Salone Style & Story Spotlight ( with Yazmin Karim)

Salone Style & Story Spotlight (SS&SS)  features young, inspiring and driven Sierra Leoneans with a great fashion sense.  This platforms aims to show the world that there is more to Sierra Leoneans than being victims of Ebola and a civil war. 

Today's Salone Style and Story Spotlight features the gorgeous Miss Yazmin Karim, a Sierra Leonean living in the UK. She is a 23 years old God fearing, BA Human Resource Management graduate currently training to become a qualified session hairstylist.

She is also a finalist in the running for the first annual Miss Sierra Leone UK 2015 beauty pageant ( follow her pageant journey here and vote for her here). 
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Yazmin is a determined young lady with an awesome style. Check her out and be inspired!

What are you  goals?

My goal right now is to win the Miss Sierra Leone Beauty Pageant, which will in turn  give me a platform to use my life experiences to empower, inspire and strengthen females, of all ages and walks of life. Bringing me one step closer to fulfilling my lifetime goal of becoming a woman of substance and virtue.

Where do you get your life inspirations from?

To be honest I’d have to say I have inspired myself. I say this because; I had a moment in 2014 when I had an encounter with myself, thinking about how much I have achieved from becoming a teenage mother to graduating with a BA (Hons) and  raising my amazing daughter. Everyday I just give God the glory for bringing me though my personal struggles, especially during the times when I had no will power left to carry on. I remind myself that everyday I wake up I still have a purpose to fulfill. One that I alone was created for.

Describe your style

I would definitely describe my style as being relaxed, minimal, and yet very feminine.  I love basic t-shirts paired with jeans and sandal heels to dress it up or flats to keep it casual topped with a blazer. Literally that’s my every day look.  Oversize jumpers, with leather leggings, over-sized trench coats and scarves!! Love em all. Also the one colour look either all black or all white etc. I think it’s very sophisticated and chic, looks like you haven’t put in too much effort when in actuality it’s the opposite.

                  




Style Inspiration

I often go onto blog sites to see what the newest fashion trends are, and put my own personal spin to it. 

                      

Favorite Brands and Place to shop

I’m in love Zara, I’d say about ¾ of my wardrobe are all from Zara. I love how super simple, minimal yet chic and classy their pieces are.  Other brands that I do like are mostly of the high street including Topshop, H&M, Bershka and Asos. I also love my designers when it comes to my shoes. I feel every girl needs a pair of red bottoms in her life!

Accessory Life!

As I keep it basic when it comes to my outfits I try and dress it up with accessories. Be it necklaces, rings or just a chunky watch, hats or scarves. At the moment I’m into a local sierra Leonean jewellery designer by the name of African Pixie. They are all one of a kind, handmade statement pieces. With regards to hats as we were in the winter/fall season, oversized floppy hats brought a whole lot of like to my outfits. When I felt like I just wanted an easy,laid back look I’d wear my favourite ‘snap back’ hat from ODF clothing, a British contemporary brand.

 Hair, Beauty and Makeup  Tips 

When it comes to my hair, I mostly wear extensions, which I either wear straight, or with voluminous curls. One personal tip I have for creating voluminous curls, is using a big barrel tong, section the hair and curl away from your face, allowing the hair to set and cool in rollers and or pins/grips Spray the hair with some holding. Spray and the curls will last, making you look fab all day.

                 

                               

But I’m also loving the whole natural hair look, having gone natural for about a year. When I wear my own hair I simply twist it using shea butter and untwist.

                                    

With regards to beauty after you’ve finished with your makeup spraying your face with the MAC fix plus takes away that ‘cakey powder look’ and give you a dewy flawless finish.

 

Favourite fashion item

 My favourite fashion item as of right now has to be a clutch bag, the one I have been wearing a lot is from H&M which you could wear as a clutch or a small messenger bag

Trend you will be caught in

I don’t think there are any trends I’d never be caught in, as I believe with all trends you can personalise and make it work.With that said, you’d never catch me in socks and sandals lol!!!

This isn't Yazmin for sure!

Most people don't know....

Being a finalist in the Miss Sierra Leone beauty pageant a lot of people don’t know that I am in fact a very shy person. (One of the reasons why I decided to go for the pageant.) As I believe it would aid me in overcoming this (I’d call it a flaw), enabling me in becoming a more confident, stronger woman.  

Tell us what you love most about Sierra Leone
To just pick one thing I love about Sierra Leone is so unfair as there are many to choose from. But being how much I love food I’d definitely say our staple dish Cassava leaves with pamine (Palm oil), I don’t know how to cook it so when I do get the opportunity to eat it, I am a very happy woman!!

For my non Sierra Leoneans go check Nina's Cookery Corner blog for ingredients and recipe 

Thank you Yazmin for sharing your style and story with us.  To know about Yazmin follow her youtube channel  and don't forget to vote for her.