The Shamrock NotionsJehanzeb Aftab a.k.a JZ
Posted on July 8, 2017
We come across many people in our lives who are good at something or the other, the person that I’m about to introduce you all to today seems to have mastered skills in many fields. He is a brilliant photographer, an entrepreneur, a designer, a traveler, a foodie, he is into planes (ladies ahem) he can sing, dance and he is very charming 🙂 Ring any bells? This name does not need too much of a pretty introduction. He is the latest sensation in the world of men’s fashion with the launch of J Squares and has neatly taken care of the health conscious lot at the same time with LeanBox.
This handsome young man has been a household name for long. Ladies & gentlemen, I give you Jehanzeb Aftab.
W&S: Tell us about yourself?
JZ: My name is Jehanzeb Aftab, I’m a small business entrepreneur. I shoot people as a hobby and that’s how I got into photography
W&S: It’s often been said that mathematicians do their work best when they are young, philosophers when old, and photographers..?
JZ: Photographers do their work best when they are in the best of moods.
W&S: What inspired you to be a photographer?
JZ: I grew up looking at my father and playing with his camera which always made me curious about the black box (camera) and what goes on inside it.
W&S: If you were to pick one moment that describes your entire past life, what would that be?
JZ: I don’t think there is just one moment that can describe my entire life. I believe in living in the present. All your past moments be it good or bad collectively shape up your life.
W&S: As a photographer what do you specialize in?
JZ: I specialize in portrait and events.
W&S: What type of camera do you shoot with?
JZ: I use a Nikon
W&S: What lighting equipment you like working with?
JZ: I love working with an off camera flash used with an Octagon softbox.
W&S: Can you as a photographer relate to the importance of using Photoshop?
JZ: I think softwares and technology have had a great impact on photography and skills used in producing a final image.
W&S: A website or blog you often visit?
W&S: A photographer who inspires you?
JZ: Gavin Bond
W&S: Each location can have many different stories so how do you decide what you want to craft out of it?
JZ: It’s usually the clients pick as to what location they want to shoot at, as a photographer I give my best opinion.
W&S: Books that have inspired you?
W&S: Most memorable childhood memory?
JZ: Long road trips with old Bollywood songs from Dad’s collection.
W&S: You are known amongst your friends as?
JZ: The photographer
W&S: As a child, you grew up wanting to be?
JZ: I wanted to be a pilot.
W&S: Favorite cuisine?
JZ: Pakistani.
W&S: Favorite vacation spot?
JZ: Puerto Rico
W&S: Qualities you look for in people?
JZ: Honesty
W&S: One thing you wish you had designed?
JZ: Something I would really like to design is men’s suiting. Everyone is doing suits that are nice but there are specific cuts and the way they sit on your body..there is so much to it. I would really like to do this.
W&S: Any particular assignment you would have wanted to take up?
JZ: I came across this assignment sometime back that I would have wanted to take up, it was basically about real estate photography focused on architecture for a huge hotel chain where they wanted seven properties being shot over a period of six months. That really wasn’t feasible for me at the time as I was really busy with work and i couldn’t take 6 months off for another project. Nevertheless I wish I had that kind of time and resources back then to take that up.
W&S: What have you learned from your journey?
JZ: Work hard. Work smart and that is the only way to go in life. The harder, the smarter you work, it will get you places.
W&S: Where do you see yourself five years from now?
JZ: Not very sure what I’ll be doing but I’m guessing that I probably will be moving deeper into the fashion industry, coming up with new projects, new lines. Let’s see how that works but that’s what I aim for.
W&S: Your thoughts on Wings & Strokes?
JZ: I think it’s a great platform for like-minded people to connect and share their thoughts. Very different and interesting content that flows through the blog and is always very helpful in many ways.
W&S: Thank you so much for your time Mr.Aftab, its been a pleasure. Wish you all the best for all your future endeavours! Cheers!
Signing off
W & S
Connect with Jehanzeb Aftab on Instagram: jehanzebaftab1
|Faces| Huda Kattan
Posted on July 6, 2017
Like most successful people, Huda Kattan started small. While holding down a job in finance that she hated, she launched a beauty blog in 2010, soon after which she quit her finance job. Kattan then started her Instagram account in 2012, followed by a beauty business selling false eyelashes in 2013.
Luck seemed to be on her side and in her case small got huge very quickly. The Dubai-based Kattan is now unchallenged in the makeup world. She has a breathtaking 20.7 million Instagram followers and has smartly leveraged that social media following to grow her business. She now offers liquid lipsticks, lip strobes, highlighter palette and eye shadows in addition to her lashes, which are available through her online shop and Sephora, which has 11.9 million followers on Instagram.
Kattan was born to Iraqi parents. She attended college in Michigan where she studied finance, a career she quickly gave up to become a makeup artist. Kattan met her husband at college and they moved to Dubai in 2008, where she now happily resides with him and their daughter.
When asked about the way beauty is perceived in Dubai she said “Beauty in Dubai is on another level. I grew up in Tennessee. I loved to wear full glam. I used to want to wear flash lashes every single day. I remember wearing them once and someone was like, “Are you wearing false lashes?” I felt embarrassed. In the U.S., it’s perceived as though you’re trying too hard.
In Dubai, people respect you if you wear lashes to the grocery store. I’ve been at the gym at 5 in the morning and seen full glam, which, I think working out with your full makeup is just crazy. But it’s more over the top here. Middle Eastern women have very strong features, and makeup tends to accentuate those features really well without looking like too much.”
She says “I took beauty so seriously before, and I do still, but not in a way where I can’t have fun with it. I’m passionate to learn more, passionate to know how we can change people’s lives by giving them one tip. But when it comes to the look, it should be fun. You should just be like, “Yeah, I’m a cake face — so what?”
It is said that she makes an astonishing AED 66,000 with each instagram post. Huda Kattan has changed a lot over the years and that simply proves that you CAN be the best version of yourself. She never feels shy to talk about her surgeries, fillers etc. unlike other public figures. She is extremely humble, down to earth and truly inspirational. She is on the Internet’s most fascinating people’s list
Enjoy the slideshow!
Weekend Chit Chat
Posted on June 17, 2017
Hey everyone! Hope Ramadan is going well for you all. I have not really been MIA just crazy busy with my little ones and home. Gosh we don’t realize how much of an effort goes into our days and nights. It’s only when you get time to be by yourself and really breath, is when you get to ponder over the fact that it’s a lot of work. So all the people out there, men or women, who take out so much of their time to be with their families and do anything and everything to make them happy, Hats off to US! 🙂 I do however try to stay active on Instagram so that I stay connected with you all. For those of you who are not on my Instagram can follow me, my ID is sonyalee1. Let’s connect! 🙂
For those of you who don’t know yet, the official page for Wings & Strokes is www.facebook.com/wingsandstrokes. You can find Wings and Strokes on Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram and YouTube.
Moving on let’s talk about the weekend. Ramadan has us all busy here, but I do have to point out that it relieves us of the daily task of preparing lunch for the family. I still have to prepare something for the kids of course.
This weekend has been extremely lazy, I fell very sick and that drained me of the much needed energy. Still managed to take the kids out for a bit, they deserve a break as much as we adults do. Found some really neat things for the house (i’m obsessed with my home and home decor) you can easily call me The Desperate Housewife, most of my friends call me that. Watched a great movie with my kiddies, it’s not something new but definitely worth it. It’s called Game Plan. It’s super cute and my older one loved it. The Rock really does justice to his character and I adorrrrrrred him in this one. Parenting is indeed the most beautiful thing on earth. I feel fortunate to have been blessed with wonderful children who make my world beautiful and my life worth living. I hope and pray that I can help them become worthy people as they grow up.
Also I wanted to tell you that I am starting a new section in the blog talking about everything related to ‘Home‘. Really excited about that. I spend most of my time at home with my children. I have been working from home as well. As this is the place where I spend most of my time, I find myself doing something or the other throughout the day. This is something I’m very passionate about so expect a lot of home related posts. (Like seriously)
Big question for you all. I know most of you open W&S on your phones but I wonder if you have had the chance to open it on your desktops or laptops? Do try it once, and let me know what you think of the layout of the blog. I think you might just like it more, I prefer to open it on laptop (self obsession, yesss). So the weekend ends here in UAE tomorrow and begins in most parts of the world. What are your plans? I plan to lose weight lol but then again that’s what I plan everyday 😉
Some of my friends want me to put my name on the posts which I never do as I didn’t really want this to be about me but I feel that it’s good to connect, it’s “time” to connect! I have been blogging for two years now, Wings & Strokes is two years old, I have neatly kept my name out of it for this long and spoken about people and things that inspire me. Even though I don’t post regularly these days but I promise to fix that so we get to know each other more. Thank you for visiting, reading and staying for a bit. Means the world to me!
Enjoy the weekend!
Love,
Sonya
My relationship with Amir Zaki
Posted on June 2, 2017
Amir Zaki, a man who needs no introduction at all. A man who knew music to the core and had tremendous respect for it. He was a guitarist-songwriter and composer from Pakistan. He was known for his melodic phrasing, feel, and tone. He was better known as the ultimate guitar maestro. Now here comes the question..what was my relationship with Amir Zaki? Amir Zaki was part of my childhood as much as barbies were. I had siblings who were crazy about him , I had a sister who bought a guitar so she could learn to play like the legend that we all know as Amir Zaki. I had a brother who would turn up the volume of the tv as soon as his music videos were aired. We all used to sit glued to the TV waiting for MCC Music Channel Charts every weekend. His music was a huge part of my childhood. He is one singer who didn’t aim to commercialize his music rather kept it as classy as one could imagine.
Mera Pyar was his greatest hit. Here is another one of his classics. Now do your ears a favour and get hold of your earphones for this one. This has no lyrics but it’s awesome.
Definitely worth it, wasn’t it?
“People are people” is another classic by this legend.
He was a member of the extremely popular band Vital Signs before he came out with his debut solo album called “Signature” and gave the world a song that we still love “Mera Pyar”.
His grey haired sexiness, decent, sober & classy personality will always be remembered. He left the world this afternoon at the age of 49. May his soul rest in eternal peace.
Many youngsters tried to play guitar like him back in the days, he is the reason many believed that they could sing and be part of the music industry.
Here is some of his best work.
Amir Zaki on the drive thru with Wes Malik
Alamgir and Amir Zaki
Amir Zaki for Coke Studio
Before signing off, I give you “Mera Pyar”
|Faces| Zaha Hadid
Posted on May 31, 2017
Google seems to be celebrating Zaha Hadid today, now for those of you who don’t know who this legend is. She was one of the finest Iraqi/British architects that the world has seen. How do I know? Because I’m obsessed with architecture. She has received a number of prestigious awards for her dazzling work. She was the first woman to receive the Pritzker Architecture Prize. She was also the first woman to win the Royal Gold Medal in Architecture from the Royal Institute of British Architects. And she won the Stirling Award, the UK’s most prestigious architectural prize.
Queen Elizabeth II made her a Dame in 2012 in honour of her commitment and services to the profession (wow). Hadid never had a family of her own, choosing not to marry or have any children.
I’m going to share a few of her marvellous creations with you. There is nothing more fascinating than stunning, mindblowing architecture and this woman certainly has blown my mind. As a child, I really wanted to study architecture but life had other plans for me (also I wasn’t so good with numbers).
So ladies and gentlemen feast your eyes upon the stunning architectural work of none other than Zaha Hadid
Heydar Aliyev Center in Baku, Azerbaijan
The Winton Gallery at the Science Museum, London
Port House, Antwerp, Belgium
Bridge Pavilion, Zaragoza
International Cultural Centre, China
Bee’ah Headquarters, Sharjah UAE (unfinished)
Opus Tower, Dubai
ME Hotel, Dubai
Sleuk Rith Institute, Cambodia
Grand Theatre, Morocco
Sheikh Zayed Bridge, Abu Dhabi
Riverside Museum, Glasgow
New Beijing Airport Terminal (unfinished)
Al Wakrah Stadium, Qatar (proposed to host 2022 FIFA World Cup)
City of Dreams , Macau, China
She died unexpectedly of a heart attack last year leaving many unfinished projects to her name.
Giorgio Armani Maestro UV Skin Defense Primer SPF 50
Posted on May 17, 2017
Hi my angels! I’ve been away for quiet sometime. Had to travel to my country for a couple of weddings and what was supposed to be a 2 week trip turned into nearly a two month vacation. lol
Weddings! weddings! weddings! When we talk about weddings, we go into all kind of details of course from decor, theme and food to guests, dresses, rehearsals etc etc. Now if there is one things which may not be talked about much but is part of everyone’s preparation, and that is make up.
Speaking of makeup, primers have become a huge deal over the past few years. There was a time when no one ever thought of applying a primer before foundation or all the other products that have become our makeup essentials lately. Coming to primers, now we all do understand what difference a good primer can actually make to our overall makeup. and i have to say here that i’m not talking about people who think women only wear makeup bcuz they are ugly and they try to hide their flaws (that is a whole different topic and I would be coming to that soon). A good primer can do wonders to your makeup and how it stays on for your special events. I have been a huge fan of the ultimate benefit porefessional primer. Having tried good primers, not-so-good primers, Nivea after shave, primer oil and even a bit of vaseline, I can easily say that each one has a different finish and by that i mean the way your makeup looks can actually depend a whole lot on primers.
This primer that i’m talking about today is pretty well known in the world of beauty of course. Those of you who religiously apply SPF before stepping out, this one serves all your needs for sure. For starters, it comes in a white glass bottle with a black dropper on top. The bottle is opaque which is fantastic to keep the ingredients intact and also it helps keep the SPF from expiring prematurely . The product itself is almost like water but thicker, its a whitish liquid not oily at all. The product has light white tint but it becomes absolutely clear once you start applying it on your skin. The best thing you will notice about this primer is that its not sticky like those typical SPF’s. It leaves the skin much smoother and gives it a bit of glow which is wonderful. The foundation goes on a lot more smoother and helps last much longer. It will help keep your foundation from separating but its not something that will stay on for 12 to 14 hours. Will it stay on and keep your makeup fresh for a reasonable amount of time? Yes!
Now I must add here that I’m not someone who religiously applies sunscreen so this primer could actually be more beneficial for women like me. It’s not very light on the pocket though.
You can get it for $64 at www.sephora.com,
AED399 at www.souq.com
Rs.12,427 at www.pkship.com
This product could be a great way to keep your skin safe from the harmful effects of the sun, it provides your makeup a smoother canvas making it appear less damaged and less wrinkly. For people who have been using it know what i’m talking about. Wouldn’t hurt to do something for yourself now would it?! Do keep in mind that this primer is not for all of you out there. You have to try it and then decide if it suits you or not.
Let me know what you think.
The weekend is almost here and the 3daysale starts tomorrow offering 30-90% off .
I’m super excited!
Smile and keep your love ones happy! Share good times!
Ciao!
Kiss From A Rose
Posted on March 9, 2017
I still remember the first time I listened to this song on the radio, I fell madly, deeply in love with it. I was sitting with my mom in her room when the RJ played this amazing song. Each night we used to turn on the radio and listen to insane music being played around 11pm on FM 100. (Back in Pakistan) That was a new radio station and the RJ’s were super good at what they did. The late night show used to be something! Great unforgettable music. My mom was into music as much as we kids were. It was always such a pleasure sitting next to her, listening to music, talking about different singers, our favorites and the whole shebang. It surely brings back memories of the days when my sister, friends and I used to turn the lights off in the room and listen to it at a super high volume. Lights from the equalizer on my music system used to seem so magical. What days!!!
This song was released in 1994, it was re-released as the soundtrack for Batman Forever in 1995. At the 1996 Grammy Awards, it won awards for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance ( Seal).
Lyrics are beautiful. Those of you who’ve never heard of this one (which I would find surprising), I would suggest you get your best headphones out, listen to the song while keeping the lyrics in front of you so you don’t miss a thing.
Seal “Kiss From A Rose” (youtube link given below)
There used to be a graying tower alone on the sea.
You became the light on the dark side of me.
Love remained a drug that’s the high and not the pill.
But did you know,
That when it snows,
My eyes become large and
The light that you shine can be seen.
Baby,
I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the gray.
Ooh,
The more I get of you,
The stranger it feels, yeah.
And now that your rose is in bloom.
A light hits the gloom on the gray.
There is so much a man can tell you,
So much he can say.
You remain,
My power, my pleasure, my pain, baby
To me you’re like a growing addiction that I can’t deny.
Won’t you tell me is that healthy, baby?
But did you know,
That when it snows,
My eyes become large and the light that you shine can be seen.
Baby,
I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the gray.
Ooh, the more I get of you
The stranger it feels, yeah
Now that your rose is in bloom.
A light hits the gloom on the gray,
I’ve been kissed by a rose on the gray,
I’ve been kissed by a rose
I’ve been kissed by a rose on the gray,
…And if I should fall along the way
I’ve been kissed by a rose
…been kissed by a rose on the gray.
There is so much a man can tell you,
So much he can say.
You remain
My power, my pleasure, my pain.
To me you’re like a growing addiction that I can’t deny, yeah
Won’t you tell me is that healthy, baby.
But did you know,
That when it snows,
My eyes become large and the light that you shine can be seen.
Baby,
I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the gray.
Ooh, the more I get of you
The stranger it feels, yeah
Now that your rose is in bloom,
A light hits the gloom on the gray.
Yes I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the gray
Ooh, the more I get of you
The stranger it feels, yeah
And now that your rose is in bloom
A light hits the gloom on the gray
Now that your rose is in bloom,
A light hits the gloom on the gray.
|Faces| Birthday Boy – Chris Martin
Posted on March 7, 2017
Chris Martin- The heart throb from the much loved band Coldplay, celebrated his 40th Birthday this month on the 2nd of March . His gorgeous ex-wife Gwyneth Paltrow sent out a beautiful birthday wish for him on Instagram in a gorgeous, happy family photo.
His great music, the videos and his warm smile never fail to brighten up a bad day. Watching Coldplay perform live is pretty much on everyone’s bucket list and for good reasons of course. A Coldplay concert is not something to be missed out on.
His songs are unforgettable. From Yellow to Paradise, Fix you to A Sky full of stars, Scientist to Hymn for the weekend, Clocks to A Head full of dreams… we love each and everyone of them!
He says he loves his fans no matter what they do or they say. He is down to earth and humble despite his fame, success and many awards.
We will always love Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin even though they are not together anymore but hey it’s all part of life.
His music still continues to bring magic to our lives.
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