Welcome to our very first blog post. Part of new things to be added to Almaarie this year. Can you believe it's second week of March already!? Doesn't time fly! Almaarie was founded in 2017 by myself, Dr. Sheila Kazi. Before launching Almaarie, I was working as a principle engineer in a major blue-chip company. This was my dream job since I was a very young girl and I had worked very hard to get to that point.  However everything changed in 2016 when I had to make one of the most difficult decisions of my life, to give up my job, to give up my dream. This was because around late 2013 I had been diagnosed with debilitating chronic illness and by the end of 2016 I could no longer carry on working. I had to give up my dream of high flying career and move back in with my parents. 

However being a workaholic, I couldn't just stay at home and do nothing and wallow in my sorrows. It just wasn't going to happen. This is when the idea of Almaarie came to me. Having my own business where I am able to work around my health conditions. I knew it was going to be very difficult and will take a lot of hard work to make it a success, but I have always loved a challenge and always been a workaholic. So in June 2017 I registered Almaarie Limited as a company with Companies House in the UK. 

You may be surprised to know that Almaarie actually started up as a ladies fashion brand before it was pivoted to home fragrance brand that you know today. Fashion has always been something I was fond of. However I have always struggled to make mainstream fashion work for me. This is because my faith requires me to dress in a certain way. To dress modestly yet fashionably with my own unique style, especially in the warmer months has never been easy. Despite what many people think, modest fashion is not the opposite of 'immodest' fashion. Neither does it describe the garb of any particular religious group. It is simply a type of fashion like office wear, evening wear, sports wear, minimalist fashion etc. What constitutes modesty in fashion varies from person to person and is often influenced by various factors such as faith, culture, personal style and even the weather. There are people out there who follow modest fashion without realising that is what they do.

Given this it was a no brainer to build my business around fashion, especially around modest fashion. As I mentioned earlier modest fashionistas are diverse in their faith (or absent of faith), culture, style and reasons behind their choice of apparel. Hence modest fashion by proxy is about diversity. Being born and brought up in the beautiful multicultural city of London and as child of a migrant, diversity is very close to my heart. It is not just the architecture but the mixture and influence of the people of various races, religions, colour and cultures who call London home that make London the beautiful place that it is. My vision for Almaarie was to celebrate the unity between people whilst respecting, enjoying and learning from the diversity.

So what happened to the fashion side of the business? Once again, it was my health. I had naively underestimated the work required to keep up the business at a level I was happy with and overestimated my own physical capacity. I am a forever glass full kind of person, so if I feel a bit better I start thinking I can carry on being like this but my body puts it's foot down. After running the business moderately successfully for nearly 5 years, with customers from around the world, I had to accept that fashion was not a business I could work in. I had stopped enjoying it, mainly because it was physically very demanding. Being a small business on a limited budget but not willing to compromise on quality, I was doing most things my self. This not only meant managing the business but also performing the manual part of the business, photo shoots, markets, advertisements etc etc. it was making me more stressed and sick than it was making me happy. I knew it was time to change and so biting the bullet that is exactly what I did. In January 2023 Almaarie stopped being a fashion business and moved completely to home fragrances brand.

So why home fragrances you ask! It's because I've always loved fragrances. Both perfumes and home fragrances. Candles is something I have always used to make me feel calm, relaxed and to create and ambiance to suit my mood. Needless to say that I have spent a lot of money on candles and perfumes. However, with candles and diffusers, I have often been disappointed despite buying 'luxury' brands. Being an engineer and having always been creative and working with my own hands, my brain just told me why not make candles myself? I knew if I set my mind to it I can make beautifully scented candles, that have great scent throw when lit and looks great but doesn't cost as much as some of the more expensive ones out there. So this is what I did. I spent 6 months learning and testing and learning until I was happy and confident with the first collection. On International Women's Day 2022, I took my new collection to an event where they were a huge hit. I kept selling them at various pop-us until February 2023 when they were released online. I am pleased to say that I once again absolutely love what I do. I have been very lucky to have a great community of customers and supporters who have been with Almaarie from the very begining.

Little bit more about myself. Before my new modified lifestyle, I was one of those people who are into trying various adventurous activities. These included indoor climbing, gliding, hiking, caving, hot air balloon ride... you get the gist. I was also training for a half marathon. Other not so active interests included travelling, jewellery making, art and craft, collecting antique makeups oh and reading. I don't read books anymore, I now listen to books! Very funny, I know. By the way, I have an 1897 edition of Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. I had an even older copy of Pride and Prejudice, but alas I don't have that anymore. The last thing I absolutely have to mention is that I have two beautiful cats called Buttons and Oscar. They are the apple of my eyes. There you go, you now know as much as my friends know about me. Can we be friends?

Jokes aside, now you do know more about where Almaarie comes from and what it stands for, I hope you will support us. In return we hope to be a brand that you will be proud to be a part of. Let's be honest, without you and your support Almaarie is nothing but just another dream.

Dr. Sheila Kazi, Founder and CEO