's been there for like a year maybe a little bit longer but it's um I hadn't been at the weekend and it's just really relaxed at the weekend it's quite like it's quite busy in a businessy way in the week but like for a leisurely lunch for special occasions it's not like it's quite expensive but for a special occasion it's it's very very nice when I saw on your story it was giving me like autumn's calling like it's feeling like it's stunning I mean yeah like a pie on a Saturday lunch is quite punchy it was like a rainy weekend and did you guys feel that as well because like I'm loving summer and I want the like bright evenings and whatever but this weekend when it was a bit rainy or the weekend before whatever I was like oh I'm actually kind of excited I really want a duvet day yeah and I feel like you just can't in the summer because you're too guilty I agree I'm a home girl I love being at home I love being I never I never go to anything I'm always like Mum do you want to get dinner Mum do you want to get lunch Mum do you know this She's like no babe I'm at home I'm like okay If anyone doesn't know You can only reach her On two days of the week Yeah only two days Literally only two days Of the week I'll leave the house And it has to be For like breakfast or brunch Yeah Maybe a lunch Yeah But otherwise I'm not leaving the house I love the boundaries Like genuinely I aspire to be like that It just makes me happier I know my boundaries now I know what I can like deal with.

6:01I think there's so few people that can get away with it, but because everyone adores you so much, they're like, fair, so fine, Mon, I'll come to you. Yeah, exactly. I was like, Mon, I'll drive, I'll come to you. Yeah, can you come south? You want to go east? Well, how about central? Yeah, I just, I love being inside. And I feel like I really enjoy autumn dressing more. I feel like I'm really autumn today because it's raining outside. You can just like layer so much more. Yeah. More interesting. Yeah, I agree. What's your new notebook? Oh, right. so like food food like you i went to jackson boxer yeah oh yeah it was amazing it was for the dear francis event um but everything just looks so chic you know like you want to go somewhere i know it's not just for the show to like instagram but you want to be able to take a nice picture anyway so but you want the food to be delicious and i feel like this tick both boxes is so what what did you got what have you guys eaten there there was just everything they did like a platter over everything so like the eggs were amazing like everything that's basic yeah but elevated elevated it just tastes so good and apparently apparently the lunch is even better it's like fried eggs with sage and i think a tiny bit of turmeric on the eggs and then they do them with what looks like i mean in honor of south asian heritage it looks like a pranta like it's like um really yeah it's like that sort of pastry bread situation and they do these amazing crispy potato rosti's like really chunky wedged potato rosti is what else i mean i've you're making me so hungry yeah i know i was just like i need to go there it's so good but like to your point about taking a nice picture of breakfast i saw this um i think it was wall street journal they did a thing how like we've lost the casualness of instagram like we've lost the sort of spontaneous like post of a you know everyone like it was the heart in your latte which was like bang post bang and now everything's so curated it has to be this like serviceable thing where it's a beautiful reel of like you know motivational words yeah super aesthetic yeah like everyone's so conscious of it being this thing like we've lost actual main thrust of what social media was which was sharing the like spontaneity of your life so take more pictures of eggs guys for me that's what tiktok is though true i feel like that's i think it's it's less because it's like a general thing and more because we've got all these different platforms that each thing is for something a bit different.

8:22Like TikTok is for that like ad hoc, like random, like don't even think about it. Just stick the phone up and it's FaceTime. And then Instagram is a bit more like your aesthetic feed. Yeah. I like having the two different ones now. Luckily Jackson Boxer does both very well. That was so good. And then after that, I went to Realization Park. Yes. I went there last week. So beautiful. It's so nice. I saw that when you went to Sapna, they've got like a photo booth now. Yes. Yeah. It's the booth by Bryant, which is like that viral one on TikTok, which all the like influencers were getting their photos.

8:51And it's like that really aesthetic, like black and white. Oh, like filmy. Yeah, filmy filter. I want to go, where is it? Is it opposite Totem? You went there the other day. Oh, it's on Mount Street. Yes. Yeah, it is. Wow. We'll go there. Then we'll go for lunch. A lot of stuff happening there. Yeah. Great. Yeah. Then we'll take some cute pictures in the photo. My new noteworthy this week is I went to Mallorca this weekend and it was just glorious. to be fair the first day i was saying this yesterday everything went wrong for me like travel logistics like every little thing that could have gone wrong went wrong and i was like mercury is definitely in retrograde and then i checked and it was it is yeah no one believes me about this like do you guys believe in this kind of stuff my agent lucy who's also aussie whenever i'm like oh lucy this happened she'll tell me all about moon all the stars everything and i believe it when other people tell me yeah like i'm into it i just don't know enough i don't know that much about it but that specifically like it's happened to me a few times when like this day like what is going on with this day like everything's going wrong and I was like is it and then I google it and it is it's nice to know it's not me yeah that's what I mean like I don't know if I fully like believe all of it yeah but it's so pleasant isn't it to be like not my fault it's not my fault it's mercury yeah because it's all about energy isn't it it really is and it's like the like the way that mercury turns and like the certain energy that comes to earth and that's why things go wrong because it was everything like technological.

10:08It was like the plane was delayed and then this was wrong and the passport machine wasn't working and then the baggage thing, like every little thing went wrong. Oh, wow. And then like the tunnel closed so we couldn't get to the part of the island we were meant to go to. It's stressful. Like one thing after the other. But then the next day we woke up and it was like sun shining, beautiful day. We went to, so I was staying at Hotel Corazon, which is like a bucket list. I've been wanting to go there. I'm dying to go there. We haven't been there. No, it's on my list. I don't think you can take kids, can you?

10:34No, you can. There were kids there. Can you? There definitely were kids there, yeah. It was so beautiful. It's, like I said, a bucket list place. I've always wanted to go. So when like a room was there, because they book up so quick. It's very small. Right. So I was checking a lot. And then finally one came up. It was like, book. So we were there for two nights. And yeah, it's beautiful. The food's amazing. Just the atmosphere, the view, everything. Oh, I really want to go. Yeah. So even if you go for a lunch or dinner, it's so worth it. And so that's in Dea. And we like went to Dea Town. We also went to Soyer, which is really close by as well for dinner.

11:02and then uh we went to belmont residencia i think it's called they're totally booked up all there yeah i'm trying to get it for next year it's so lovely i mean we only went for lunch and they really kindly hosted us and it was the most amazing lunch they have this like charcoal oven thing so all the meat they cook in it and it just has this like really nice like smoky flavor which i love delicious it's like very chill like where we ate was just by the pool and yeah it was just perfect and you can just walk around like it's huge and the thing i really want to do is they have this like um olive tree orchard and you can buy a tree and like they put your name on it and then like they top you up with a bottle of olive oil like every time you need it they just send it to you how amazing is that i did not look into how much that was um so i haven't done that quite yet million yeah no but there's so many so i feel like maybe it's not that bad we'll see maybe it's a nice birthday present yeah no that's pretty cool did you did you just cab around yes you didn't drive we didn't drive every time like i've only gone twice and both times charlotte who goes literally seven times a year it was like you need to get a car and i'm like no i want i like we want a drink so like i want to get a car but this last time we went we were like we really should have got a car it's easier and taxis are expensive are they and it's really hard especially if you're in dale so yeah if you're in the town it's really hard to get one to get back to wherever you're going obviously at a hotel they can organize it to take you somewhere but to come back it's not really the same thing so i would recommend getting coffee okay good to know um but yeah so beautiful and then the last night we stayed in palma at this hotel called portea which i actually saw nori um anna stayed at a few weeks ago so i was like oh if she's there she's got good taste and that was so lovely it's sort of like it's in a random street it looks it's very like so house where you are like where is it like how can you find it and then once you find it it opens up into this like amazing courtyard the rooms are like really simple but really pretty like i think it's the kind of place that if you're staying there for a long time it's a really good place to stay because it's got like a little kitchen and it's like the layouts are really nice because they're broken up we have to have a kitchen when we go away now especially having two like just being able to like make their dinner my little girl will make her dinner now and then we'll go out for dinner together and she'll have dessert oh so it's nice because like you get to like do things as a family not rush it so much yeah but it's nice to be able to make that for her before and not be stressed yeah so I feel like a kitchen we have to have I'm definitely going to look at that yeah definitely and there's like a nice rooftop thing.

13:23It's very chill. It doesn't feel like a hotel. It almost feels like a service department, but it is a hotel. Yeah. So yeah, really nice vibe.

13:33But let's move on to our fashion finds. What are you guys loving at the moment? Anything in your basket? I actually went and did a high street haul the other day, which is, I feel like I've not done that for ages. And Zara had some really nice new bits in. And I got this brown linen, like quite oversized top because me and Zara normally are not friends. In shopping, I find their sizing's like kind of crazy. But this was, it was like a very oversized, very loose brown linen top. And it's got elasticated hair so you can put it down, wear it off the shoulder. That was really lovely. And they've got a great pair of Miu Miu dupe suede brown trainers.

14:11Oh, good. Yeah, that's what I thought Saskia had on. Yeah, there are some good dupes of that on the high street. yeah so Saskia's are from Stradivarius I've also seen some on Bershka but like all of those like brands have some good you don't want to invest H &M also had some really lovely bits in they had this really nice like dusky pink like chiffon set like a skirt and a top that was really really sweet and they had this really great actually I picked it up and I'm gonna make it into a top rather than a dress but it's like a white mini dress with like brodery brodery detailing and like really big for us like it's quite dramatic but I'm gonna cut the sides and wear it more like a tunic-y thing that's very very yeah beam on it saw your face light up then I love like when people like buy stuff and they like just tailor it here and there to make it work for them I think it's so clever yeah I feel like that's more like styling and exciting than just like wearing the pieces as is I feel like it's super cool I just would never wear like a shift dress mini I do this with loads of my clothes I just cut the sides re-hem it and then it's like it is more like a tunic-y piece that you can wear yeah wear over stuff and also I feel like it's nice to wear those like tunic-y longer lengths with trousers yeah like me and my little girl especially she runs around she copies me all the time that's so cute it's so cute she's like really sweet I'm gonna see what you wear first and then I'll wear after um so yeah at the moment we're really into dresses and trousers so I feel like it's a vibe yeah having that length yeah yeah that is adorable that's really cute so in my wish list I love Lissette at the moment have you guys got anything no but I always look yeah you've got such nice pieces it's so simple so simple it's all like really like basic but in like gorgeous like cottons and like other fabrics but just really simple shapes and like layered and I feel like they're the pieces that I wear the most and at the moment it's the Kyoto pan it's like slightly barreled like pockets slightly like cargo vibe um but I've got them in navy and pink and they've just bought them out in brown and I feel like the brown is so chic for autumn I've seen them on your insta I keep posting them I need to get them because I just bought um this bright orange jumper and I feel like the orange with the brown will be really cool together yeah so that's on my list and then I did have a new suede bag on my list but I got my tailor to make me one stop it that's so smart well I had this suede skirt this is what she made for me I mean I probably shouldn't put too much stuff in it but it's so cute how chic is it so I had this really long like column skirt and I'm only five foot one so it was like that much too long for me so I took it into her last week and I was like can you make a bag out of the excess she was like yeah whatsapp me pictures whatsapped her pictures I found a bag like showed her all different angles and then I picked this up yesterday that is so clever that's amazing it's worth getting the skirt just so I got the bag yeah also I'm gonna need the name of your tailor I know she's amazing so she's um Diana she hates social media she's always like don't get me in the pictures but Diana at Scobie's on Wandsworth Common and I've gone to her for years like even now just before here I like threw a pair of trousers out I was like please help me out she just knows like my measurements she knows my style she knows what i like so i feel like it's like more like a partnership we have yeah yeah um but yeah i feel like that feels like the rose so good you know the color is amazing i want one yeah that's so cool i actually just bring out a little line of bags i know can you just sort out i'd like this in like a maybe like a chocolate yeah and a light light suede okay like not this but like um a tan kind of okay cool maybe green too there's something coming so we'll see i hope so oh my god we'll see but you know guys watch this kind of cool so yeah that that was on my list and i picked up and i'm in love i'm very surprised you've not spoken about your matto skirt oh my brain called me grubby because i wear it all the time i love things when you buy them and you wear them over and over again i feel like that is the point is the point isn't it like i I don't want loads of things in my wardrobe that I'm just like, oh, I've worn that once.

18:18And it's such a waste. Like, I feel like it's cool when you see people and you're like, she's worn that so many different ways. And that styling again, like I feel like that's the point of it. Yeah. So yeah, the skirt I have worn four or five times. We're going to have to pop up all of the different versions because it's just amazing how there's so many ways you can style something like that. Yeah, definitely. It is like a basic, but it's also not, like it's a bit more interesting. So it's cool that you can take that and make it such a staple in your wardrobe. I feel like that's a skill. thank you look um i feel like my toe do fabrics and like simple pieces really well like these are my toe as well and they might just look like a basic pair of trousers cotton trousers but it's like the way it gathers and how the fabric falls and how it makes you feel in them you're such a nerd with that stuff you are yeah i did fashion design at uni so i'm really into tailoring i'm really into like finding your cut off and clothes are meant to make you feel good yeah if i don't feel nice in something i'm gonna have a rubbish day i'll probably end up selling that outfit because i hold on to memories with my clothes so like when i've had really bad things happen in certain outfits i have got rid of them straight away it's like bad juju yeah 100 i can't look at them again it will upset me so yeah i if i feel good in it like good things will happen it's all the vibes isn't it yeah i've got a matteo dress that i'm dying to wear which one it's the square neck quite like loosey vibe with the balloon sleeves oh yeah they've said it in a lot of colors it's in bright fuchsia pink that is look insane on you i bought it last year in a sale on the outlet right um and it was like a crazy price and i was like i've got nowhere to wear this but i just i feel like i need it yeah just bank for when i do and i'm going to ibiza over bank holiday weekend so i'm like now is the time but it's very like it's quite sheer yeah thin fabric so i think I would struggle to wear it in London but like.

20:09Could you wear it at your wedding? I don't think the fabric is like weighty enough. Like I don't think it's enough of a like dress. It's more of a cover up piece than that. But I'm like itching to wear it. I feel like the fuchsia pink is very you. Yeah. Yeah I feel like I've seen you wear something. I have worn one fuchsia pink dress and I felt like a Stabilo highlighter the whole night. So I think it's not going to be like that. No but you want to be on holidays where I feel like I can do more colour. Well I know I'm the same. Holiday dressing is like you just adopt to different personalities yeah yeah yeah yeah you kind of said your colors but as brown girls like what are your go-to colors that just make you pop i've been wearing a lot of butter yellow we're so coordinated but i do think it's so complimentary on our skin i think it works so well with like any kind of brown skin yeah but i do i think that's one of the best things about being indian is that you can wear so much color yes i never thought about it like i remember like suggesting to a friend like oh that would look really good and you're just like no i can't i I was like, really?

21:07I never have thought that I can't wear something. Yeah. Which is such a lovely thing. Yeah. I think all colors look really good on South Asian skin. Nice. The only one that I found that I'm like, ew, is purple. Yeah. I can't do purple. Those sort of like really bold colors. Really vibrant. Colors. Like they just don't, they don't do much for me. Like a really royal blue doesn't really do much for me either. I tend to, I guess like towards the warmer. Like earthy. Earthy. Yeah. I think if they have an earthy tone, like a tinge to them, then they work. mine so I was wearing a set when I was in Milka from Hope and May have you ever heard of that brand no it's kind of new to me as well but I honestly loved it I was wearing the trousers actually yesterday with a blazer so it works quite well in the city as well but it's like a um like a little bralette which is sort of like um kind of poofy and then it's like little straps which like when you have no boots it's actually like a really like it makes you look like you do and then these like high-waisted just flowy black trousers and it's just like a nice coat I wore with a big shirt and then like I said yesterday I just wore it with a blazer so yeah loving that set did you post this I didn't see it I don't know if I have yet maybe I have and then I also I went with my boyfriend to Zara Manz the other day and I found the most amazing like printed like almost like half sleeve shirt but it was like a big oversized one and it has a really nice like red print kind of like Bodhi vibes yeah nice very cool it was like red and white and yeah I wore that just with a bikini on holiday oh I love that chic I love just a big shirt and swimwear yeah

22:35quick reminder if you're enjoying this episode please do subscribe it really helps us out we are going to now move on to must and miss which we're kind of taking over this section of the podcast usually we chat about things not to miss on share lux for this week we're going to chat about south asian heritage month or south asian heritage in general before we get into it i want to kind of ask you guys how you both started in the industry i feel like we've not really deep dive into that in like obviously Billy you've been on so many podcasts but like kind of nice to talk about that first how did you both start?

23:04I didn't do journalism like I didn't really have a straightforward route into the industry I uh I did Latin and law at uni and then decided not to be I didn't know that yeah I did classics as my degree and then I converted to law I think so much of that was because I came from like relatively traditional background where Indian and parents they're like what do you want to be a doctor a lawyer or a dentist yeah or in check okay I choose lawyer I do feel so so lucky that my parents they never really like pushed an agenda but there was like I suppose a cultural pressure to sort of take up one of those advocacies but I finished law school and I was like no no no no not for me yeah but I loved writing and after like a year of applying I managed to get an internship at um Sunday time style and then I think once you're in and you're like willing to do lots of other things you kind of get moved from pillar to post a different magazine so I was very fortunate to then go from there I did a little stint at Vogue and then I my first like proper job was at L and actually we had our L a 40-year reunion last week and it was just so gorgeous to like see so many people but it just really reminded me how lucky I was to work within a group of people who were so brilliant like so brilliant at what they did but also they gave an opportunity to someone who they hadn't really given an opportunity to before I was a fashion writer at L for three and a half almost four years and then I went from there to stylist and I was fashion and beauty across fashion and beauty there um and columnist so yeah a slightly like long-winded route into uh into media and into publishing but writing was always what I really wanted to do at the time I didn't really think that I looked that different like I don't think I reckoned with the fact that my skin was darker and my body was bigger and I had like substantially more facial hair than everybody else but I don't know it wasn't until maybe I sort of like understood my point of difference a couple of years into that yeah because you are like you're just young and immature and you don't really know yourself you're trying to figure all these things out at the same time that I was like oh actually this industry is is so white like I don't fit in here I don't know if I belong here I don't see myself there has been progress since but yeah it definitely looked different.

25:26Well obviously I joined much later than you guys like in the last few years and I feel like I've had such a privilege of like you know when I go to events I see so much more diversity whereas I wondered how different it might have been kind of back I mean did you find that yeah for me it was very obvious that I didn't fit in I was very much like the only brown person in most rooms yeah how did you start your career as it yeah well I so I did fashion design at uni I've always known I wanted to do fashion yeah um I've always been like quite creative I feel like it's such a nice way to express who you are and I thought I was good at it you know like I you are I just enjoy it and I always feel like it's such a privilege to be able to do something you really enjoy so I did fashion design thought I was going to be a designer and did graduate fashion week and then I maxed out all my credit cards and what was I was like 20 and I was like I've got no money what um so then I started working in a store and in Topshop remember the good old days yeah and then I bumped into one day this uh personal shopper and she was so cool and so chic and I was like I really like what you're wearing what do you do and she's like I work in personal shopping do you want to come and see she showed me it was amazing and I was like I want to work here um I started working with them kind of became a personal shopper did that for a few years and then my clients ended up being quite international and at the same time Instagram came so I'm that's how I've got Monique as my name I just like okay what is this started putting up selfies of myself I was like let's just go with it yeah um so then I was like posting what I was wearing for my clients so they didn't have to travel in to like buy the clothes and then it just started like rolling with it and it just got bigger and bigger and then it got to a stage where brands started offering me money and I was like okay and then I just did it full time it's only recently since like I've like got to know you girls and I've seen like you know like India and all of that like it's so nice seeing how it's changed now and how well we're represented yeah it's so different Well we were speaking about this when we met but like for me it was more like where I really noticed I was conscious of being South Asian was at school more so because I grew up in a school which was mainly white people and I felt like it was like comments that we were talking about like oh you're really pretty for a brown girl and like these I don't know if like are there any moments in your careers even that you've had like that kind of conscious like whoa like this is still a thing.

27:51I think I've had a similar experience to Mon where like I've sat at a table with like 20 other people and I've just been very aware I'm the only one with brown skin. Yeah. I'm so pleased that I get to show up for that, but it would be so nice to have that conversation with somebody else there. 100%. Because you then get this imposter syndrome around it where you're like, am I in this space or in this environment or like of value because I'm good at my job or because I'm a tick box exercise? 100%. And it's a really shit feeling to not know where you stand. And I think, you know, with maturity and knowing myself a bit more, I'm like, okay, I'm pretty good at my job.

28:31I'm almost certain. You're brilliant. You are. Because it's this. But I think there will always be a slight, like, question mark over it. And I think that a lot of that comes from, like, for me, not quite knowing where I belong. I grew up in Leicester, which is actually, like, such a diverse city. um and at my school there was a really there was like a really strong contingency of south asian children but i i never really like belonged to that group either like i it's like i wasn't outwardly indian and i was kind of criticized for that because i didn't behave in exactly the same ways that they did and so i i don't know i never was like fully it's hard in that tribe yeah and i'm not fully really in any other tribe so i kind of was in this sort of middle but i just wanted to be friends with everybody and I was like I don't want to have to change yeah but I feel that now as well I don't know with obviously having you know public profiles and being out there do you guys get a lot of comments of people kind of putting you in a box of like but you're not talking about these things to do with being Indian and you don't talk about this enough and you don't do this enough and it's sort of like surely everyone approaches their culture in such different ways but I think we do still get a lot of I don't know shit for not doing it in the way that like is traditional or I don't know do you guys get that a lot I feel like my parents made such a conscious effort bless them to really support us with living here yeah um my dad came here when he was three um my mom was born here she was born in Yorkshire she still has the accent um but they they made such a conscious effort to like raise us to to be Indian but also to be British and like celebrate you know British holidays and you know be able to like really immerse ourself in the culture which I feel like is really important and especially now having mixed race children um I feel like it's it's part of my life I don't feel like I'm out of my depth whereas when I was younger I used to be like oh I'm brown but my friends see me as white and where do I fit in and now I see it as being pretty powerful yeah you know I I can sit in both sides yeah I can do both and I might not be very very Indian but that's okay there's people who who are in that box and can do that well there's no I've literally got an Indian passport I was born in India and I still get comments from people being like you're so whitewashed so this or that yeah you know people just you can't take what people say because you know yourself and how you you know interpret your culture and how you represent I think that's the key to it there is knowing yourself and when you're when you're at least I felt like this in my early 20s I wasn't sure I did really know myself and so I felt this pressure that I wasn't being like I was you know criticized by like family members like not being like Indian enough or like celebrating my culture enough and it wasn't that I wasn't proud of it I'm the proudest of it but I just didn't know how to like present that yeah in your every day because I don't know if you have to show up like that every day or like most days are just trying to get through the day without thinking like am I being a good enough Indian daughter am I being good enough friend am I being good enough whatever but I do think it's once you've sort of like reckoned with yourself a bit more yeah you're comfortable and accepting that like this is my heritage this is my culture I'm so proud of it and I will show up in that in whatever way I choose fit to do that there isn't an expectation 100 you should be a certain way and there's a lot of obviously like South Asian influencers who their content is you know about being South Asian and that's great and that works for them but not everyone is like that I think a lot of people do it a bit more privately or in their like you know just their normal life it's just part of who they are so I think from the outside it's a bit more like just let people let people do them yeah I think let people do whatever they want to do and be where they want to be in like all aspects yeah for them you know like I'm so happy with how I run my life and my family and my friends do it in a different way and I'm so happy for them like I feel like being happy is finding what makes you content yeah and doing it your way and just being accepting of other people doing it their own way as well yeah I'm going back to being in the industry and feeling really like out the depths and you know so looking so different I did so many things to make me appear to like fit in more and be more western I remember at the beginning of like Instagram days and styling stuff like that and I had so many like comments that I remember my ex-boyfriend saying to me don't wear red lipstick because you look really Indian oh and it really affected me and like little things that people would say to me at school about being Indian and that like really gets into you as like a person um and at that stage as well you're almost a bit like oh god yeah without like now I'd be like and so fucking what now I'm like oh does it does it make me look amazing yeah you look at I look at it so differently now but back in the day when you're younger and you don't really know who you are yet you know it can be really hard and like you know heartbreaking for you I put lip filler when I was like just like starting off in the industry because I thought that would make me look more western and maybe that would look make me look more like one of those girls instead of being the Indian girl yeah you know and like thank god like I got rid of them all and I'm like really proud of who I am now yeah um but it is a hard industry to get into until you like can figure out a way to to be okay with yourself and I want to be like I did loads of soul searching and all that and I did you know I I grew up I feel like it comes with time but also I met my husband and someone who was just really accepting and like encouraging of who I am and he's not Indian but he was just like I love your skin yeah and I'd be like oh really I like my skin color and he just like it's so encouraging of like who I am and like embracing of everything embracing it yeah instead of being like oh I don't want to don't want to make you feel uncomfortable by talking back you've been Indian or anything like that he was like oh no that's amazing so tell me more yeah and I feel like that really helped me be who I am you know like you're like excited to share your culture like because you feel like you're in an environment that is supportive I've been Indian wedding shopping loads recently because my cousin's getting married so I was 10 sapna I've done a few trips to Southall have you been to Southall yeah so good I used to live in Hounslow west when i first was interning i should have taken you no don't i'm the worst person to take do you both no i get no i get so everyone i'm like just take whatever you want it's such hard work thank god my mom came with me but it is amazing for outfits yeah it is fantastic like so much like you can get real bargains as well and like lots of them are like one-off pieces um but my sisters went last week completely didn't take me so my mom was like took pity on me and she was like I'll take you right thank god because the first door we went in I saw two outfits I was like yeah I'll buy them she was like you are not buying that that is too expensive and then my mum was like bartering them down anyway it was so intense it's so like I feel like they take it quite personally if you don't want their outfits because they really love their designs and they know their stuff you know like they're like this is the latest Indian outfit what I have learned though because with with western dressing I'm like I know my style I know what I like so I have worked out that there may be trends for Indian dressing but I think it's anything also works yeah it's what works for you so I realized that I am not into like heavy embroidery it's too much fabric for me I can't do it I like a silk chiffon you know like the Indian version of the row is what I mean you say and also I've worked out with a sari I don't like a petticoat what i have got what what my tailors are doing at the moment is they're putting the lining into the sari oh that's a good hack yeah so only at the beginning is lining and then the rest is all like the silk chiffon so it folds so nicely so you haven't got like the excess material poofy bit yes i hate the poofy bit because sometimes indian outfits are quite a lot aren't they there's a lot of fabric there is a lot of fabric there's a lot of fabric and i feel like i I like stuff that feels a bit more like slinky and fluid.

36:38Yeah, I need to feel comfortable. So I'm picking it up next week. I love that. I love an Indian wedding. You can't beat it. My cousin got married in April. And actually, I really struggle with Indian outfits. My sister got married a couple of years ago. And she was like, you can wear whatever you want. But like, please, can you wear an Indian outfit? I was like, yes, I can do that for you. And I went to Arshney & Co in Westbourne Grove. Lovely. It's stunning. I mean like they've got like such an incredible selection you walk in it's like Sabia Sachi everything and I was like you were launched in Harrods recently I saw one which is amazing I really wanted I couldn't go last week when they were doing it but I really want to go they've basically got a huge catalogue of amazing amazing amazing brands in there and then they kind of tailor make everything to you so I like an Anarkali style dress like very floaty long bit bit kind of like what you were saying and then with like a skinny little Julie Da trouser underneath but I actually find that what I what you what I can do and what I did for my cousin's wedding was there's loads of western style dresses that are also like off that ilk yeah and I actually had this one from H &M that was part of the White Lotus collaboration what did it look like it's like this sort of rusty brown chiffon but it was like really tiered um and it's it's like has that sort of a line shape to it oh I think I saw this actually that you posted yeah yeah so I I just wore it with like I had some sort of like goldy um trousers that I put underneath and then I found this I got this like brown and gold journey and then just went big on the jewelry and my my cousins were like oh my god where'd you get this and I was like it's so good that is actually quite good when if also if you don't want to spend too much yeah just invest in the accessories so you can just stuff up Wembley's also really good that's where I went a few years ago for my cousin's wedding they've got like kind of similar to Southall there's like one street with like so many shops and good food yeah maybe yeah also leicester is very good is it yeah oh my god leicester unreal indian foods also shout out to anyone that lives southwest because i think the best indian food i've had is at black salt and isheen it's honestly stunning 10 out of 10 but in in leicester there's like well it's called the golden mile and it's back down belgrave and it's a huge a huge road and it's there's so there's like jewelers fashion food but it's like it's a couple of miles long so good well a couple of my um cousins and aunties have bought loads of stuff of vintage really yeah so good loads of people send all their indian outfits on vintage my sister's been scrolling through it she's selling some of her bits i feel like it's a really good like hack if you don't want to be as intense yeah down to like because it is account like you also need the time to go down there yeah it's not that convenient yeah you know also asos has indian yes i saw that but i've never like looked into it very much i feel like we need to do a bit of a deep dive on what that what that is it is a specific brand and it tends to there's a lot of like langar matching set vibes um but i mean it's not a bad it's very small but it's not a bad offering if you're like oh my god i need something in two days yeah yeah yeah add to basket but But touching on kind of representation, I mean, you guys obviously in the industry for some of us have been like the people we've looked to, which is just so nice.

39:50But when you guys are coming up and also now, who are you loving in the industry? Who are you looking up to? Were you like representation wise? Who's doing it really well? This is so cliched, but when I was really young, I was just so obsessed with the Shreya Rai. I literally was going to say the same. And Karina Kapoor. Obsessed. So gorgeous. What were like your favorite Bollywood movies growing up? Gabi Kushi, Gabi Kami. Same. Yes, that's the only one I can remember. Same, same. I know every word to every song in that film but I have no idea what they mean and the dancers but did you guys see this weekend that Bend It Like Beckham 2 has been announced I'm so excited I know it's so cliche but it's genuinely one of my favourite movies oh my god me and my sister eat, breathe, live Bend It Like Beckham all the sayings I say all the time what was it earlier it was like lesbian?

40:36I thought she was a Pisces that's the best one and then when they're dancing in the club yeah yeah yeah just like that it's fantastic oh my god I do think like for like South Asian women who grew up in the UK that was probably the most formative thing that we watched because it was the first time ever like I saw an Indian woman be the main character you're always a side chick you're always the like background friend the best friend you're always just like you're never you're never the main character and it was like she was the main character she was like the object of all affection she was the star in the making it meant so much to so many people and I feel like it's also quite telling that at the end of that the person that had the bigger career was Keira Knightley yeah but for what it was it was epic it was so relatable oh my god they like so like Indian western yeah but it was shops where they were like trying on the shop like and she saw pinky does everyone have a cousin everyone's got a pinky everyone's got a baby have you got a baby I don't have a baby but I'm gonna do that do you not oh yeah sunny but what else like what else you guys like loving from this year like what has happened in the industry that you think is like a good like just a great moment of like yes South Asians are thriving well the really recently obviously there was the Punjabi music that Pharrell did at the Vuitton show which was like Beyonce was vibing yeah and there was this unbelievable campaign that Nike did with um like south indian women and it was i think it was shot in rajasthan like on a beautiful palace but like the color palette was stunning and i just think it was really cool it didn't feel performative and i could do that because i feel like they're so intrinsically human orientated that they don't really like play into any of those tropes and stereotypes but it was just so stunning and i'm really grateful for like social media in that way like people like diet paratha who yeah they're so they're so smart in the way that they showcase south asian talent yeah um and i think it's so important that those like kind of beacons in the industry continue to highlight it because you know you're you're busy consuming however much you consume but it's like it's just really great that someone else doing the work for you but like bringing that to the forefront in a way that is accessible and also it's like more into the mainstream like you're saying like supriya doing the mango collab that was so cool to see and obviously priya al-u-aliyah winning a um fashion award at the british fashion was like that's and she did a thing with mulberry and it's like you know there's lots of ways that there's cross collaboration yeah it's like brilliant to see people thriving yeah i thought it was really interesting when ambica yeah ambica yes when she was in one day yeah that made it really mainstream that really like spoke to me because It was a program which was so beautiful and heartbreaking and had all those emotions.

43:27And it was something that my friends absolutely loved. And it wasn't about the fact she was Indian. I think that is what is so different about that. Because a lot of films, they have a South Asian character and it has to be that they are South Asian. And that's not wrong. But sometimes it's nice that South Asians that have grown up in the UK, it's not their whole personality. No, it's not. Yeah, you're more. It's not just about being Indian. There's so much more to everybody. in the world you're just a human and it's nice to like you know get along with people on that basis yeah but I did like the subtle hints that she had when he said something about her putting on um sun cream she goes I burn too do you know what I mean and it was true yeah yeah and because I didn't really when we were growing up we didn't know that we had to wear that because we're like you know oh maybe we don't but and maybe it was like a subconscious like oh don't look at me like to my friends or something like that but it's like no no i wear it too i want to be protected it is mad what you used to do to think crazy i thought my skin just was impervious to anything i'd be like oh yeah oliver well i'm already brown so it's all right yeah i know and when i was at uni i'd be like yeah i want i want a fake tan i used to put like a salmon ritz on before you can did you no i look like i fully looked umpa loompa yeah like terrible it was not the right shade for me but I've always been the darkest in my family and there's always that thing isn't it about Indians don't really want to be dark yeah um especially in India like every ad is about to be brightening lightening lightening like all those creams to lighten your skin which is crazy and I feel like gave me such a complex because it was such a topic especially because I'm darker than my siblings and like we'd go out clubbing together and the people would be like we'd be like oh yeah we're sisters there's three of us and they'd be like oh not you you're the milkman's oh and it used to be such a negative thing you know like oh yeah but you've got dark skin oh no but you dress nice and i'd be like oh whereas now i'm like yeah i've got lovely dark yeah i really like it my daughter says it all the time i feel like it's such an empowering thing now and i feel like slowly beauty standards are changing yeah well actually this transitions us really well to our next thing which is our beauty ride or dies i have been loving the prada highlighter and i can't with the exact name and i usually wouldn't go for like such like a luxe highlighter but i was sent it and i'm obsessed with it and i also don't really wear highlights that much right i've always found that it makes me look a bit ashy but this is like a really yeah i don't know if you can see it but it's like a really nice glow yeah gorgeous on top of uh blush and bronzer and it's like a really finely milled one so it doesn't look like glittery it's not like fishy scaly exactly yeah my husband will say you look like a goldfish and i'll be like oh my god or my little girl will be like mom too much makeup oh god don't let her look at the blusher blinders but yeah i'm loving that and then also on the slightly more budget um side i'm loving still i've loved this for like literally a year is the l 'oreal lumi glotion you guys have tried it no oh my god you guys will love it the shade number four particularly is really nice for our skin tone but it's just like it's like this bronzy highlightery product but it's more of like a skincare thing so it's got um I think it's hyaluronic in it so it makes your skin feel amazing I've actually not got it on today funnily enough but um I wear it most days in the summer and then just have a bit of concealer on top and it just makes your skin like look flawless and like glowy and lovely um but I wanted to talk about it because we have included this in our beauty icons under 25 which is a new thing we're doing this year it's next monday it comes out so stay tuned guys it's basically all of our favorite um high street and budget beauty buys oh good under 25 yeah yeah and how about you guys what are you loving i am loving victoria beckham's baby blade eyebrow product i've used i use that today oh you like it yeah it's very good all of her range is amazing it just is yeah but i don't know about you when when i was growing up like eyebrows was such a big part of like indian heritage wasn't it because they're eyebrow threading don't ever pluck them yeah always get them threaded yeah i love how creamy the formula is because sometimes i feel like i'm like scratching my eyebrows with some of those pencils and stuff but it blends so so nicely and it's a really warm um a really warm brown because i think sometimes if you get like a black one it again looks a bit ashy oh it's too yeah people have always said you should go like one shade darker but i think you should go one shade lighter than i agree than your brow color especially if you've got black or dark hair yeah i'm really particular about my spf i wear it every day because i feel like that's what's going to keep us young yeah um but everything when i was growing up it always left like a white purpley mask yeah and it would like no makeup would cover that up so there was no point wearing it so now i have found two which i really love estee lauder have an spf 50 and it's a gel formula and it's amazing i've worn that for years but my newest one is i'm not going to say it right augustinus augustinus yes then you know one of them ab yeah and they've got that new spf 50 it's amazing it's more like a moisturizer i feel like i can put more of it on so like i know that my face is completely covered i'm not like scared about layering it up and you can't see it there's like no purple sheen or anything it's amazing absorbs absorbs

48:40Okay, we are now going to go into some dilemmas, slightly quick fire. Let's see, we've talked about Indian weddings, but people want to know, what is the best nude lipstick for brown skin? What do you guys love? We just did our lip combos, actually. So what was your... Yes, I love... It's quite a pinky nude. I love the Lisa Eldridge Kitten Mischief. And then for like a true brownie nude, which I think is that they do really, really well, is actually the Summer Fridays Lip Oil. Oh, yeah. I need to, I will double, I can't remember the shade of it, but I think it's like a movi pink, but it's quite a warm, it's quite a warm one.

49:14And that's, I think it's a very good, like, nudey, glossy lip. Also, we talk about it so much, that YSL lip oil. Oh my God, I love it. I've forgotten the exact shade name, but we'll put it in the notes. Nude Lavalier. Is that what it's called? Yeah. It's slightly, there's one slightly brownier one and that is my favorite. Nude Lavalier is quite pink, but there is a, there is like a topia. Yeah. I just can't do an oil because when my hair gets in there, I can't stand it I don't like the feel of wearing anything try this one because it doesn't feel like sticky yeah it's quite a nice um oil but what do you use do you put anything on your lips for years it has been glossier cake because it's got like an orange tint to it and naturally my lips are really dark especially in the corners and I feel like the orange kind of like counteracts that and makes it a bit brighter um and also I feel like it's quite like nourishing and it doesn't feel like there's too much on you make me want to wear orange lip yeah I know orangey rusty things I really like those rusty colors.

50:07I feel like they're really like good on our skin tone. And I feel like it's like a yearly kind of tone. I don't feel like I have to change it. Basically, this is my face all year round. But I love that. Thank you. Low maintenance. Best hair removal methods, which I actually think I could honestly talk about forever. What do you guys do? Do you wax? Threading? I veet quite a lot. Do you? On my face. I need to do it currently. I literally have such a stash. But on my face, I'll veet. And then everything else I shave. Estrid. Love Estrid. And Venus. Venus is very good. Estrid. forever and ever. I laser my face.

50:37I actually use the at home one, the Philips Lumia at home. And you can use it on our skin. Yeah, you can use it on our skin. It's really, really good for our skin. But also I have like raging PCOS. So it makes that even worse than it is. It's really good. But the rest of the time, like for eyebrows, upper lip threading always. I've never plucked my eyebrows, not once. I don't touch my eyebrows now. I think that's like the general blanket advice for all Indians. Don't touch your eyebrows. Just leave them. I trim them, you know, like when you brush them up and trim them a little bit, but do not pluck them.

51:09I shave everything because I cannot do pain. Same. I think I did it once and then like 10 days later it started growing back. Yes, 10 days to more. 10 hours. And all my other friends were like four to six weeks. Fantastic. I was like, girls, what? I was like, okay. Indian hair is different. I shave every few days. Yeah, just easy. But it gives me such rage when I'm sat with my girlfriends on holiday and they've just got like hot dog legs. of like blonde hair i'm like you do not know how lucky you are yeah because you can see the follicles in your skin can't you like always and then on my face um oh what's it called the dermalux like the oh dermal painting yes is that what it is everyone like it's like buzzers and it's like yeah because i feel like it gets rid of the dead skin as well as like the the peach fuzz um and i'll do that maybe once a week and i just feel like my makeup goes on nicer really everything and then like like last night I did that and then I did a um what's it called when you put it on I've got baby brain LED mask yes afterwards but I did something else to put on to get rid of oh exfoliator yes an exfoliator and something else I've got baby brain but anyway it just really sets the base when you take when you do the derma thing first best products there's the shiniest softest hair brackets you all have amazing hair by the way okay number one product for both of you what is it for your hair would you use i think color wow is very good for that the money mask yeah it's really good for shiny hair and if you have curly hair the living proof curl elongator curl cream is it's not so much for shininess but it is really good i've got it in i just did a wash and go this morning but it does like hold the curlies i have just got into avida have a mint shampoo and conditioner basically postpartum i've figured out that my hair feels greasy a lot quicker because of all the hormones that I've got um so I did loads of research I found that they've got like a mint shampooing conditioner and it just feels so clean I feel like it's all about like the scalp being clean and then the hair can be healthy so that's my latest obsession mine's an oil I love the Larry King rosemary oil I use that literally on wet hair after I come out the shower but I also use it like I only wash my hair once maybe sometimes twice a week so just before I'm gonna wash it I then put it in massage it in only keep it in for like five ten minutes then wash it out and then out like out of the shower I'll put a little bit in and then when I'm going to put any heat on it I'll put a bit in but it just it smells amazing and it just makes my hair feel like on the ends yeah mainly on the ends but sometimes I'm a little bit here as well but it's quite greasy today so I probably put a bit too much so when it's wet you just then just let it air dry you don't put heat on it yeah I sometimes will then put heat on it but I usually let it air dry and then I'll style it after that if I need to um final question someone has said I'm the ultimate Monique fan would love to know the formula for effortless lazy luxury i think never overthink it it's all about being simple i feel like basics are you like your best friend if you have a wardrobe of basics you've got your black trousers your white t-shirt and then you've got like a few trend things like at the moment a red t-shirt is really in but i'm wearing them with my same like three-year-old trousers i think don't be afraid to to look simple yeah kind of thing and it's basically all about confidence oh I love that guys thank you so much I literally could chat to you guys all day same I know thank you guys so much for watching once again don't forget to subscribe we also film all of our episodes over on YouTube so make sure you check us out there we'll see you very soon bye

54:52Thank you.