Introducing Jota-Kena

Posted on by Nhlanhla Masemola

In a world where fast fashion is increasingly being questioned, Jota-Ken’s mindful approach is a welcomed change to the industry. A combination of no-nonsense, hand-tailored garments – understated detailing and planet-friendly fabrics as well as local manufacturing put this new label firmly on the slow fashion map.

Jota-Kena’s AW17 collection draws inspiration from the Ivy League lifestyle. Characterised by earthy tones of burnt orange and tan, as well as forest green, navy and black – the brand is reminiscent of the ’70s but the lines are softer and the fit more comfortable. There is a tailored shirt with a wide collar embroidered with the Jota-Kena logo and a velvet slip dress to be worn over a polo-neck sweater and paired with ankle boots (one of our favorite winter trends here at Baked Online). Their attention to detail is evident in the embroidered designs, hand-drawn by Keziah, such as the white on white or black on black logos on the shirts.

“We are extremely particular about fit and a lot of attention goes into making each garment the perfect fit.”

The fabrics are imported from Europe and India, and range from cotton sateen to rayon twill, linen and honeycomb Tencel that have been overdyed, treated or crafted to make them ultra wearable.  To provide employment in the greater Cape Town community – all their clothes are made by hand by seamstresses in Cape Town.

As if their beautiful and simple garments aren’t enough, the team also donates 10% of all profit to a non-profit organisation called Hillsong Africa Foundation (HAF). HAF is dedicated to community upliftment through feeding programs, orphan care, women’s shelters, disaster relief, wheelchair distribution, substance abuse programmes, job-skills training centres, prison programmes and education.

You can order online at www.jotakena.com or purchased at their Cape Town studio. They also offer an alteration service, if necessary and delivery is free anywhere in South Africa for orders of R500 or more.

Golden Milk Recipe

Posted on by Nhlanhla Masemola

We all know turmeric is one of the best superfoods out there! Studies show that turmeric, the organic non-irradiated kind, has potential to ease arthritis, prevent cancer and Alzheimers  diseases, lower cholesterol, and boost the immune system. One of the key benefits of turmeric is its ability to act as a natural anti-inflammatory which is great for your skin and overall appearance! We have even given it a go as a facemark too.

In Eastern Culture turmeric is used in most forms of cooking, so its no surprise that turmeric tea is packed with health benefits. Today we are focussing on the delicious and trendy Golden Milk drink. Some say Golden Milk is the new Macha.

Shopping List & Stockists

1 cup of almond milk ( you can try dairy or coconut milk too) Shop

1 tbsp of freshly grated turmeric root – Shop

or 1 tsp of ground non-irradiated organic turmeric – Available at Wellness Warehouse – shop

2 cardamom pods – Shop

1 tbsp of freshly grated ginger root – Shop

1 tsp of non irradiated ground cinnamon – Shop

Sweetener of choice – we used honey!

A pinch of pepper

Recipe

1. In a small pot on the stove, gently heat milk over low heat.

2. Whisk in turmeric, ginger, and cinnamon until frothy, adding sweetener to taste.

3. Pour in your favorite mug and sprinkle with ground pepper.

4. If you’re using ground spices, pour the mixture through a sieve to separate the sediment.

Not interested in DIY – try purchasing the latte mixture here or here

Xo Aisha

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Disclaimer: Turmeric is generally safe as long as you consume it in moderation. You should check with your doctor about drinking turmeric tea if you have had:

  • inflammation of the gallbladder or gallbladder stones
  • obstruction of bile passages
  • stomach ulcers
  • diabetes (turmeric supplements may lower blood sugar)

Taking too much turmeric may cause side effects, however. These include:

  • increased stomach acidity, which can cause ulcers
  • a blood-thinning effect

Because turmeric may thin your blood, you should stop drinking turmeric tea two weeks before surgery. Do not take turmeric tea if you are on blood thinners, either.

Ramadan Style Guide

Posted on by Nhlanhla Masemola

Ramadan is undoubtedly the best time of the year for most muslims. Many women enter into hijab, myself included, as a symbol of humility and modesty. Some of us use the month of ramadan as a turning for the future to some day enter into a modest way of dressing.

In celebration of my favorite month of the year we collaborated with photographer Rizqa Barnes to develop a Ramadan Style Guide for our modest readers.

Look One | The Newsboy Cap 

The newsie revival has been seen on all our favorite off duty supermodels and celebrities recently. It may seem slightly intimidating but the key to styling this piece, without looking like Oliver Twist, is to go rogue and add it to any look. It goes with pretty much everything. If you’re feeling shaky about you newsboy cap, simplify the look with denims and a plain top. Hijabi’s don’t be afraid to play with layering headgear, its a really fun way to showcase your personal style while maintaining your modesty.

Look Two | The Canadian Tuxedo

Who doesn’t revel in a denim on denim ensemble, I certainly do! This H&M two piece really ups the anti with its lace up additions. Adding white boots to create a mod look.

To create a modest feel drape your scarf ever so slightly and be sure to buy the jacket one size too big. Shoulder shrugging coats were literally made for hijabi’s don’t be afraid to shrug your jacket, creating a simultaneous cool and covered getup.

Look Three | The Statement Sleeve 

We love a good sleeve moment over at Baked HQ, and I kinda went crazy for this embroidered bell sleeve top. Reminiscent of a tracksuit top,It comes in both black and white. Pairing it here with pleated culottes and boots, the look is all about exploring textures in the same tone.

Big shout out to the Silo Hotel Cape Town for allowing us to capture these looks at their hotel. Stay tuned for more style guides soon.

Xo

Low Key Obsessed: Products of the season

Posted on by Nhlanhla Masemola

Dior Hydra Life Deep Hydration Sorbet Water Essence

R1,075.00 Available in store only (Edgars)

offers 3 actions in 1 single step: the ultra-concentrated moisturization of a serum, the radiance boost of a gentle peel and the toning effect of a lotion. Apply before hydra life fresh hydration sorbet créme.

Dior Hydra Life Fresh Hydration Sorbet Créme

R995.00 Available in store only (Edgars)

Moisturizes, nourishes and rebalances the skin while helping strengthen its natural defenses. Boast 24hr hydration and radiance.

Rimmel Only 1 Matte Lipsticks

R119.95 Available Online (here)

Available in three key nude shades “90’s babe” “Aint No Other” and “I Dare You”. The formula is non drying and lip hugging. We enjoyed the colour pay off and trendy nude shades. The price is good too!

Maybeline Master Strobing Stick

 R 159.95 – Available Online (here)

Available in three shades, light, medium and dark. The creamy highlighting stick makes for easy application before foundation or on its own for the girl-on-the-go. We love that its affordable and convenient.

 

Wanted

Posted on by Nhlanhla Masemola

As you know, from the beginning of the week its my first wedding anniversary and in celebration our beauty topic this week focuses on the guys. Whether it’s your anniversary, his birthday or just a special occasion, searching for the perfect equilibrium between a cheesy and cool gift for your guy can be tricky for the urban girl.

Azzaro Wanted was the perfect choice for Wayne since he is cool and edgy (and hates anything remotely cheesy or romantic) I actually sent him black heart shaped balloons for our wedding anniversary instead of regular balloons which I thought were pretty rad. He loved the fragrance more than the balloons of course but thats because the scent and ethos of the fragrance fits his personality to a T.

The Wanted man is cool, off beat and lives by his own rules! He is not too focused on labels, wears what wants, does what he wants and doesn’t care what anyone else thinks! Wayne is the embodiment of the fragrance –  I admire his confidence and care free nature when plunging into anything he chooses. I presented him with the fragrance on the day we shot this, our last day together, he was so into it after I explained this story of who The Wanted Man represents.

As his chosen woman I love the scent on him, it’s addictive and enticing! Azzaro Wanted can be classified as a woody-citrus-spicy fragrance. The skin is stylized with hints of Ginger, Cardamom, Prickly Juniper, Tonka Bean and Vetiver. Besides its spicy undertones, the fragrance leaves his skin perfumed for hours and lingers long after he leaves.

Read more about what The Wanted Man encapsulates and all the fragrant ingredients on their website here.

Xo Aisha

Canal Walk Bloggers Day Out

Posted on by Nhlanhla Masemola

Canal Walk invited us to experience their Bloggers Day Out last week. I was lucky to have one of our regular fashion mavens, Niquita Bento, with us to experience the day along with a selected few digital influencers in Cape Town.

The event welcomed us with bribery – aka food, coffee and power banks. Needless to say I was ready to be wowed because my favourite things were dished out at the start, imagine the whole day being spoilt! We were ushered around the shopping centre in branded golf carts as we shopped the luxury offerings at Canal Walk.

The morning was started at Marios Jewellers. They introduced us to their latest offering in luxury pieces followed by an in-store experience with La Senza, reviewing and shopping their full range of lingerie, sleep and street sportswear.

We changed the turn of events with a food and fashion experience in the centre’s Centre Court. Most of their big events are held here during the year, but we were treated to a more intimate experience with Jackie Burger, South African style icon. We discussed the future of fashion and online publishing and our role to drive creativity in SA. Definitely my favourite part of the day!

Before retiring to our chic rooms at the Century City Hotel, we received a private fragrance pairing at Jo Malone and makeup consultation at the stand-alone Bobbi Brown store in the centre.

We moved the soirée to Century City Hotel, across the way from Canal Walk for their pop-up Glam Room experience with hair and make up by Partners Hair Design and Lindy Lin. Followed by Frosting by Lovisa and Arm Candy by Colette by Colette Hayman, before heading down to the hotel restaurant, The Square Café, for an exclusive dinner.

After a relaxing night in our hotel suite, I said goodbye to my husband and reconnected with all the bloggers over breakfast and the Blogger Awards Ceremony, where I won a two nights stay at the Century City Hotel!

As a treat to you guys and to celebrate my wedding anniversary, I am giving away my prize to a lucky Cape Town married couple. All you need to do is subscribe to bakedonline.co.za and comment with your wedding anniversary date & email address below this post!

Good luck!

more on Canal Walk’s website

Xo Aisha

 

Boy meets girl

Posted on by Nhlanhla Masemola

Our friends at Cotton On Africa have launched their urban inspired collection for men and women and we were lucky enough to collaborate with them on our first winter style story together.

We got the opportunity to style ourselves in our favorite pieces from the story and of course I had to pull Niquita in to shoot it all. I feel like we did more laughing and snacking than actual shooting though.

About Look One 

Our first look is an ode to London, since Parny just got back from there. I am adopting two key trends of the season for women – the page boy hat and the shoulder shrugging puffer. What is shoulder shrugging you ask? Well it’s the act of gently sliding your jacket off your shoulders (pictured here). Winter’s must have item is the puffer, the bombers chubbier cousin, shrugging it off your one shoulder to give it an edgy but chilled look. Make sure you don’t shrug it off both shoulders – this is NOT the look.

Parny has also adopted the shoulder shrugging (yes boys you can do it too). In terms of headwear for men we are both loving the ‘fisherman beanie’ for guys. We balanced both our looks off with primary colors, totally unplanned. Primary colors are key for winter, brightening up the usual cool winter tones.

About Look Two 

Since I had been to NYC earlier this year, we wanted to showcase our inner New Yorker Hip Hop Head. Parny does this so well in a statement fur trimmed puffer while I opted for a winter bright hoodie and a winter fav the camo bomber.

For the girls, I would suggest adding a hoodie underneath your statement bomber to tie the look together, giving it an androgynous feel, but keeping your colors bright and playful.

I really love the way his styled his puffer with track pants and sneakers – it’s now appropriate to wear track pants to dinner guys, this is why I love fashion!Remember to balance your winter brights with neutral colors!

We hope you loved this shoot as much as we did. Make sure you check out Cotton On’s new African Instagram channel @cottonon_africa for even more pics.

Xo Aisha

Songs From Mars

Posted on by Mario Ogle

Let’s go back to the time when we used to make a CD of our favorite songs for our significant other…

We’d play that CD for the longest time until it was so scratched that it eventually had to be thrown away. Or even before that, when the only time you’d hear new music was on the radio charts, so you’d have your finger armed and ready, waiting to push that red record button to “tape” the newest songs on your precious TDK cassette. That last memory might have gone over some millennials heads but the point I’m trying to highlight is that it was not easy.

Nowadays the digital age has made everything so much more convenient, and often lacks a lot of finesse when it comes to adding value to our love, relationships and friendships. We’re able to access the latest music and apps at the tap of our fingers; streaming has almost become second nature to us; and we consume everything new within hours of its release. If it doesn’t trend, it’s not worth our valuable time.

These playlists serve as a bridge to the nostalgia of my younger days. Listening to the same music and geeking out to new melodies with your friends. Sharing memories through music. Expressing love and loss through the lyrics.

Baked Online is renowned for fashion and beauty, but every now and then we forget it’s the music that glues these things together.

Let us know what your favorite song is, and if you have a song that is not part of this months playlist, I’m sure the rest of the Baked Online community would love to hear it too, send us a mail. We’re going to try and put together a playlist every month.

Listen to Songs From Mars [Vol. 2] on Apple Music: Link Here

My Wedding

Posted on by Nhlanhla Masemola

On the 21st of May 2016 my husband and I married, in an intimate ceremony and reception in my home town, Cape Town. It was a bit of a surprise as I kept my engagement a secret from the public and announced my marriage the next day in our national Sunday newspaper, the Sunday Times.

I was reluctant to post about my wedding at all, that’s why it’s taking me some time to launch this post! It was such an intimate and special time in my life, at first I kind of wanted to keep it all to myself. I wasn’t too sure how to approach this, but decided to share a bit about my day to celebrate my one year wedding anniversary.

This post is dedicated to all those questions you guys may have regarding my wedding and a little walk down memory lane, as I take you through one of the best days of my life.

The Nikkah

This part of my wedding was very emotional for both my husband and I. My husband is also Muslim (BTW), so to be in the masjid about to make the biggest step in our religion was a momentous occasion. You could feel the energy in the mosque, there was so much love and acceptance in the air. We have so many non Muslim family members and friends, to see them all there dressed in the traditional headscarf, opening their hearts and minds to our culture was really an emotional experience. My father gave me away himself, it was pretty emotional for him! It’s not common here for a father to give his daughter away, usually an Imam will do it on his behalf, but it was important to my dad to do the deed himself.

We welcomed our 450 guests to join us for brunch in the basement of the masjid, after the traditional ceremony. We placed lot of emphasis on the brunch since it was a custom of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) to host a banquet after the formal Nikkah takes place. The basement was transformed with a beautiful fresh flower backdrop and stage with the amazing food being a highlight of the morning!

The Dinner Reception

After brunch, I changed into a second outfit for an intimate dinner at the Mount Nelson hotel.  I loved the venue because it meant a lot to me growing up and held some heritage

The dinner was extremely intimate with our closest friends and of course family. I had always imagined a Parisian theme, my wedding planner agreed and we transformed the ballroom into a night in Versailles. The menu was incredibly delicious and decadent with a crayfish bisque starter and roast lamb for mains. However my appetite was very slight, I guess the excitement and nerves left me less hungry than I had hoped to be. For dessert we served creme brûlée, cappuccino’s and wedding cake.

Thank you to Event Interiors, for making my wedding so special and working with my budget. To our Nikkah caterers Jiah, for your magnificent cuisine & florists Bouwer flowers for creating a beautiful backdrop for our Nikkah ceremony.

To Heike for being the incredible floral artist you are and to our wedding cake confectioner Kanya, you’re too talented! To rubitex fabric house for flying all over the world to source my beautiful fabric in just ten days and to my designers at Me Couture for making two wedding dresses in under a month’s time! Thank you.

Xo Aisha

P.s. I have listed all our wedding suppliers below so that you may get in touch with them if you need.