Extremely vibrant, and dynamically fresh is how we can describe Shaima Tayeb, who opened our eyes to a bright and colorful world of beauty and style. Spreading her simple philosophy with her free spirit. This breath of freshness is what the market really needs right now, authentic, alluring, and enchanting.

Shaima Tayeb: I had never traveled on my own before. Don’t get me wrong, I have traveled to Europe and the UK with my family, but never alone on such an adventure. I picked Asia to start with, then I fell in love with nature there.

What’s Up: How long did you stay there?

ST: On my first trip to Asia I stayed for a month wandering south and north, forests, fields, jungles mountains, lakes and sea , by the end of it I found myself on a small island with a carry-on bag that had all my belongings. On that island I found beauty and harmony. When I finally returned from that trip, I told my father that I needed to go back there again. So to make the most out of my stay, I enrolled in a yoga course. I spent six months on the second trip. I remember having to cross to Burma every month to renew my visa, and you can’t even begin to imagine how people are treated there as if we were cattle; they would cramp us in a pickup truck, take us on a three hour drive, offload us and shove everyone in a boat that would transport us over the borders to Burma, then re-stamp our passports with a new Visa, and to frame this whole picture for you, envision what happens when they see me standing there, in line, holding my Saudi passport! But hey… Loved it, it was a liberating experience, expansion of awareness,i felt equal with the whole world and independent at he same time, I felt that i can do and bare anything under any circumstance and that anything is possible, and that the world have many splendor angles and views. Beyond our imagination or our cultural stored memory

WU: Sounds like you really got hooked to even bother going through all this in order to stay in Asia.

ST: I got so excited about this journey of exploration, that I traveled to Laos, and Cambodia too. On the second trip to Asia, I started island hopping, bewitched by the true beauty of nature.

WU: What made you venture into such a journey? We don’t like to stereotype people, but in most cases Saudi females would shy away from such adventure-packed trips.

ST: That’s true, but I wanted to explore and learn more about our beautiful Earth, and that got me really hooked on such adventure travels. Usually you would find people traveling to known places, where they would gather information from their friends or relatives who have been to such destinations; I wanted something different and new. To me, it is all about the experience. I loved how simple life turned out to be there, I learned that we are all the same as human beings, no one is trying to show off since there isn’t much to brag about. I learned a lot about life, and how beautiful it is when it is simple. Nature has a great influence on people, you won’t believe it till you see how people glow when they travel there. When I returned home I discovered that beauty and harmony are not only outside in the jungle; it is here inside of me .. and it is only a matter of accepting and loving no matter what the outcome might be

WU: How did all that reflect on your new shop.

ST: Living there for a while, being solitary made me understand that beauty reflects from you to the world, if you feel beautiful inside, everything around you will become beautiful. You simply reflect what is inside you to the world outside of you, imagine waking on the wrong side of bed one day, everything will look awful in front of you, you’ll start treating everyone around you in a certain way that will gather negative feelings towards you, and you will end up with an even worse day than what you’d started with.

On the other hand, you can take beauty with you no matter where you are or where you live, everything will become fascinating and attractive. When I was on one of the islands, I found great stuff like fabrics and fashion items made by the local islanders, so I filled my bag with as much as I could carry, brought it back to see how they would sell over here. I had a friend who owned a store called “Tribe Called Earth”, so we agreed that we would start selling the items I brought in the shop, and to my surprise people loved it; I sold them like hot cakes, and I was in business. I traveled again handpicking and collecting more garment and fashion pieces. After a while my friend decided to close up the store and offered that I would take over and run the business, and that is how I thought of revamping everything from scratch and rebrand the whole concept of the store, and that is how Jungle Blue came about.

WU: Why Jungle Blue?

ST: Jungle Blue is a reflection of the sea and sky on the jungle, where it adds beauty and color to the jungle and that name describes the whole idea behind the store and the collection we offer. reflections of beauty and colors  I want to spread that to women and show them how comfortable they should be with their real inner beauty and  how that will add a beauty and colors to their fashion and life choices. Therefore, a Jungle Blue woman  wakes up in the morning, feels the beauty inside out, covers herself up in divine variety of colorful textile garments that reflects the wisdom underneath.

Jungle Blue offers different styles with different garments and collections like, Authentic, Zen, Elegant Doll dresses, Gypsy, Funky, Batik, Hand Picked Vintage items, swim wear, and a Full fledge Hijab Attire line, plus hand made and ready to wear accessories

When I first started, I used to offer handpicked fast fashion and ready to wear products. Over time I started to merchandize and design some of my collection, and in the future I will have a new fresh collection for every season. Of course I still offer the fast fashion and ready to wear garments. My philosophy is to pick every item myself, I take my time doing that because I really enjoy it.

WU: Sounds like you spend your time smelling daisies, while picking the ones you like. Do you think the market is ready to understand such an approach to fashion, that of being authentic and unique?

ST: I think many people have that taste for a bold statement, where they want to express their own style and taste, and we offer them just that – where they can mix and match depending on their own likings and unique style. Simply put, Jungle Blue is the place which attracts the unique, urban, stylish woman

WU: How do you see the future of Jungle Blue? I know it is too early at this stage, but what are your plans?

ST: Well I can’t give you much at this stage since I am still working on the plans, but since the store is officially open, I am working on two new lines, which will be designed by a group of young Saudi female designers, hopefully it will be launched by next year or maybe next season

WU: What is the message you would like to pass on through Jungle Blue?

ST: That every woman is beautiful. And true beauty is an inner beauty that reflects on the outside world. Another message I would like to send out to all my sisters and brother out there. Be open to experience… Specially the unknown for it is the ladder to find beauty in everything, and mainly to find WHO YOU ARE and what you want to be. All the love eternal.