September 2026 | Issue #320 www.bazaar.town
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About the Cover: This month’s cover is photographed by Abdullah Albenayan, and we love the way he has framed one of Kuwait’s most familiar landmarks, the Liberation Tower, against the city’s iconic white-and-blue water towers. It is a deceptively simple composition, turning something we pass, see, and perhaps take for granted into something worth stopping to look at.
Back to life. Back to school. Back to the (temporary) humidity. Back to friends. Back to gatherings. Back to wondering what’s going to happen next with this never-ending back-and-forth tug of war (no pun intended!). And what better way to ease back into the rhythm of September than with a little curiosity? This month, we meet Kuwaiti artist Meshail Faisal AlJummah, whose wonderfully strange, unsettling, and endlessly intriguing work asks us to look twice, and then perhaps once more. Our Truth or Dare candidate reveals the person behind those watchful eyes, including a few answers that are every bit as unexpected as her art. We also spend time with photographer and entrepreneur Abdullah Albenayan, whose approach to life is less about finding one perfect path and more about building a life that leaves room for the things he loves. From engineering and entrepreneurship to travel and photography, his story is ultimately about curiosity, adaptability, and learning by doing. Elsewhere, September means getting back into routine, but hopefully a smarter one. Xcite makes the return to school, university, work, and busy schedules a little more seamless, with technology designed to help us stay productive, connected, and organized, while still making room for the all-important switch-off at the end of the day. And because no school-day routine is complete without the question of what goes into the lunchbox, Brain Blasterz brings a little more fun to snack time, with playful sour treats and easy ideas that turn an everyday lunch into something kids might look forward to. We revisit a childhood hero in a very grown-up way with Grendizer, in a charming look at how the Japanese robot became part of the memories, and collections, of a generation of men across the region. We also head into the world of Waldorf Astoria Kuwait, where signature stays, indulgent wellness, exceptional dining, and beautifully considered experiences offer plenty of reasons to linger a little longer. And for a different kind of recognition, we look at why Toyota has been named Kuwait’s Most Influential Automotive Brand for 2026 by Ipsos, a distinction that reflects the trust, reliability, and enduring relationship the brand has built with consumers in Kuwait. So, yes, we’re back to routine. But with new ideas, new discoveries, and a few good reasons to look at familiar things differently, who says routine must be predictable?
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INDEX SEPTEMBER 2026 20
MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE Some paintings reveal themselves immediately. Meshail Faisal AlJummah would rather make you look twice. Through enlarged eyes, distorted figures, unexpected narratives, and a touch of unease, the Kuwaiti artist creates work that resists easy answers and invites viewers to linger, question, and find their own meaning.
28 THE BUSINESS OF LIVING What if success is less about finding the perfect career and more about creating the freedom to live the life you want? Entrepreneur and photographer Abdullah Albenayan has built his journey around that idea, moving between engineering, business, travel, and photography while making room for the things that matter most.
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A Porsche is more than a car, and understanding its value requires more than an ordinary evaluation. Porsche Centre Kuwait invites owners to discover what their vehicle could be worth through a complimentary specialist assessment and tailored buy-back offer, giving every Porsche the expertise, attention, and appreciation its next chapter deserves.
What happens when a childhood obsession makes the journey from boyhood bedroom to marital home? Purva Grover discovers that living with her husband’s collection of Grendizer figurines means living with a little piece of his past, and perhaps learning that some things are simply too beloved to leave behind.
YOUR PORSCHE DESERVES TO BE APPRECIATED
MY HUSBAND’S WEDDING TROUSSEAU INCLUDED A TOY
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What makes a brand influential goes far beyond recognition. Toyota has been named Kuwait’s Most Influential Automotive Brand for 2026 in Ipsos’ inaugural study, reflecting the trust, reliability, engagement, and forward-thinking qualities that continue to shape its relationship with consumers across generations.
This September, Waldorf Astoria Kuwait invites you to experience luxury in many forms, from the privacy of its Royal Suite and an indulgent 24K Gold Hammam Ritual to Wagyu dining and an artinspired Afternoon Tea. Each experience offers its own reason to slow down, indulge, and make the everyday feel extraordinary.
TOYOTA NAMED MOST INFLUENTIAL AUTOMOTIVE BRAND
THE ESSENCE OF WALDORF ASTORIA KUWAIT
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SAVING THE PLANET, ONE SMALL CHANGE AT A TIME WITH IKEA What if living more sustainably did not require a complete lifestyle overhaul? As Kuwait calls for more responsible consumption of electricity and water, IKEA is showing how simple choices at home, from using water more thoughtfully to making furniture last longer, can become meaningful when we all make them together.
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MAKE BACK-TO-SCHOOL SNACKS THE BEST PART OF THE DAY Back-to-school brings enough routines without making snack time another chore. Brain Blasterz adds a little adventure to lunchboxes and afterschool treats, with sour flavours, playful challenges, and easy ideas that let kids have more fun while keeping things simple for parents.
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YOUR PORSCHE DESERVES TO BE APPRECIATED P. 24
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Meshail Faisal on distortion, storytelling and creating art that asks us to linger a little longer By bazaar Staff
There is something eerie about being looked at by a painting. In Meshail Faisal AlJummah’s work, eyes appear everywhere. They widen, multiply, and wander away from where we expect them to look. Some meet our gaze directly. Others seem preoccupied with something beyond the edge of the canvas. Around them, human bodies stretch beyond anatomical logic, faces fragment, and animals inhabit worlds that feel simultaneously playful and unsettling. Perhaps the figures are watching us. Perhaps we are watching them. Meshail would rather not decide. “The moment I give them one meaning, they stop looking in all those different directions,” she says. That resistance to certainty sits at the heart of Meshail’s practice. A Kuwaiti visual artist, sculptor and writer, she has spent more than a decade developing a distinctive visual vocabulary, one in which distortion can communicate what realism cannot and a painting does not need to explain itself to be understood. Art was part of her life long before it became a career. Meshail studied Earth Sciences and Environment at Kuwait University, while pursuing her passion for painting and sculpture. Today, she describes art as “the language through which I felt I could understand and express the world most honestly.” It is tempting to look at an artist with such a recognizable aesthetic and imagine it was carefully constructed. Meshail says the opposite. “My visual language developed through repetition, curiosity, and instinct,” she explains. “Certain faces, eyes, distortions, colors, and forms kept returning to my work.” Over time, those elements became a vocabulary of their own. The enlarged eyes, altered faces and impossible proportions allow her to push the human figure somewhere realism cannot easily go. “The human figure interests me precisely because it doesn’t have to remain anatomically correct to feel human,” she says. “An enlarged eye, an altered face, or an impossible proportion can communicate a psychological state immediately.” Beauty With Something Beneath It Meshail’s paintings occupy an intriguing emotional middle ground. They can be whimsical and tender, but rarely simply pretty. Something feels slightly off. A figure might draw you in at first glance, then another detail shifts the mood entirely. “I don’t necessarily want someone to look at a painting and immediately decide whether it is beautiful or disturbing,” she says. “I would rather they feel something first and understand it later, or perhaps never fully understand it.” 20
For Meshail, beauty without tension risks becoming passive. Unease makes us look again. It turns looking into questioning. That matters in a moment when images are consumed almost instantaneously. Social media has made art extraordinarily accessible, but it has also accustomed us to seeing, absorbing and moving on within seconds. Meshail refuses to paint at that speed. “A painting should be allowed to reveal itself slowly,” she says. “Sometimes the first thing you notice attracts you, but the second or third thing changes your understanding of the entire image.” A Story Without an Ending That invitation to linger extends to narrative. Meshail may begin with a memory, emotion, thought or image, but she does not expect the viewer to arrive at the same story she did. “I don’t want a painting to function like an explanation,” she says. Viewers have discovered relationships between figures and meanings in symbols that she never consciously intended. Rather than correcting those interpretations, she welcomes them. “Once a painting leaves my studio, I think it begins another life. The viewer brings their own memories and experiences to it, and that becomes part of the work.” Her relationship with storytelling extends beyond the canvas. Meshail created artwork for Mama Hissa’s Mice, Saud Alsanousi’s novel, which required her to enter a world another artist had already constructed through words. “With literature, there is another voice in the room, the writer’s voice, and I have to find a way for my visual language to meet it without either one overpowering the other,” she explains. Rather than illustrating a scene literally, she wanted to capture something of the novel’s spirit while keeping the image recognizably her own. The experience also changed the way she approached storytelling in her paintings, showing her how much could exist beyond the visible image. “Sometimes what you leave outside the painting is as important as what you put inside it.” It makes sense, then, that if she had not become a visual artist, Meshail believes she would have pursued writing. For her, both disciplines share the same impulse: constructing a world and inviting someone else inside. [Continued...]
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Layers of Looking Even Meshail’s scientific background becomes connected to the way she creates. “Earth Sciences teaches you to look at surfaces and understand that there are histories underneath them,” she says. “Layers, erosion, transformation, time, structure. These ideas are scientific, but they can also be very poetic.” Science trained her to observe. Art gave her permission to take those observations somewhere less logical and more intuitive. She has been doing so since she began exhibiting in 2010, with her work shown across Kuwait and internationally. Looking back, she sees her younger self as an artist searching for a language and trying to understand what genuinely belonged to her. “Today I know my language better, but the searching hasn’t stopped,” she says. “The difference is that now I’m less interested in finding answers. I’m more interested in finding better questions.” Those questions are becoming larger in scale. Meshail is increasingly interested in expanding the world of her paintings beyond the canvas through sculpture and immersive works, bringing painting, sculpture, literature and writing together rather than treating them as separate disciplines. It is easy to imagine the possibilities. What happens when one of those exaggerated eyes no longer looks outward from a canvas, but occupies the same physical space as the viewer? What happens when we can walk through, rather than simply look into, one of Meshail’s worlds? Perhaps that is where her practice is heading. Not toward answers, but deeper into the uncertainty that has always interested her. When asked what she hopes visitors take away from an exhibition, Meshail resists prescribing an emotion. Curiosity is welcome. So is discomfort, tenderness or a question they cannot immediately articulate. What matters is that something remains. “I like the idea that an image might return to someone’s mind hours or days after they have left the exhibition,” she says. “For me, that lingering memory is more meaningful than immediate understanding.” Perhaps that is the best way into Meshail Faisal AlJummah’s work. Look once. Look again. Notice what is looking back. And resist the urge to solve it. 22
TRUTH OR DARE QUESTIONS How would your mother describe you in one word? Stubborn. How would you describe your mother in one word? Home. What is the most ridiculous question you’ve ever been asked? “Why don’t you paint something normal?” What is the most spontaneous thing you’ve ever done? Following an idea simply because it felt right, without knowing where it would lead me. What is your theme song? “ The world we knew “ Frank Sinatra What word in the English or Arabic language do you wish you had invented? —لايخلاImagination. Where would you like to live? Somewhere old, beautiful and close to nature. Maybe Granada. What is your dream retirement location? By the sea, with my family and a studio. I don’t think I’ll ever retire from art. What is the first famous quote that comes to your mind? “Everything you can imagine is real.” — Picasso. Which animal best describes your perfect partner, be it in business, or in life? A horse. Strong, loyal and free. Do you miss anything from your childhood and if so, what is it? The freedom to imagine without questioning everything. If you could change your name, to what would you change it? I wouldn’t. Meshail feels like me. How would you describe your handshake, in one word? Confident. What is the toughest part of your character? I rarely give up, even when I probably should.
What do you think is lacking in the world, which, if there were more of it, would make the world a better place? Empathy. We need to understand each other more.
Finish this sentence: “Happiness is…” Happiness is knowing the people I love are safe, and having something to look forward to.
Who is your favorite historical figure? Leonardo da Vinci. I admire his endless curiosity. What in the world do you least desire? A life without curiosity.
Why do you think most people who do, like you? Maybe because I’m simply myself with them.
Follow Meshail’s work on Instagram @meshailalfaisal.
[...Continued]
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YOUR PORSCHE DESERVES TO BE APPRECIATED When it is time to let go, entrust your Porsche to those who understand it best. By Purva Grover
Some cars are simply driven. A Porsche is experienced, cared for and appreciated for everything that lies beneath its unmistakable design: the engineering, performance, heritage and meticulous attention to detail that make every Porsche truly unique.
And when the time comes to sell your Porsche, there is no one better placed to understand its value than Porsche Centre Kuwait, Behbehani Motors Company. For a limited time only, Porsche Centre Kuwait is inviting Porsche owners to bring their vehicle in for a complimentary evaluation and a tailored buy-back offer. It is an opportunity to have your Porsche assessed by specialists who know the marque intimately: experts who understand its character, specification, condition and the exacting standards behind every Porsche. Because when it comes to determining the value of a car like yours, every detail matters. Your Porsche deserves to be evaluated with the same precision, expertise and care with which it was created. From its model and specification to its condition, history and overall character, each element contributes to understanding the car as a whole. This specialist perspective can
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offer Porsche owners greater confidence when considering their vehicle’s next chapter.
the evaluation gives you the opportunity to explore your options with confidence.
A VALUE THAT BEGINS WITH UNDERSTANDING Your Porsche has been part of your journey. When the time comes for its next chapter, make sure it is entrusted to someone who truly understands what you are offering. At Porsche Centre Kuwait, your vehicle is not simply another pre-owned car. Its Porsche heritage, specification, condition and provenance are considered as part of the complete picture. With a tailored buy-back offer, you have the opportunity to discover what your Porsche could be worth through specialists who know the marque best. And there is no obligation to trade in. Simply bring your Porsche to Porsche Centre Kuwait, have it professionally evaluated by our specialists, and make an informed decision about what comes next. Whether you are ready to move on or simply want to understand your vehicle’s current value,
THE RIGHT PLACE FOR YOUR PORSCHE There is a certain reassurance in knowing that your Porsche is being assessed by Porsche experts. A certain confidence in knowing that its value is understood beyond the obvious. Because when you have invested in a Porsche, you deserve more than an ordinary evaluation. You deserve one that understands the car. Complimentary evaluation • Tailored buy-back offer • No obligation to trade in • Available for a limited time only • Your Porsche has always been appreciated as a Porsche. When it’s time to sell, let Porsche Centre Kuwait appreciate it for what it truly is. Call 1870870 to book your appointment.
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MY HUSBAND’S WEDDING TROUSSEAU INCLUDED A TOY Today, our happily ever after includes him, the Grendizer, and me, and we’re all doing just fine! By Purva Grover
Today, our happily ever after includes him, the Grendizer, and me, and we’re all doing just fine! My husband’s wedding trousseau was… interesting. And yes, grooms should absolutely be allowed to carry their well-curated personal possessions too. Here’s to breaking gender boundaries, and, well, to the toys I inherited. Yes, toys. If I’m allowed to call collector’s items that and get away with it, can I? He brought with him figurines of Grendizer from his home in Kuwait to ours in Dubai. They now live on a bookshelf in our bedroom, resting atop his collection of superhero books. The bookshelf is in our bedroom, so we are close, they and we. They are, I must admit, works of art. Sculpted in mean metal, not chipped at any place, and carrying a presence far larger than their miniature size. “That’s all I could afford,” my husband says, slipping into nostalgia, almost mopiness, about how he could only buy one when he got his first job. Because I know better, I empathize. I don’t remind him that he was a fully grown adult who could have chosen differently. A watch, perhaps? I live in constant vigilance and fear, so I keep reminding him of the loans we have to pay, just in case he is nursing a dream of bringing home another Grendizer (I’ve seen the life-size versions). “The tiny ones speak volumes,” I add, with enthusiasm. The first one and the second one (later) were apparently bought at an action figure and video game parlor in Hawally. His friends from Kuwait have collections too. I haven’t yet taken this up with their partners. What I do know is this: as boys, it was their show. It was the 1980s. It aired once a week for 30 minutes. It ran in Arabic with no subtitles, and while all of them were studying Arabic in school, they claim that, in any case, the language was not a concern for understanding the essence of what was played. “A robot meets a spaceship,” they say, simplifying their admiration for the childhood hero and adult-age toy. The Grendizer fought the villain of the week in each episode. “He saved the world.” The echo of that belief from the 80s still rings loud enough in the 2000s. In the 2000s, Grendizer saw a regional resurgence. Its creator, Go Nagai, visited Kuwait in 2009 for a fan meet-and-greet. No points for guessing who stood in those long queues. What followed was a massive, multimillion dollar official franchise revival—spearheaded and heavily sponsored by the Saudi government. In 2022, Saudi Arabia’s Manga Productions (a subsidiary of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s MiSK Foundation) partnered with the original Japanese rightsholders, Dynamic Planning. The rest, as they say, is history. The humble hero of the 80s now lives in theme parks and makes appearances on stages. My husband picked up another one, miniature again, 26
thankfully, at the Middle East Film & Comic Con in Dubai. “The days of downloading comics from torrents over choppy internet are long gone,” he reminisces. So what shines the most about Grendizer in the highly commercialized world of 2026? I’d say the sparkle in the eyes of grown men who still can’t get enough of this ‘Middle Eastern’ toy. Because here’s the thing, it wasn’t even set in Kuwait. Or the Middle East. Maybe Japan. “It looked like the US,” says my husband. So then, what was it about Grendizer that played in Arabic and set in another land that got them all hooked? The answers could run deeper, but this is the one I like: “We were just a bunch of boys who were happy to see Grendizer fight and win.” Childhood, after all, is and should be that simple. It’s 2026, and I have fully embraced Grendizer in all its avatars. I even spotted a keychain recently. And I thought if women can flaunt Labubu dolls on their bags, why can’t men? If my husband gets the keychain, I’ll allow it, but it won’t be part of our set of home keys. And yes, not long ago, but I did spot a Tissot Grendizer. I could get him something for the anniversary; I can only hope there are enough grown-up fans around to help me crowdfund this one! Purva Grover is a UAE-based author, journalist, and creative entrepreneur. You can stalk her on Instagram, @ purvagr. Backed by a master’s degree in Mass Communication and Literature, she remains stubbornly passionate about anything that begins with Once Upon a Time... Her work stretches beyond print: podcasts, talks, theatrical collaborations as a playwright and stage director, art-led projects, and interdisciplinary
storytelling are all part of her creative playground. In 2021, she was awarded the UAE Golden Visa by the Dubai Culture & Arts Authority and recognized under the People of Culture and Art—Writer category as part of the inaugural Class of Creators.
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THE BUSINESS OF LIVING By bazaar Staff
For entrepreneur and photographer Abdullah Albenayan, success isn’t necessarily about loving what you do. It’s about building a life that gives you the freedom to do what you love. When Abdullah Albenayan introduces himself, he keeps it simple. “I’m Abdullah.” There are no titles, positions, or family names attached. For Albenayan, who someone is matters more than the labels attached to them. Ask him in a professional setting, however, and the story becomes a little longer: a mechanical engineer by degree, a traveler, an entrepreneur, and someone who has spent much of his life moving between countries and cultures. He studied in the United States for almost five years before moving to the Netherlands, where he worked for a year, followed by two years in Japan and then time in Vietnam. His professional beginnings were in mechanical engineering, working on smaller site projects. but even while studying, he knew there was one thing he did not want for his future. “I didn’t want to end up working for someone for the rest of my life,” he says. What he wanted was not necessarily to find one perfect career. Instead, he wanted to build a life that would give him the freedom to pursue the things he genuinely loved. “For me, it doesn’t have to be something I like completely,” he explains. “It’s something that I will do that will make me do the things I love.” That distinction has shaped much of his entrepreneurial journey. Building a Life, Not Just a Career Albenayan’s businesses have largely been rooted in hospitality and food and beverage, but his relationship with entrepreneurship began with smaller experiments. While living in Japan, he discovered an American company selling elastic shoelaces. Rather than simply becoming a distributor, he contacted the company, negotiated with them, bought samples, sent them to China, and eventually created his own brand, Eyelase, which he brought to Kuwait. Then came CAF, which he describes as his first major project and the first “baby” he built with his partners. His approach to business is remarkably practical. Before opening anything, he believes entrepreneurs need to answer two fundamental questions: What exactly is your business going to provide, and who are you providing it to? “You need to know your customers before you open a business,” he says. He also believes every business has to understand where it sits between three key factors: price, quality, and experience. Trying to offer everything at once, he argues, is rarely sustainable. A business needs to understand which of those elements it wants to prioritize and build its proposition accordingly. 28
That pragmatism has become particularly important in Kuwait’s highly competitive market. “If you can make it in Kuwait, you will make it anywhere else,” he says. But succeeding in such a competitive environment requires something more important than simply having a good idea: adaptability. For Albenayan, one of the biggest lessons of recent years has been that toughness is not necessarily about being the strongest player in the room. It is about being able to change. “Be like water,” he says. “Water with a shape, it will shape the container it’s in.” The philosophy became especially relevant during the disruptions and economic pressures of recent years, when businesses had to contend with rising costs, changing suppliers, and inflation while trying to maintain the quality customers expected. Being independent and relatively agile, he believes, can be an advantage when circumstances change quickly. You Can’t Learn to Swim From a Book Perhaps unsurprisingly, Albenayan’s philosophy on entrepreneurship is rooted more in experience than theory. He has little patience for the idea that simply reading about business is enough to become an entrepreneur. He recalls conversations with friends who consume books about business but have little practical experience, and sums up his position with an analogy that seems particularly fitting for someone who has spent years traveling the world. “You can’t learn swimming by reading about water,” he says. “You have to jump.” For him,
education and experience should work together. Read, study and learn, but then get into the water. That philosophy extends to failure. “Don’t be afraid to take risks,” is one of his first lessons. The second is perhaps even more fundamental: entrepreneurship is not simply about being smart. “It’s about being determined. It’s about committing, commitment, commitment.” In his view, the difference between someone who succeeds and someone who does not is often less about intelligence than persistence. The successful person keeps trying after the first failure, then the second, then the third. “Failure is your best friend,” he says. “Failure is going to teach you the most.” It is an attitude that has been tested throughout his own journey. Not every project worked. Some concepts performed well initially before eventually closing, including ventures that he says ended not because of poor performance but because of problems among the partners. The experience reinforced another lesson: even a promising business needs the resilience to withstand unexpected challenges. For Albenayan, that is simply part of the process. A Different Way of Seeing Kuwait Long before entrepreneurship became a defining part of his life, there was photography. The passion began when he was young, during a trip to South Africa. Africa remains his favorite place on Earth, and he says he continues to return whenever he
can. He began taking photography more seriously in 2007, when he purchased his first professional camera. For years, however, he rarely shared the photographs. His wife was the one who repeatedly encouraged him to create an account and let people see his work. Eventually, he did. Today, photography remains an important part of his life, but deliberately outside his business identity. “I’m very moody,” he says. “I don’t want to turn it into something commercial. I’m afraid that I will hate it.” That is perhaps one of the most revealing things about Albenayan’s relationship with photography. While he does accept selected professional projects, he is careful about preserving the freedom that made photography meaningful to him in the first place. Photography is, above all, a release. If he has had a difficult day, he can pick up his camera and disappear into the process. There is no obligation to produce something, no client to satisfy, and no commercial objective to meet. He photographs when he wants to, in the way he wants to. That separation is intentional. “I’d rather keep them separated,” he says of his entrepreneurial and photographic identities. There is one exception: when the two worlds can benefit each other without compromising his creative freedom. He has occasionally offered hotels photography in exchange for a stay, essentially turning his passion into an opportunity without turning it into a career. [Continued...]
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Finding Beauty Close to Home Travel was initially at the heart of his photography. But over time, Albenayan began to look more closely at home. “Kuwait is beautiful,” he says. “Not everybody is seeing it.” His photography has become a way of showing that side of the country, from its architecture to its landscapes and desert. He is particularly interested in changing the way people perceive places they think they already know. “Everything is beautiful. It depends on how you see it.” It is a philosophy that feels central to his photography. Beauty does not have to conform to one particular idea. A landscape does not need to be green to be beautiful. The desert, he points out, can be peaceful and extraordinary precisely because of what it is. Photography, then, becomes less about simply recording what is in front of the camera and more about paying enough attention to see it differently. The Photograph He Can’t Forget Ask a photographer to choose a favorite photograph and you are likely to get some hesitation. Albenayan initially compares it to asking someone to choose a favorite child. “I love all my photos,” he says. “They’re all special to me one way or another.” But there is one image that immediately comes to mind. 30
[...Continued]
While in Mozambique, Albenayan used a drone to photograph a herd of elephants moving through the landscape. From above, they appeared to be walking in almost perfect formation. He later learned from a ranger that there was a reason for it. The largest elephants positioned themselves at the front and back of the herd, protecting the younger elephants in between. The image has received significant attention and was published by National Geographic, according to Albenayan. He has also entered photography competitions, including the Siena photography awards, where one of his submissions was shortlisted and nominated for a grand prize. But the recognition is not necessarily what makes the photographs meaningful to him. The experience of taking them is. There is something particularly fitting about the fact that a photographer who has spent his career building businesses around people, products and experiences finds his greatest creative release in simply observing the world. Keep the Future for the Future So what comes next? Albenayan isn’t saying. He is currently working on several projects, describing them as “future babies” that he is developing slowly. Beyond that, he prefers to keep the element
of surprise. “Leave the future for the future,” he says. It is an answer that makes sense coming from someone whose approach to life has always been less about following a predetermined path and more about creating enough freedom to choose the next one. His businesses have given him the means to travel, explore and photograph. Photography, in turn, gives him a space that belongs entirely to him. Perhaps that is the thread connecting all the seemingly different chapters of Abdullah Albenayan’s life. Engineering, entrepreneurship, travel and photography may look like separate pursuits on paper, but underneath them is the same instinct: learn by doing, stay curious, adapt when circumstances change, and build a life that leaves room for the things that matter. And sometimes, he suggests, the smartest thing you can do with a talent is simply use it. “You don’t have to love it. But if you’re good at it, use it. Utilize it.” For Albenayan, that may be the real business of living: knowing what you’re good at, knowing what you love, and making sure you leave enough room for both. Follow @albenayan on Instagram to see the world through his lens.
TOYOTA NAMED MOST INFLUENTIAL AUTOMOTIVE BRAND
Based on the results of Ipsos’ inaugural “Most Influential Brands (MIB) in Kuwait 2026” study By bazaar staff
Toyota has been recognized as the Most Influential Automotive Brand in Kuwait for 2026 by Ipsos, a global leader in market research. The award was presented as part of Ipsos’ inaugural “Most Influential Brands (MIB) in Kuwait 2026” study, which examines the brands that have the strongest influence on consumers in the country.
The MIB study, conducted by Ipsos in January 2026, surveyed 1,489 adults aged 18 and above residing in Kuwait through computer-aided personal interviews. The results were weighted to census data to ensure the sample was representative of Kuwait’s population. The study evaluated 98 national and global brands across 15 categories, providing a broad look at the brands that have established the strongest connections with consumers in Kuwait. Rather than measuring brand awareness alone, the study assessed influence across six core dimensions: Trustworthiness, Leading Edge, Corporate Citizenship, Engagement, Utility, and Empathy. Together, these dimensions offer a picture of how brands are perceived not only for what they offer, but also for the role they play in consumers’ everyday lives. Within the automotive sector, Toyota was identified as the leading brand, reflecting strong consumer perceptions of trust, reliability, and its long-standing presence in the Kuwaiti market. The recognition highlights the strength of a brand that has become closely associated with the everyday mobility needs of consumers, while continuing to evolve 32
alongside changing expectations around technology, innovation, and customer experience. The wider findings of the study also offer insight into what matters most to consumers in Kuwait today. Trustworthiness and Leading Edge emerged as the strongest drivers of brand influence, followed by Engagement and Corporate Citizenship. The results underscore the importance consumers place on brands that are dependable and forward-thinking, while remaining responsive to the communities and customers they serve. For Toyota, the recognition therefore represents more than a category win. It reflects the continued relevance of the brand within a competitive automotive landscape and the strength of the relationship it has built with consumers over time. Its presence in Kuwait, supported by ALSAYER Group, has helped establish Toyota as a familiar name across generations of drivers. According to Bader Faisal Al-Sayer, Senior Marketing Manager for Toyota at ALSAYER, “This recognition from Ipsos is a testament to the trust the people of Kuwait continue to place in Toyota and a
source of great pride for our entire team. For decades, ALSAYER has worked to bring Toyota’s promise of quality, reliability, and innovation to every customer we serve.” The recognition also reinforces the importance of maintaining consumer trust in an increasingly dynamic automotive industry. As expectations continue to evolve, brands are being challenged to combine established strengths with innovation, meaningful engagement, and a clear understanding of what customers value. ALSAYER Group will continue to build on this recognition by deepening its commitment to customer trust, product innovation, and community engagement across Kuwait, in line with Toyota’s global vision of mobility for all. For a market where automotive brands form an important part of everyday life, Toyota’s recognition as Kuwait’s Most Influential Automotive Brand reflects the enduring value of a brand that consumers continue to know, trust, and choose. For more information, visit toyota.com.kw and follow @toyotakw on Instagram.
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THE ESSENCE OF WALDORF ASTORIA KUWAIT A curated journey of signature stays, exquisite dining, indulgent wellness, and bespoke experiences designed to make every moment extraordinary. By bazaar staff
Luxury is found in every detail at Waldorf Astoria Kuwait. This month, discover a curated collection of signature experiences, from refined dining and immersive wellness journeys to exclusive accommodations and bespoke celebrations, each thoughtfully crafted to create moments of exceptional beauty, comfort, and lasting memories. ROYAL SUITE Experience the pinnacle of luxury in the Royal Suite, an exceptional two-bedroom residence spanning 350 square meters on the hotel’s top floor. Showcasing sweeping panoramic views and complemented by dedicated personal concierge , this exclusive retreat is designed for guests seeking the highest level of comfort, privacy, and sophistication. Featuring two elegant king bedrooms, expansive living and dining areas, a private office, a fully equipped kitchen, and exclusive Ikaros Club access, every detail has been thoughtfully curated to deliver 34
an elevated residential experience. Accommodating up to four guests, Royal Suite seamlessly blends bespoke hospitality with the timeless elegance that defines Waldorf Astoria Kuwait. AMRA HAMMAM RITUAL Restore balance with indulgent AMRA 24K Gold Hammam Ritual, an immersive wellness journey designed to cleanse, nourish, and rejuvenate both body and mind. This luxurious experience features a 24K Gold Black Soap cleanse, steam therapy, traditional Kessa exfoliation, a revitalizing body polish, a nourishing Rasool body mask, hydrating
moisturization, and concludes with a bespoke 60-minute AMRA massage. 120 minutes | KWD 115 OUTSIDE CATERING BY WALDORF ASTORIA KUWAIT Bring the signature elegance of Waldorf Astoria Kuwait to your next occasion with bespoke catering experiences designed for private celebrations, corporate events, and exclusive gatherings. Featuring award winning culinary expertise, personalized menus, elegant presentation, and impeccable service, every event is thoughtfully curated to deliver a seamless and memorable experience.
Amra Hammam
Outside Catering By Waldorf Astoria Kuwait
Catering Packages Silver | KWD 40 per person | Minimum 50 guests Gold | KWD 45 per person | Minimum 50 guests Diamond | KWD 50 per person | Minimum 50 guests THE WAGYU À LA CARTE EXPERIENCE Experience the exceptional richness and exquisite marbling of premium Wagyu beef through a thoughtfully curated four course dining journey. Expertly crafted by our chefs, each course showcases the tenderness, depth of flavor, and remarkable quality that define this prized ingredient, creating an unforgettable culinary experience from the first course to the last. Available daily Lunch | 12:30 pm to 4 pm Dinner | 6:30 pm to 11 pm WOOD AFTERNOON TEA AT PEACOCK ALLEY This September, Peacock Alley presents a limitededition Afternoon Tea inspired by The Final Beginning, an exclusive installation by renowned Kuwaiti wood artist Yahya Abduljaleel Jeragh, founder of Khashabaty. Featuring three handcrafted teak wood sculptures carved from trunks over 150 years old and inspired by the traditional Kuwaiti Mabkhara, the exhibition celebrates nature, heritage, and the enduring beauty of artisanal craftsmanship.
Wood Afternoon Tea Reflecting the same spirit of artistry, Afternoon Tea experience brings together refined savory and sweet delicacies, freshly baked scones with artisanal preserves, and a signature table side crafted sorbet, all enjoyed within the elegant surroundings of Peacock Alley, accompanied by live piano melodies.
Available daily, from 3 pm to 11 pm KWD 19, sharing for two (including the tea experience. To learn more or reserve your experience, scan the QR code or call: +965 24774424 | +965 2477 4414| +965 2477 4444. 35
THE ART OF THE INTRODUCTION
How to introduce yourself and others without making anyone feel awkward, overlooked or unsure of what to say next. By bazaar staff
There are few social moments more awkward than an introduction gone wrong. You are standing beside someone you know when another person approaches, and suddenly your brain forgets both names, occupations and the basic mechanics of human conversation. Do you introduce them? Do you wait? Is everyone supposed to shake hands, hug or simply smile? And what, exactly, are you supposed to say next? The good news is that introductions do not need to be elaborate. Their purpose is simply to give people enough information and space to begin a conversation. A thoughtful introduction can make a room feel warmer, help a new person feel included and remove those uncomfortable few seconds when nobody quite knows what to do. START WITH YOUR OWN NAME Introducing yourself should be straightforward. Offer your name clearly, make eye contact and, where appropriate, add a small piece of context that gives the other person something to work with. “Hi, I’m Yasmin. I work in publishing” is much more useful than simply offering your name and waiting for the other person to figure out what happens next. If you are meeting someone in a professional setting, your role can be helpful, while in a social setting you do not need to provide your biography. Keep it natural and allow the conversation to develop from there. If you did not hear someone’s name, simply ask. There is nothing embarrassing about saying, “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name.” Pretending to remember it later is considerably more awkward. WHEN YOU ARE INTRODUCING TWO PEOPLE If you are the person connecting two strangers, give each of them a reason to be interested in meeting the other. Instead of simply saying, “Sarah, this is Emma. Emma, Sarah,” add a little context: “Sarah, this is Emma. We worked together on the magazine, and Emma has just started her own design studio.” That extra sentence gives both people something to ask about and prevents the introduction from becoming a dead end. Think of yourself as handing them the first thread of a conversation. Once they have something to pull on, you can step away and let them take it from there. INTRODUCE THE PERSON WHO NEEDS CONTEXT Traditional etiquette generally favors introducing a less senior person to someone more senior, but modern social situations are rarely that formal. A more useful approach is to consider who needs the introduction most. If someone has 36
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arrived alone at a dinner where they know nobody, introduce them to the people already gathered. If a colleague is meeting a client for the first time, make sure the client knows who everyone is and why they are there. The goal is not to demonstrate that you know every rule of etiquette. It is to make everyone feel included. A good introduction quietly communicates that the person being introduced belongs in the conversation and has been noticed. GIVE PEOPLE SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT A good introduction should ideally lead somewhere. If you know two people share an interest, mention it. If one person has recently visited somewhere the other is planning to travel to, bring it up. If they work in related fields, say so. You do not need to manufacture a connection or launch into an elaborate explanation. Simply pay attention to the people around you. Being a good introducer is partly about being observant. Notice who is standing alone, who might have something in common and who would benefit from knowing each other. Sometimes one thoughtful sentence is enough to turn a room full of strangers into a conversation.
DON’T OVERTHINK THE GREETING There is no universal greeting that works perfectly in every situation. Handshakes, hugs, kisses on the cheek and simple verbal greetings can all be appropriate depending on the people, culture and setting. When in doubt, follow the other person’s lead and respect their personal space. A warm smile and a clear “It’s lovely to meet you” can carry an introduction perfectly well. The most important thing is not getting every detail of etiquette exactly right. It is showing the other person that you are pleased to meet them and giving them your full attention during those first few moments. People rarely remember whether an introduction was perfectly executed, but they often remember whether they felt comfortable and welcomed. Because the art of the introduction is ultimately not about knowing the perfect words. It is about noticing people, creating connections and making sure nobody feels like the person standing awkwardly on the edge of the room.
Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash.
WHAT IS THE VAGUS NERVE, AND WHY SHOULD YOU CARE?
Some of the habits we associate with being financially savvy can quietly encourage us to spend more. By bazaar staff
The body’s great communication highway plays a surprisingly important role in how we respond to stress, rest and everyday life. The vagus nerve has become something of a wellness-world celebrity. You may have seen it mentioned alongside breathwork, cold showers, meditation or “nervous system regulation,” often accompanied by claims that stimulating it can solve everything from anxiety to poor digestion. The reality is less dramatic, but arguably more interesting. The vagus nerve is the longest cranial nerve in the body, running from the brainstem through the neck and into the chest and abdomen. Its name comes from the Latin word for “wandering,” an appropriate description for a nerve that travels so extensively through the body. It is a major part of the parasympathetic nervous system, which helps regulate involuntary functions including heart rate, breathing and digestion. YOUR BODY’S COMMUNICATION NETWORK Think of the vagus nerve as one of the major communication routes between your brain and your internal organs. It carries signals in both directions, allowing the brain to receive information about what is happening inside the body while also influencing how organs respond. This makes it particularly relevant to the body’s response to stress. When we perceive a threat, the sympathetic nervous system helps prepare us for action. When the threat passes, the parasympathetic system helps the body move toward a calmer state. The vagus nerve is an important component of that latter system. This does not mean it is a magical “relaxation button.” Your nervous system is an intricate network involving the brain, hormones, organs and many different nerves. But the vagus nerve is an important part of the machinery. WHY DOES STRESS AFFECT YOUR STOMACH? The connection between the brain and the digestive system is one reason the vagus nerve gets so much attention. The brain and gut communicate constantly through several pathways, including the vagus nerve. You have probably experienced this connection without needing a biology lesson. Stress can make your stomach feel unsettled. Excitement can affect your appetite. Anxiety can make you feel nauseated. Your body is constantly communicating with itself, and the gut is very much part of that conversation. The vagus nerve is involved in regulating digestive activity, although it is only one piece of a much larger system. 38
CAN YOU “ACTIVATE” IT? This is where wellness advice can become misleading. You will find countless techniques online described as ways to “activate” or “stimulate” the vagus nerve, including slow breathing, meditation, singing, humming and cold exposure. Some of these practices can certainly influence the body’s relaxation response, and slow, controlled breathing has been studied in relation to autonomic nervous system activity. But that is different from claiming that a particular trick can “reset” your vagus nerve or cure a medical condition. The sensible takeaway is much less glamorous: activities that encourage relaxation, regular breathing, sleep and recovery are generally good habits, and some may influence parasympathetic activity. You do not need an expensive gadget or a complicated protocol to benefit. SO WHY SHOULD YOU CARE? Because understanding the vagus nerve can help you understand something fundamental about
your body: your brain and your organs are in constant conversation. Modern life often keeps us in a state of stimulation. Notifications arrive, deadlines accumulate, news never stops and our attention is constantly being pulled somewhere else. Learning how your body responds to stress can encourage you to take recovery seriously rather than treating rest as something you earn after everything else is finished. A few minutes of slow breathing will not magically transform your nervous system. Neither will humming in the shower. But taking a moment to breathe slowly, step outside, eat properly, sleep enough and give your brain a break can support the systems that help your body move between alertness and rest. And perhaps that is the more useful lesson behind the vagus nerve trend. You do not need to “hack” your nervous system. You need to listen to it.
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WHY DOES RESTAURANT FOOD TASTE BETTER?
The secret may not be a mysterious chef’s touch. It is technique, timing, and a willingness to do things at home that we are usually too tired to bother with. By bazaar staff
You know the feeling. You make pasta at home, follow the recipe, plate it nicely and take a bite. It’s good. Perfectly good. Then you order pasta at a restaurant and suddenly wonder what you have been doing wrong for the last decade. The ingredients might not even be dramatically different. So why does restaurant food so often taste better? The answer is less mysterious than you might think. Professional kitchens simply have more experience, more equipment, more time devoted to preparation and, perhaps most importantly, fewer reservations about using the ingredients that make food delicious. SALT IS NOT THE ENEMY One of the biggest differences between restaurant cooking and home cooking is seasoning. Professional cooks taste constantly and adjust throughout the cooking process. Home cooks, meanwhile, can be strangely cautious with salt, adding a little at the beginning and hoping for the best. Salt does more than make food taste salty. It can enhance other flavors and help a dish taste more balanced. America’s Test Kitchen notes that our saltiness receptors are most responsive when food is between 85 and 95 degrees Fahrenheit, close to the temperature inside our mouths. The lesson is simple: taste your food before serving it. It may not need more ingredients. It may simply need better seasoning. FAT IS FLAVOR’S BEST FRIEND Butter, olive oil, cream, cheese and other fats are not exactly secrets, but restaurants tend to use them with considerably more confidence. Fat carries and distributes flavor, while ingredients such as butter can add richness and create a satisfying texture. That glossy sauce over your vegetables? It probably did not arrive there through good intentions. This does not mean pouring half a block of butter into everything you cook. It means understanding that richness is part of the architecture of a dish. A little finishing butter, a drizzle of good olive oil or a spoonful of properly made sauce can transform something that tastes flat into something that feels complete. HIGH HEAT CHANGES EVERYTHING Restaurant kitchens are designed for serious cooking. Powerful burners, hot pans and professional equipment allow cooks to develop deep browning and caramelization quickly. At home, we are often too impatient. We put 40
crowded ingredients into a pan, turn the heat down when everything starts steaming and wonder why our vegetables never develop that beautiful golden exterior. Give ingredients room. Let the pan get properly hot. Resist the urge to constantly move everything around. That brown crust is not decoration. It is flavor. SAUCE IS THE GREAT TRANSFORMER A restaurant meal often contains more components than we realize. There may be a sauce, a purée, a reduction, a seasoned oil, pickled vegetables, herbs or a finishing garnish quietly making everything else taste more interesting. America’s Test Kitchen specifically highlights sauces as a way of transforming otherwise familiar dishes, noting that they can instantly elevate proteins, vegetables and other foods. At home, we tend to think of sauce as an optional extra. Restaurants understand that it can be the thing that pulls the entire plate together. THEY HAVE ALREADY DONE THE BORING PART Perhaps the biggest advantage restaurants have is preparation.
Professional kitchens spend considerable time chopping, marinating, reducing, seasoning and organizing before a dish ever reaches the customer. America’s Test Kitchen describes its own recipe-development process as involving repeated testing of variables before arriving at the final version. At home, we are trying to do the same thing after work, while hungry, distracted and wondering whether anyone else is going to wash the dishes. Restaurant food is not necessarily magical. It is the result of repetition, technique and attention to detail. And there is good news: you do not need a professional kitchen to borrow some of those habits. Season as you go. Let pans get hot. Do not overcrowd them. Finish with something fresh, rich or acidic. Make a sauce. Taste before serving. And occasionally, use more butter. Your kitchen may never become a restaurant. But dinner can certainly start tasting like one.
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KUWAIT IS CALLING FOR SMARTER CONSUMPTION IKEA IS PROUD TO BE PART OF THE CHANGE. When a whole country comes together, small changes can create a big impact. By bazaar staff
As Kuwait calls on everyone to use electricity and water more responsibly, IKEA is leading by example in its own operations, while offering people the tools, ideas and solutions to make a difference of their own. Making a difference does not have to be complicated. In fact, some of the most meaningful changes can start with the things we already do every day. Switching off the lights when we leave a room. Using water a little more thoughtfully. Keeping the cool air inside. Making a favourite piece of furniture last a little longer. Individually, they may seem modest. Together, they can have a meaningful impact. That is the spirit behind Kuwait’s nationwide call to reduce electricity and water consumption, particularly during peak hours. It is a chance for everyone to step up as a community and play a part in protecting the valuable resources we all depend on. And we already have the tools to make the change. For IKEA, caring for people and the planet has long been part of the way it does business. IKEA has a vision: “To create a better everyday life for the many people,” which guides in creating positive changes and making sustainable living accessible to as many people as possible. At the heart of IKEA’s approach is the value Lead by Example. By embedding sustainability into its own operations, IKEA demonstrates that meaningful change starts from within and that sustainable living can be made accessible to the many. IKEA LEADS BY EXAMPLE In responding to Kuwait’s call for more responsible consumption, IKEA is putting this commitment into action across its stores and facilities. Across its stores and facilities, IKEA is taking practical steps to reduce energy and water consumption. These include switching off lights and electrical equipment when they are not in use, improving cooling efficiency and limiting the use of highenergy equipment during peak hours wherever possible, while encouraging more thoughtful use of water. These may seem like small changes, but when practiced consistently, they can make a meaningful difference and show how everyday actions can contribute to a more sustainable future for Kuwait. 42
MAKE SMARTER ENERGY CHOICES From switching off lights and electrical equipment when they are not in use to making better use of natural daylight, small changes can help us use energy more responsibly.
A SMARTER WAY TO MANAGE THE HEAT IKEA curtains and blinds can help manage the amount of heat and light entering a room, supporting more efficient cooling while making the most of natural daylight.
SMALL CHOICES, EVERY DAY Choosing reusable products can help reduce waste and make more responsible consumption part of everyday life.
IKEA continuously monitors energy, water and waste across its stores, implementing practical measures to improve efficiency and reduce its environmental footprint. It is an ongoing process, grounded in the belief that businesses can be a positive force for change in society. For IKEA, sustainability is not something to do later. It is something to keep working on today - and every day.
USE WATER MORE THOUGHTFULLY IKEA water-saving taps and fittings are designed to reduce water consumption while maintaining the water pressure you prefer.
Save Water, Stay Comfortable Every drop matters. Saving water starts with smarter choices, which does not mean changing the way we live. IKEA water-saving taps and fittings, available for less than KD 3–4, are designed to reduce water consumption while maintaining the comfort and performance you expect. From washing dishes and preparing food to showering, washing our hands and watering plants, small changes to the way water is used can make more efficient consumption part of the everyday routine. Combined with simple everyday habits, they help make water efficiency a seamless part of daily life. Because when it comes to making a difference, sometimes the smallest change is also the simplest one. Keep Cool, More Efficiently In Kuwait, staying cool is a necessity. But there are smart ways to help our homes and workplaces manage the heat. Thermal-insulating curtains and blinds can help reduce the amount of heat entering a room, potentially reducing the need for cooling and helping air conditioning systems work more efficiently. There are also simple everyday actions that can make a difference. Keeping doors and windows closed while the air conditioning is running can prevent energy loss, while setting the air conditioning to 24°C can support more efficient cooling. Comfort and responsible consumption do not have to be opposites. With the right choices, we can work towards both.
MAKE EVERY SHOWER COUNT Keeping showers shorter is a simple way to reduce water consumption without making a big change to your daily routine.
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RESPONSIBLY SOURCED Refined cotton that’s responsibly grown and affordable, too. Cotton is one of the most important materials. You’ll find it in many products, from sofas and cushions to bed sheets and mattresses, and all IKEA cotton is grown responsibly. A LONGER LIFE Whether you’re a do-it-yourself newbie or a home improvement master, these new TRIXIG tools put the ‘handy’ in ‘handyman’. Ideal for fixing, assembling, refreshing or just making a big mess before you say: “Look, I made this!“. Let The Daylight In Why rely on artificial light when the sun is already doing the job? Light-filtering curtains and blinds can provide privacy while allowing natural daylight into a room, potentially reducing reliance on artificial lighting during the day. It is an easy change that can make a space feel bright and welcoming while helping us make better use of what is already available. When artificial lighting is needed, choosing energy-efficient LED bulbs, available for around KD 2, is a smart choice: they use less electricity than traditional bulbs, last much longer, and can help reduce energy consumption over time. Simply switching lights off when leaving the room can help us use electricity even more efficiently.
we already have. A favourite sofa does not have to be replaced simply because its cover looks tired. IKEA offers sofas and upholstered furniture with machine-washable or replaceable covers, making it possible to refresh a familiar piece and give it a completely new look. There are also solutions for repairing, refreshing and caring for furniture, from spare parts and repair tools to products that help wooden furniture last longer. IKEA products are increasingly designed with reuse, repair and recycling in mind. There are simple ways to help furniture last longer or be used again. So before replacing something, why not see what it could become with a little care? Sometimes, the most sustainable choice is also the one that lets us keep enjoying something we already love.
WE CAN ALL MAKE A DIFFERENCE Sustainability is not only about how we use what we own, but also what we choose to bring into our homes in the first place. Choosing well-designed, durable products that can stay in use for longer can reduce the need for replacement and the resources required to produce something new. IKEA brings well-designed, functional, durable, affordable and sustainable home furnishing solutions to millions of people, while also sharing knowledge and ideas that make more sustainable living feel accessible. Whether it is using less water, managing energy more efficiently, reducing waste or making what we already own last longer, we have simple choices at home that can add up to a meaningful difference. And just as IKEA is starting with itself, each of us can start with the choices we make every day.
Choose Materials With A Future Making more conscious choices can also start by looking at what the things around us are made from. Choosing materials at IKEA is about making responsible decisions. When they’re not able to use renewable resources, they choose recycled or recyclable ones. In all that is created, the goal is always to keep prices low and quality high. This gives consumers more opportunities to make choices that support a more circular approach to home furnishing. From products made with recycled materials to sustainably sourced cotton, IKEA is working to make more sustainable materials part of everyday life. Its approach to cotton, for example, has focused on sources that use less water, pesticides and fertilisers since 2015. The good news is that choosing more consciously does not mean compromising on style, function or affordability. The result is more choice for people who want to furnish their homes beautifully while making more responsible decisions for the future.
Make It Last One of the smartest ways to consume more responsibly is to make better use of the things 44
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FROM SMALL ACTIONS TO A BIGGER VISION For IKEA, these everyday solutions are part of a much bigger sustainability journey. From increasing its efforts around energy efficiency and water saving solutions. to working towards a more circular economy, IKEA is continuing to find ways to use resources more responsibly and make it easier for people to do the same. By offering products and solutions that can be reused, upgraded, repaired and recycled, while sharing knowledge that encourages more sustainable living, IKEA is helping turn conscious choices into everyday possibilities. Because change does not have to be difficult. Many of the tools we need are already within reach. And when each of us makes a few more conscious choices, we can create a bigger impact for our homes, our communities and our beloved Kuwait. Scan the QR code to discover more IKEA tips and tricks for making furniture last longer and living more sustainably. Visit IKEA The Avenues, IKEA The Warehouse (Sabahiya), IKEA 360, IKEA Assima or IKEA Khiran, shop online or through the IKEA app. For more information, call 184 0408 or follow @IKEAKuwait on Instagram.
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THE CASE FOR THE GOOD ROOM
Stop saving your nicest things for people who may never come over. By bazaar staff
There is something slightly strange about the way we live now. We buy beautiful glasses and keep them in a cabinet, have good plates that only appear when guests arrive, and save the expensive candles for a special occasion. The beautiful room at the front of the house can remain suspiciously untouched while everyone gathers around the television. Somewhere along the way, we decided that the best things in our homes should be preserved rather than enjoyed. It is time to bring back the good room. MAKE EVERYDAY LIFE FEEL SPECIAL The idea of a room reserved for entertaining is hardly new. Formal sitting rooms and parlors once played an important role in the home, providing dedicated spaces for conversation and receiving guests. Over time, however, many homes became more informal, with everyday living increasingly centered around multifunctional spaces. There is nothing wrong with that, but perhaps we have lost something along the way: the pleasure of having a room that feels a little more special simply because it is beautiful. A beautiful room does not need to justify its existence through constant use. It can simply make an ordinary Tuesday feel slightly more considered. Put flowers on the table even when nobody is coming over, light the candle you have been saving, and use the beautiful glasses with dinner on a random Wednesday. You are the occasion. STOP SAVING THE GOOD STUFF Most of us have objects that exist in a strange state of permanent anticipation. The good china is waiting for Christmas, the linen napkins are waiting for dinner guests, the expensive perfume is waiting for somewhere important, and the beautiful stationery is waiting for the right person to write to. Somehow, years can pass while all these things remain untouched. There is a certain pleasure in using things rather than preserving them. A handmade plate becomes more meaningful when it carries your breakfast, linen becomes softer through use, and a beautiful glass develops memories when it has been part of countless evenings. Beautiful things were made to participate in life, not simply to survive it. DESIGN FOR YOUR OWN PLEASURE Interior design can easily become a performance. We think about what looks impressive in photographs, what will impress visitors, or what will make the house feel finished. But a home is experienced primarily by the people who live in it, so their pleasure should matter most. If you love a dramatic chair, put it somewhere you can actually sit in it. If you love a particular color, use it in a room you spend time in. If you collect ceramics, display them where you can see 46
them rather than hiding them away because they are too precious. The most successful homes are not necessarily the most perfect. They are the ones that reveal something about the people who inhabit them. LET THE ROOM LIVE The good room does not need to remain immaculate. Use it. Leave a book on the coffee table, let a blanket find its way onto the sofa, put your morning coffee down beside the vase, and allow sunlight to move across the furniture while flowers slowly wilt. A room that is constantly protected from life can begin to feel like a showroom, while a room that is lived in acquires character. That does not mean abandoning care. It means understanding that wear is not always damage. Sometimes it is evidence that something has been loved. The small marks, softened fabrics and objects that have clearly been handled can tell a much more interesting story than a room where everything appears untouched.
INVITE PEOPLE IN Perhaps the most important function of a beautiful room is that it gives people a reason to gather. Invite friends over without waiting for a major occasion. Have coffee after work, serve dessert on the good plates, open the windows, put music on and stay at the table longer than necessary. Hospitality does not need to be elaborate. The point is not to create a perfect evening for your guests, but to create an environment where everyone feels comfortable enough to linger. And if nobody comes, use the room anyway. Read there, have your morning coffee there, listen to music or simply sit quietly for a while. The good room is not really about entertaining other people. It is about refusing to postpone pleasure. Your beautiful things are already here, your home is already here, and there is no reason to wait for a special occasion to enjoy either.
Photo by Philippe BONTEMPS on Unsplash.
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bazaar Apps
CAT ON CHAIR: ADHD FOCUS
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Turn focus sessions into cozy cat time with this playful Pomodoro app. A digital cat keeps you company while you work, with rewards, collectibles, room decorating, task lists, app blocking, and ambient sounds adding a little fun to staying focused.
Make reflection part of your daily routine with stoic., a journal and habit tracker built around morning preparation and evening reflection. Track moods, build habits, explore guided prompts, and see patterns in your emotional and journaling history.
FABLE: TRACK & DISCUSS BOOKS
DEMUS: EASY MUSIC STREAMING
Fable turns reading into a social experience, letting you track books, set reading goals, build lists, discover recommendations, join book clubs, and share reviews. You can also import your Goodreads and Kindle lists and connect with other readers.
Stream and organize your favorite songs, music videos, albums, artists, and playlists with Demus. The minimalist music player requires no account and lets you bookmark tracks, view lyrics and artist bios, and keep your library organized. It’s designed for quick, uncomplicated listening without the clutter of traditional streaming apps.
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BACK TO ROUTINE, BUT SMARTER WITH XCITE
The new season is here, and with it comes a return to busy mornings, productive days and packed schedules. The right technology can make getting back into routine easier, more connected and a little more enjoyable. By bazaar Staff
September marks a fresh start. Students head back to classrooms and universities, professionals settle back into their routines, and homes return to a familiar rhythm after the slower pace of summer. As our days become busier, technology has become an essential part of keeping everything running smoothly.
Power Up Productivity Whether you’re heading to university, returning to the office or simply looking to stay more organised, having the right devices can make a noticeable difference. Laptops and tablets from Apple, Samsung, Lenovo, HP and Acer offer flexible options for studying, working and staying connected, while accessories from Logitech, Anker and Belkin can help create a more productive workspace. The goal isn’t simply to have more technology; it’s about having technology that works around your lifestyle and helps you get more done.
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Stay Connected, Wherever the Day Takes You Busy routines don’t stop when you leave home. Smartphones, smartwatches and wireless earbuds make it easier to stay connected throughout the day. The latest smartphones from Apple, Samsung, Xiaomi, HONOR and Motorola, paired with wearables from Apple, Samsung and WHOOP, can help you manage calls, notifications, schedules and more while you’re on the move. For those who prefer to stay focused, wireless audio from brands such as makes it easy to take your music and entertainment with you.
Create a Space That Works for You A productive routine starts with the right environment. Whether it’s a dedicated study area, a home office or simply a corner of your bedroom, the right technology can transform the way you work and study. A monitor from Samsung, LG or ASUS can make multitasking easier, while printers from HP and Canon can simplify everyday assignments and documents. Add a comfortable Logitech keyboard and mouse, along with Anker or Belkin accessories, and even a small space can become a more efficient workspace.
When It’s Time to Switch Off Getting back into a routine isn’t only about productivity. After a long day, technology can also help you relax. A cinematic TV from Samsung, LG, Sony or TCL can turn an ordinary evening into movie night, while soundbars and speakers from Bose, JBL and Samsung can create a more immersive entertainment experience. For gaming, PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo offer everything from competitive multiplayer sessions to relaxing solo adventures. Whether you’re catching up on your favorite series, competing with friends or simply listening to music, the right setup can make downtime something to look forward to.
A Smarter Way Forward Getting back into routine doesn’t have to mean going back to the same old habits. With the right technology, everyday moments can become more productive, connected and enjoyable.
At Xcite, the start of a new season is an opportunity to discover technology from the world’s leading brands, including Apple, Samsung, Sony, LG, HP, Lenovo, Bose, JBL and more—with devices designed around the way you live, work, study and unwind. Because sometimes, a smarter routine starts with a smarter upgrade.
Stay updated on the latest events, monthly promotions and offers by subscribing to the monthly newsletter on xcite.com, follow Xcite’s social media channels on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and Snapchat, @xcitealghanimor Facebook at XcitebyAlghanim and win prizes with contests, or visit the online store at www.xcite.com. 51
bazaar techno
TINECO FLOOR ONE STATION S9 DELTA CHILDREN SMART SLEEP BABY SCIENTIST PRO MONITOR Tineco’s latest wet-dry vacuum takes multitasking seriously, combining vacuuming, mopping, selfcleaning, and drying in one sleek station. Designed to handle everyday messes with minimal effort, it automatically adjusts cleaning power based on the floor and level of dirt. The result is a smarter approach to keeping floors spotless without constantly switching between appliances.
Designed to make nighttime monitoring less stressful, Delta Children’s Smart Sleep Baby Monitor combines a camera, sleep tracking, and smart alerts in one system. Its floor stand offers a clear view of the crib without taking up valuable surface space, while app-connected features let parents check in remotely and keep tabs on their baby’s sleep.
GOOGLE PIXEL TAG Google finally has its answer to the AirTag. The Pixel Tag connects to Google’s Find Hub network, helping Android users locate misplaced keys, bags, luggage, and other essentials. Ultra Wideband and Bluetooth Channel Sounding enable more precise tracking on compatible devices, while a built-in button can even help locate your phone.
CANOPY SOUND MACHINE AROMA MINIMAL PHONE 2 BENI ALL-TERRAIN CAMERA ROBOT DIFFUSER The Minimal Phone 2 brings back the physical Beni is a camera assistant with wheels, designed Canopy brings together two ingredients for a more relaxing environment: sound and scent. This compact device combines a sound machine with an aroma diffuser, allowing users to create a calming atmosphere while incorporating fragrance into their space. Designed for bedrooms and quiet corners, it turns everyday wind-down time into a more immersive sensory experience.
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keyboard for a new generation, pairing tactile round keys with a compact aluminum body and software designed to reduce digital distractions. Unlike its E Ink predecessor, the new model uses a smoother AMOLED display while retaining its focus on intentional communication and less scrolling.
to follow you across everything from smooth floors to rough outdoor terrain while filming hands-free. It captures 4K footage, automatically avoids obstacles, and can right itself if it tips over. With on-device tracking and stabilization, it offers a clever alternative to tripods, selfie sticks, and a second pair of hands.
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WHY EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW A LITTLE ART HISTORY
You do not need to know every artist, date or movement. You just need to know enough to understand why the world around you looks the way it does. By bazaar staff
Art history can sound intimidating. The names are unfamiliar, the dates seem endless, and somewhere along the way you may have been made to feel that appreciating art requires an advanced degree and the ability to casually identify a Renaissance painting from across a crowded room. It does not. You do not need to memorize every artist who ever lived. You do not need to know the difference between every school of modernism. And you certainly do not need to pretend to understand a painting you do not like. But knowing a little art history can make the world considerably more interesting. IT TEACHES YOU HOW TO LOOK We spend an extraordinary amount of time looking without really seeing. We scroll through images, move through buildings, browse stores and encounter advertisements almost constantly, but rarely stop to consider why something looks the way it does. Art history gives you a vocabulary for paying attention. Once you understand that artists make deliberate choices about composition, color, scale, light, materials and perspective, you begin noticing those choices everywhere. A room, a photograph, a fashion collection or even an advertising campaign can suddenly become something worth examining rather than simply consuming. You are not just looking anymore. You are asking why. IT EXPLAINS THE WORLD THAT CAME BEFORE US Art does not exist in isolation. It reflects the societies that produced it. Religious paintings can tell us about belief and power. Portraits can reveal ideas about status and identity. Architecture can reflect technological developments, political ambitions or changing social structures. Even the materials artists use can tell us something about what was available and valued at a particular moment. Learning the context behind a work can completely change the way you experience it. A painting stops being an old object hanging on a wall and becomes evidence of how someone, somewhere, once understood their world. IT MAKES MUSEUMS MORE FUN Walking into a museum without any context can sometimes feel like being dropped into the middle of a conversation. You can appreciate what you see, but you may not know what you are supposed to be looking for. 54
A little art history gives you points of entry. You start recognizing recurring ideas, techniques and influences. You notice when one artist is responding to another or when a movement is deliberately rejecting what came before it. You do not have to understand everything. You simply have more questions to ask. And questions are usually much more interesting than memorized answers. IT HELPS YOU UNDERSTAND MODERN CULTURE Art history is not confined to museums. Ideas developed by artists continue to influence graphic design, photography, fashion, interiors, film, advertising and popular culture. Contemporary designers regularly borrow, reinterpret and challenge visual languages that have existed for decades or centuries. Understanding where those ideas came from makes contemporary culture easier to decode. That dramatic minimalism you love? It has a history. The decorative maximalism currently filling your social feeds? It has a history too. Even the desire to reject established aesthetics is part of a much longer cycle of artistic rebellion. Trends rarely appear from nowhere.
IT HELPS YOU DEVELOP YOUR OWN TASTE Perhaps the best reason to learn art history is that it makes it easier to form an opinion. You may discover that you love Baroque drama but cannot stand minimalism. You might be fascinated by conceptual art or completely unmoved by it. You might adore an artist whose work everyone else seems to find boring. That is fine. The point is not to learn what you are supposed to like. It is to understand what you respond to and why. Taste becomes more interesting when it is informed by curiosity rather than simply dictated by whatever happens to be fashionable. You can start anywhere. Pick an artist whose work you already like. Visit a museum and read the descriptions instead of walking past them. Watch a documentary. Learn the broad outlines of a few major movements. You do not need to become an art historian. You just need to become a more curious observer. Because once you start understanding how artists have looked at the world, you may find yourself looking at your own world a little differently too. Photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash.
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bazaar books
TAIPEI STORY
THE WITCHES OF CAMBRIDGE
By R. F. Kuang, Fiction
By Alice Hoffman, Fantasy
College freshman Lily Chen spends the summer in Taipei hoping to reconnect with the culture she inherited but never fully understood. When demanding classes, awkward encounters, and the death of her grandfather leave her feeling increasingly adrift, Lily begins questioning where she belongs. A poignant coming-of-age story about language, grief, family, and the complicated search for home.
DEAD BEAT
At 1950s Radcliffe College, Ava and Lauren are drawn into the Lilith Society, a secret circle of witches whose roots stretch back to colonial Cambridge. As they discover their powers and forge an unlikely friendship, members of the society begin disappearing. With McCarthyism casting its own shadow, the women must confront a dark legacy that refuses to stay buried.
TRUST FALL
By Leigh Bardugo, Fantasy
By Lynn Painter, Romance
When Julia’s family unexpectedly inherits a fortune, their quiet Nebraska life is transformed as they move to New York City and she enters an elite private school. Struggling to fit in, Julia turns to Damion, a mysterious tutor with his own reason for getting close to her. But as his secret agenda collides with genuine feelings, trust becomes complicated.
In the final installment of the Ninth House trilogy, Alex Stern has returned from hell, but she has left the door open behind her. As demons infiltrate New Haven and Yale, Alex and her allies must uncover the secrets of the university’s occult societies before the underworld erupts into war. Dark magic, dangerous enemies, and unfinished business await.
THE FRENCH ILLUSION
HOLLOW BONES
By John Grisham, Thriller
By Jodi Picoult, Fiction
Paul and Chelsea Tanner’s dream honeymoon in Paris takes a terrifying turn when they are kidnapped during a trip to the French countryside. As investigators uncover similar crimes, the search for answers stretches across borders and draws in the FBI, CIA, and French intelligence. A young lawyer is ultimately recruited as bait in a dangerous operation to catch those responsible.
Source: Goodreads.com 56
After losing her mother on September 11, Molly Fitzgerald grows up with a deep fear of disasters and builds a career preparing for them. Now running Rhode Island’s emergency preparedness department, she believes she can plan for almost anything. But an unexpected crisis upends her marriage and forces her to question the stories she has built around family, love, grief, and survival.
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BACK TO SCHOOL. BACK TO SOUR! School is back, and so is the SOUR! Brain Blasterz brings bold flavors, crazy sour fun and plenty of surprises to lunchboxes and after-school snack time. By bazaar staff
Back to school means new classes, new adventures and, of course, the return of the daily lunchbox! But who says lunch has to be boring?The trick to keeping kids excited about packed lunches does not have to mean reinventing the menu every morning. A few simple swaps, a little creativity and a fun treat can turn an ordinary lunchbox into something kids actually look forward to opening. That is where Brain Blasterz comes in. Known for its adventurous sour candy, the range turns snack time into an experience, with different flavors, textures, and levels of sourness to explore. The brand’s products include chewy candies, gum, sour powder, hard candy and more, giving kids plenty of ways to discover their favorite. 58
BUILD A LUNCHBOX THEY WANT TO OPEN Think of the lunchbox as a collection of little surprises rather than one big meal. Start with the basics: something filling, something fresh, something crunchy and a small treat. A sandwich can become more exciting simply by cutting it into stars, hearts or little squares. Add sliced fruit, cucumber or carrots in separate compartments so everything stays fresh and colorful. Then finish with one small Brain Blasterz treat for a sour surprise. The individual portions also make it easy to keep treats manageable. A few sour chewy candies, for example, can add a pop of flavor without taking over the entire lunchbox. The Sour Chewy Candies come in Apple, Blueberry, Lemon and Strawberry, and their resealable packaging makes it easy to save the rest for later. They are also vegan. TAKE THE SOUR CHALLENGE! Kids love a challenge, so why not make snack time interactive? Try creating a weekly “Sour Challenge” where they choose a flavor and rate it from one to five. Or let them pick their own snack adventure at the beginning of the week: sweet, sour, chewy or something with a little more bite. Brain Blasterz already has its own Impact Scale, ranging from Intro to Bold to Brave, making the idea of working your way up through different sour experiences particularly easy to turn into a family game. It is also a good excuse to let kids take a little ownership of their snacks. Give them a few options and let them choose which one goes into their lunchbox each morning. It saves parents from having to make every decision while giving kids a sense that their lunch is theirs. KEEP AFTER-SCHOOL SNACKS SIMPLE The period between getting home and sitting down to homework can be chaotic. Instead of reaching for whatever is easiest, create a small snack station in the kitchen with a few ready-tograb options. Fresh fruit, yogurt, cheese, crackers and nuts can form the basics, while a small Brain Blasterz treat can make the whole thing feel more like an after-school reward. [Continued...]
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You can also turn snack preparation into fiveminute activities. Make fruit skewers together, build a yogurt bowl with different toppings or create a mini “snack board” with a few small portions. Add a sour candy at the end and suddenly an everyday snack feels like an occasion. For older kids, try a DIY tasting session. Put a few different flavors into small bowls and let them guess which one they are trying before revealing the answer. Brain Blasterz’s range is made for this kind of playful experimentation, with sourness, flavor, and texture all part of the experience. 60
[...Continued]
THE EASY-PARENT FORMULA The best lunchbox ideas are the ones that do not require an extra hour in the kitchen. Keep a simple formula: one filling food + one fruit or vegetable + one crunchy option + one fun treat. Prepare a few components on the weekend, keep fruit washed and ready to go, portion snacks ahead of time and let the kids choose from what is available. You can even create a week’s worth of “surprises” by putting different treats aside and letting them discover what is waiting in their lunchbox each morning. It is less about making every lunch Pinterestperfect and more about adding small moments of fun
to a routine that can otherwise become repetitive. Because back-to-school does not have to mean boring. With a little imagination, the lunchbox can become something kids look forward to, after-school snacking can feel like a mini adventure, and parents can keep the whole thing refreshingly simple. And when the day has been full of classes, homework and activities, a little sour-powered fun might be exactly what everyone needs. READY TO BLAST YOUR SNACK TIME? Brain Blasterz products, including the new Gummies range, can be found at keeelkw.com, supermarkets and local co-ops across Kuwait.
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bazaar movie night
THE DOG STARS
COYOTE VS. ACME
COLONY - KOREAN
Genre: Action, Adventure, Thriller Cast: Margaret Qualley, Jacob Elordi Synopsis: In a post-apocalyptic world devastated by a deadly virus, pilot Hig survives the loss of his wife and the collapse of civilization. Living in isolation with his dog, he takes to the skies searching for signs of life while avoiding violent scavengers known as Reapers. When a mysterious transmission reaches him, Hig is drawn into a dangerous journey that could change his understanding of survival.
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy Cast: John Cena, Lana Condor, Will Forte Synopsis: Deep inside the ACME warehouse lies the source of the gadgets and inventions that have fueled countless Looney Tunes adventures. When the company’s products cause chaos beyond the cartoon world, an unlikely group finds itself caught in a larger battle involving the infamous Wile E. Coyote and the corporation responsible for his endless misfortune.
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Action Cast: Ji Chang-wook, Jun Ji-hyun, Koo Kyo-hwan Synopsis: Professor Se Jeong attends a biotechnology conference that descends into chaos when a rapidly mutating virus is unleashed. As the infection spreads and victims begin undergoing terrifying transformations, authorities seal the facility, trapping everyone inside. With time running out and the outbreak escalating, those caught within must fight to survive before the virus escapes.
MISDIRECTION
IT FEEDS
FALL 2: DEADPOINT
Genre: Action, Thriller Cast: Olga Kurylenko, Frank Grillo Synopsis: A desperate couple turns to high-end burglaries to pay off a dangerous mob debt. But when their latest target refuses to go according to plan, their carefully executed robbery becomes a deadly game of cat and mouse. Suddenly hunted instead of hunting, they must outsmart their pursuers before their final job becomes their last.
Genre: Horror Cast: Shawn Ashmore, Ashley Greene Synopsis: When a terrified young girl arrives at a psychiatric practice claiming that an entity is feeding on her, Jordan and her clairvoyant mother realize they are facing something far more sinister than a psychological crisis. As the mysterious force grows stronger, they race to uncover its origins and find a way to save the girl before she is consumed completely.
Genre: Thriller, Adventure Cast: Grace Caroline Currey, Virginia Gardner Synopsis: Still grieving her sister Shiloh, Jax Hunter forms an unlikely bond with Shiloh’s fearless friend Luce before joining her on a dangerous adventure in Thailand. When a rockslide leaves them stranded on a narrow plank thousands of feet above the ground, Jax must overcome her fear of heights and find a way to survive.
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Source: cinescape.com.kw
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bazaar scopes
VIRGO
PISCES (Feb 19 – Mar 20)
LIBRA (Sep 23 – Oct 22) September invites you to slow down and reflect before your next major move. Something from the past may require closure, while quiet time helps clarify what you actually want. Protect your energy and avoid unnecessary obligations. Stepping back temporarily can give you the perspective needed to move forward with confidence.
ARIES (Mar 21 – Apr 19)
SCORPIO (Oct 23 – Nov 21) Your social world becomes more active this month, bringing new connections and opportunities through friendships, communities, and shared interests. Someone may introduce you to an idea or possibility worth exploring. Be selective about where you invest your energy, but remain open to relationships that challenge your usual perspective.
TAURUS (Apr 20 – May 20)
SAGITTARIUS (Nov 22 – Dec 21)
GEMINI (May 21 – Jun 20)
(Aug 23 – Sep 22) It is your season, and September puts you firmly back in focus. A fresh sense of confidence helps you take action on something you have been considering for a while. Prioritize your own goals without overthinking every detail. The more comfortable you become with taking up space, the easier progress feels.
Career ambitions move into sharper focus in September. Your consistency and previous efforts may begin attracting recognition or opening a new opportunity. Stay professional, prepared, and patient. Rather than chasing every possibility, identify the direction that genuinely supports your longerterm goals and give it your full attention.
CAPRICORN (Dec 22 – Jan 19) September encourages you to expand your perspective through travel, education, or unfamiliar experiences. A new idea may challenge an assumption you have held for some time. Stay open to learning from different people and environments. Growth does not always require a dramatic change; sometimes it begins with seeing something differently.
AQUARIUS (Jan 20 – Feb 18) Deeper emotional and financial matters deserve attention this month. September encourages honest conversations around trust, shared responsibilities, and commitments. Something that has felt complicated may become easier once it is discussed openly. Do not avoid an uncomfortable subject simply because it is easier in the short term.
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Relationships take priority in September, with partnerships becoming a source of both insight and opportunity. Clear communication helps strengthen important connections and resolve misunderstandings. Whether personal or professional, focus on mutual effort rather than trying to carry everything yourself. A balanced relationship gives both sides room to grow.
September brings a renewed focus on routines, responsibilities, and the details that keep life moving smoothly. A small adjustment to your daily habits can create a meaningful difference. Stay organized without becoming overly rigid. Progress comes from making your systems work better for you.
Creativity, pleasure, and self-expression take center stage this month. September encourages you to make more room for activities that genuinely energize you. A personal project may develop in an unexpected direction. Follow your curiosity and resist the urge to judge something before giving it enough time to grow.
Home and family matters become more prominent in September. You may feel drawn to reorganize your surroundings or resolve something that has been quietly demanding attention. Creating a stronger sense of stability gives you more freedom elsewhere. Focus on what makes your personal environment feel supportive and comfortable.
CANCER (Jun 21 – Jul 22) Communication becomes especially important this month. September brings opportunities through conversations, short trips, learning, and new connections. An exchange that initially seems ordinary could lead to an interesting opportunity. Stay curious and express yourself clearly. The right information, shared at the right time, can open an unexpected door.
LEO (Jul 23 – Aug 22) Your attention shifts toward finances, resources, and long-term security. September favors practical decisions over impulsive ones. Review your priorities and consider where your time, money, and energy are going. A thoughtful choice now can create greater freedom later. Build steadily rather than looking for instant results.
Source: wisehoroscope.org
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