My Lipstick __full__ - Burkha Under

Sometimes, I walk into a boardroom wearing a silk headscarf and a power lip, and the women look at me with pity. They assume my husband picks my clothes. They don't realize I picked him because he lets me pick my own clothes.

Let your hijab sit next to your highlighter. Let your prayer mat sit next to your vanity table.

I wear the lipstick because I am allowed to be beautiful. I wear the burkha because I am more than just beauty. burkha under my lipstick

Don't ask me to take off my burkha to fit into your office. And don't ask me to wipe off my lipstick to fit into your congregation.

The burkha taught me discipline. The lipstick taught me joy. Islam does not demand ugliness; it demands modesty of the gaze. And makeup, when worn with the right intention, is simply art on the canvas God gave you. Sometimes, I walk into a boardroom wearing a

Sometimes, I walk into the mosque for Friday prayers, and the aunties look at my manicured nails and tinted lips with suspicion. They whisper about how the West has corrupted me. They don’t realize that the Quran they are holding teaches that God looks at your heart, not the pigment on your mouth.

I am keeping both. Because under this lipstick, my voice is loud. And under this burkha, my heart is free. What are the layers you wear that the world doesn't see? Let me know in the comments below. Let your hijab sit next to your highlighter

So, to the woman looking in the mirror right now, confused by her reflection: Stop trying to peel off one layer to reveal the "real" you. The real you is the sum of the layers.