Beauty Talk

Sadia Moyeen Beautician, La Belle

Dear Sadia
Hope you are fine. I have some questions and problems. I would like to know what good things can a facial do for my face? How much would it cost? Is there an age limit for it?

I am 16+, 5 feet tall and I have straight, silky hair up to my waist. I am not very slim, but also not chubby. My face is oval. What hair cut would suit me? (I don't want to cut my hair short). I am having problems tying my hair. Making a ponytail or keepino the hair free makes it a mess of tangles after a while. If I pin up my hair with a punch clip, the clip slips off the hair. Tying a bun only suits sarees (isn't it?), and I smldom wear them. So, the only thing left is a plait, and it has become really boring. Please help me.
I have recently started to lose hair. It has reduced to three-fifth of its original volume. I shampoo everyday (if I don't it becomes greasy) and oil my hair sometimes. What can I do to get back my original volume of hair? Thanks. Arusa

Dear Arusa
Having a facial is food for your skin. A complete facial includes cleansing & exfoliating, removing blackheads, clearing pores, deep moisturising, using proper massaging technique and Ozone treatment to improve circulation as well as repressing any reactions and finally a pack to soothe and literally feed your skin. A facial can cost anywhere between Tk 400 to Tk 800. In my opinion, the time to take care of your skin is while it is still young and supple so that it can last longer. Why should you wait for a problem to arise before you address it? Prevention is better than cure! Use a shampoo that is specially formulated for an oily scalp and apply twice a week. Use conditioner after the shampoo, only on the length of the hair avoiding the scalp completely. Doing this will rid the oily scalp and at the same time moisturise the rest of the hair. (Applying lemon juice to the roots before shampoo also helps an oily scalp).

Layer the bottom few inches of your hair close together to add volume to your hair, do not cut the top or font short. Once the quality of your hair improves you can leave your hair loose; meanwhile use a smaller size punch clip to put your hair up casually.

Dear Sadia
I am fourteen. The hair of my hand grows very fast, which is why I removed them a month ago with a hair removing cream. But some hairs were left out and I removed them with a razor. When I tried removing them again, I had pimples in my hand. Because of these pimples I can't remove my hair anymore and it looks horrible. What should I do to? And what should I do to make my hands smoother?
Saima

Dear Saima.
If hair-removing cream does not suit you, switch to waxing as it works more efficiently and you will not feel the need to use a razor. Do allow the pimples to heal before you do that; use calamine lotion on them mixed with a dash of antiseptic cream.

Hi Sadia
I'm a 26-year-oll guy. I've some problems regarding my hair. My hair is black and used to be beautiful silky, soft, smooth and straight. But noweadays it is hard, rough, fizzy and unmanageable. I used pop silky, livon silky to get rid of this trouble. But it is all in vein. Now I use rejoice shampoo and Pantene conditioner (5) and I use oil 3 times a week. But I don't get any benefits. Please help me how can I get rid of this trouble? I want to get back my hair condition whatever was in previous. Titu

Dear Titu
Did you undergo any chemical process recently? Colouring or highlighting?

Use shampoo especially formulated for frizzy hair, along with its conditioner. Apply a hair pack using ½ a mashed banana, 1 tsx conditioner, 1 capsule vit E, |wice a week: Gel your hair back until its quality improves.

Dear Sadia,
I'm 20 years old and my complexion is fair. My main problem is acne and pimples, which has left its marks on my T-zone. I also have lots of facial hair on my face but I can't use anything due to acne problems. Could you please suggest a home remedy, which I can use to remove the scars of pimples? Thank you,
Ema

Dear Ema,
Pimples will not lea~e a scar if you leave them alone and not pop them. Allow them to heal.
Wash your face with neem water every night (Boil neem leaves in water for 15 minutes. Apply a paste of
-- 10, 15 neem leaves
-- ½ tsp haldi powder
-- ½ tsp clove powder
-- 1 tsp calamine lotion
-- 5/6 Mint leaves

Apply only on pimples. Mix it with the neem water. You can store the mixture for a few day in an airtight container in the refrigerator. If it dries a little after a day or two, mix it with a few drops of water to fix it.

Watch your diet, eat healthy and drink plenty of water and fruit juices.

Hi Sadia,
I'm 17-year-old girl having a awful hair problem from last 3 or 4 moths. My hair is silky, shiny n' strait. But these days it became thinner. Without any reason its falling like anything. I use Pantene shampoo with conditioner almost everyday because it becomes oily the next day. I've no dandruff. My hair is getting thinner and thinner day b day. I feel like crying when I see my hair in my hand and brush. Please help me out,
Hair lover

Dear Hair-lover,
Don't over shampoo your hair.
If you use an appropriate shampoo especially formulated for an oily scalp you will not face this problem.
Don't condition your scalp, apply conditioner only on the length of your hair.

Dear Sadia,
I've wavy hair that falls just below my shoulders. Recently, my hair has become very rough and brittle. It lacks lustre and looks very dull. How do I make it look silky and shiny? Moreover, my hair looks really disheveled and out of control, moments after I keep it loose. Even when I tie it up, a few short strands always stick out in front, giving an untidy appearance. How can I make my hair look neat and tidy at all times?(without the use of hair spray or gel) Could you please suggest a good shampoo and conditioner to improve my hair?
Thanking you,
Raisa.
P.S. I've tried 'straightening' my hair but it didn't suit me.

Dear Raisa,
Did you chemically straighten your hair? Straightening tends to dry the hair and make it brittle as well.
Use L'oreal's Multivitamin shampoo and conditioner. Apply a dash of Livon after that. Oil you hair weekly.

Dental wise

Question:
Dear Dr. khan
I am Diabetic for the last 17 years and I never feel any dental problem. Now a days I found that some of my posterior teeth are tilting(Moving). Is there any relation with my diabetes? Will a Diabetic patient lose their teeth earlier than a non-Diabetic? This is to mention here that now a days my diabetes is not well controlled. I use to get my consultation with my doctor in Singapore, but after coming Dhaka I never consult regarding my diabetes. What to do? I know about BIRDEM, but how can I consult?
Hagat Chou

Dear Mr. Chou,
Gum disease or Periodontal disease is an infection of the gums, ligaments and bone surrounding teeth. If not treated initially, teeth eventually may fall out or need to be removed. It seems you are suffering from sever gum disease. Remember, poorly controlled diabetes can lead to tooth loss!!!!.

People with poorly controlled diabetes are at higher risk for severe periodontal disease, which can lead to tooth loss. Researcher found that people with poorly controlled diabetes were nearly three times more likely than those with better-controlled diabetes to have sever gum disease.

Plaque (White coating) is the main bad guy of gum disease. But diabetes can also be a culprit. Diabetes may weaken your mouth's germ-fighting powers. High blood sugar levels can help the gum disease get worse. At the same time, gum disease can make diabetes harder to control. Often gum disease is painless and you may not even know you have it until you have some serious damage. Regular dentist visits are your best weapon.

You can consult with me at the department of Dentistry, BIRDEM hospital (Room No 258, from 7.30am to 2.00pm).

For those glamorously smoky eyes

While liquid eyeliners prominently define the shape of your eyes, a pencil eyeliner can be smudged to give you a glamorously smoky look. Simply blur out the defined edges with your fingertip and apply eye shadow over it.

 

UNDER A DIFFERENT SKY

Flipping on

After we watched Bangladesh defeating Pakistan on a cricket match at the end of our Christmas day celebration in the most Bengali of ways (gaan er Jalsha and good food at a friend's place), we slept well under our cozy comforters, feeling proud to be Bangladeshi, we dozed off thinking we should not have doubted our cricket team's power, should not have laughed about how half the team is forever under 21. They won, and thanks to dish network we got to witness it..

The next morning our lazy bodies woke late, flipping through channels, and we heard of an earthquake in Asia. _e heard of the tsunamis which wiped out and took away thousands of lives. It was a tragedy but for some reason American television didn't concentrate on it enough for us to be mindlessly worried, I mean it definitely got less coverage than the live chase of O.J Simpson in 1994. So we went about our merry ways, throwing away wrapping papers, hitting the malls for after Christmas sales, returning what our loved ones gave us for cash or credit.

Later that day sitting in front of the television we realized as did America (to an extent) that this was no joke. This wasn't just another flood hitting the Third World (why bother being politically correct and call these countries "developing"). This was major, the death tolls were rising every hour, the horror stories were piling on top of each other, and that's when Christmas left America, and holidays didn't seem so merry, at least to most of us.

But obviously some of us still didn't get hit as harl by the tsunami{. On the 26th of December while CNN reported the amount of help each country was providing to the affected regions, USA had put down a phrase instead of a number next to the amount of help they would supply. USA had said it will provide "all appropriate help." What does that mean, I thought, but then I remembered putting down an amount might have taken away some funds from the efforts to rebuild Iraq, so it made sense.

Then the live coverage got serious. Watching the stories of the survivors became America's favorite pastime. But who wmre |hese survivors mostly that we got to hear about? They were…
well they were mostly tourists. The crying faces from Ohio and Idaho. The rich families which took vacations during Christmas |o paradise island, then the European tourists giving a glimpse of the terrible happmnings sitting at the airports waiting for their planes to be boarded, that's who we saw the most. We saw the others too, the others who apparently saved some of these tourists lives, give them food from their share and shelter under their broken roofs, the white skin still claimed hierarchy over these poor surviving souls in these devastated countries. Or maybe it was the hospitality that wa{ imbedded in their brown islander blood, I don'| know, but I was awed how one could save another even when all they have is lost.

Apparently the current true cost of the war on Iraq is said to be $200 billion. The curren| rate of expenditure for specifically Iraq-rela|ed military and occupation purposes is approximately $5 billion per month. Two previous emergency appropriations for the Iraq War have provided $149 billion and a recent supplement added $25 billion, but this $174 billion total surely fails to include some war costs included in the regular budget of the Department of Defense. Estimates for the occupation of Iraq in 2005 alone run as high as $75 billion and the actual expenditures may well turn out to be even greater.

The United States pledged 35 million dollars in aid for victims of the Asian tsunami disaster. You do the math. Hmmm, after all how many rebuilding efforts can one country take up at a time?

Pretty soon the new NGOs will show their grace and worried faces in America. The ones which will be born due to the tsunamis, the ones where 60% of the funds will be held for administrated costs, just like when we donate money for the tsunami victims through some of the renowned organization 50% of our pledged amount goes to administrative and anonymous costs. I guess nothing in this world is 100%...so why expect?

So what will we learn from the tsunamis of 2004 besides a geography and geology lesson? I am not sure, I guess we will learn life is expandable, that the next breath we take can be our last one, I guess we will learn that children everywhere are not dreaming of another Christmas and New Year's, they are in too much pain to dream, or to imagine. Will we learn all this? Or will we just keep flipping through channels until we have flipped far enough to come back to our perfect American bubble?

By Iffat Nawaz