It’s not every day that women who are breaking boundaries in the Middle East find time in their busy schedules to chat about normalising taboo conversations. So, when Ascia Al Faraj, celeb fashion influencer joined forces with Emaan Abbass, founder of Ketish, we dropped everything to listen.

These women got to it and talked about everything from finding their tribes, to tattoos, and becoming comfortable with their bodies.

Owning their stories

Emaan and Ascia have more in common than you may initially realise. For example, they are both brand owners. Emaan is the founder of intimate brand, Ketish. She mentions that she started her journey alongside Huda and Mona Kattan, who encouraged her vision with Ketish and made her feel fearless. Emaan says she knew what the brand could bring and mean to other women. Today, she has a tribe of women working for Ketish as they navigate through the often-unmentioned aspects of feminine health and wellness. (You can click here to read our cover story with the powerhouse trio.) 

Ascia also has recently started a business. She is a co-founder of Seoul Kool, an online shopping platform featuring the best of K-beauty brands and products. Ascia mentions her skin is quite sensitive and when she discovered K-beauty, she finally felt like she was in control of her complexion. She also reflects that K-beauty made her realise skincare doesn’t need to be expensive to work. Ascia struggles with the difficulty of managing people’s expectations as a brand owner and not letting people down. She loves being surrounded by women and having a female co-founder.

Normalising conversations

It wasn’t until quite recently that both women became comfortable with their bodies. Emaan mentions that discussing her body and the changes she was going with her family during her youth wasn’t possible. She was left to her own devices and did not have the resources to navigate her way through her teens and twenties. Ascia agrees and mentions she once incurred a severe feminine infection due to a lack of wellness education while flying.

The ladies also share a love of ink. Emaan tells Ascia that her she has the coordinates of Santa Barbara, California tattooed on her arm. She smiles as she mentions that it was while she was in Cali that she turned into the woman she is today.

Ascia’s mindset shift came when she turned 30-years-old. The days of insecurities and fad diets are over and she’s now comfortable with herself and her body. She also mentions that she became open to being corrected and she actually now loves it. Around her 30th birthday, Ascia also made the decision to remove her hijab.

Reflecting

Both women gave answers to the same question concerning what they would tell themselves if they could go back in time to when they were both 16 years old. Asica says she would tell her 16-year-old self to dump her boyfriend and that life gets better. Emaan says she would tell her 16-year-old self to fill up her own cup and pour into herself. Stop people pleasing and seeking approval.

Thank you, ladies, for such a great chat. We learnt so much about the both of you and feel empowered from your positive vibes.