Hijab and Red Lipstick

“You cannot do anything in this country without my permission.”

Being a teenager isn't easy. And it doesn't help when you have a mega strict Egyptian dad who tells you that everything is "haram" a.k.a. forbidden. All Sara wants to do is experiment with makeup, listen to the latest Destiny's Child single and read fashion magazines, but her dad's conservative interpretation of Islam makes it impossible. Things get even harder when her dad lands himself a job in the Arabian Gulf and moves Sara and her family to a country where the patriarchy rules supreme. In a country where you have to have your father's permission for everything, every door feels like it is being closed on Sara's future. In a desperate bid for freedom, Sara makes a judgement call that threatens to ruin their dysfunctional father-daughter relationship forever.

Hijab Red Lipstick is told from the perspective of a young British Muslim woman growing up between London and the Middle East. It is a tale of a young woman’s difficult quest to find herself, offering an unusual and unique insight into life in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE, where people’s personal lives, relationships and coming of age experiences are rarely spoken about.