Beauty Talk

Sadia Moyeen, Beautician, La Belle

Q. Dear Sadia,
I am a 24 year old male. Recently I have noticed that there were a few wrinkles around my eyes which has scared me a lot. I am after all only 24. Please help me. Regards, "A"

Dear A,
Before going to bed gently massage the area around the eyes in circular movements using petroleum jelly & 2-3 drops of olive oil. Splash water on the eye area afterwards and pat dry. Wear dark glasses when out in the sun.

Q. Hi Sadia,
I am a 14 year old girl. I need solutions for the following problems:
a)Recently, dark circles appeared under my eyes. They are so dark and deep that it looks like bruise marks caused by punching! (I have enough sleep so that is not the problem). What can I apply there?
b)I have acne marks all over my chest starting from my collar bones. It's been there for a long time and that area is oily. Can you suggest something to apply on the marks?
c)I am quite hairy. I have been thinking about removing hair from my upper lips. Should I go for waxing or threading? Also for removing hair from my arms, should I shave or wax? I heard waxing results in softer and thinner re-growth. Is that true? Does waxing harm the skin?
Hopefully, you will have answers to all my questions. Thank you, -XYZ

Dear XYZ,
Here is what you can do to get rid of your problems,
(a) Soak cotton pads in cucumber juice and apply regularly for 10.15 mins. Cold used tea bags are also helpful for dark circles. Stress and recent illness can be reasons for dark circles.
(b) Make a pack with uptan (2 tbs) ½ lemon juice, ½ tsp neem leaves paste and water. Apply on your torso, massage it off when it is semi-dry. This will lighten previous marks as well as prevent others.
(c) Waxing is the best option for removal of body hair. Yes, over a period of time, waxing re-growth is seen to be less.
Threading for upper lips is better than waxing as facial skin is more delicate.

Q. Dear Sadia,
I play a bit too much in the sun and I am tanned a lot. Its like I have lost my original colour. Can you please suggest what I can use on my face and body to get back my original skin colour? What kind of sun block should I use? Thanks, D

Dear D,
Use the following pack every evening
1 tbs yoghurt
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp rose water
1 tsp chandan powder
a pinch of Holud.
½ tsp Johnsons baby oil (leave out it skin's oily). Use sun block with SPF 30 at least and re-apply at least 2-3 times during the course of the day.

Q. Hi,
I am a regular reader of your column and enjoy it very much..I've recently started having severe hair loss problems. Could you please suggest what I can do about it? Thank you.

Here is a simple pack for hair loss :-
2 tbs yoghurt
2 tbs sp onion juice
1 tablet vit E
½ tsp methi
1 egg
apply oil to your scalp and then use the above pack twice a week.

Q. Dear Sadia,
I am a 19yr old male. For the last few months I have been having pimples all over my face. Right now the situation is far better, but still the pimples are showing. They come and go like relatives. They have also left red marks. I also have blackheads in my forehead. I am now using a neem soap hoping that it would calm down the explosions. Recently in the lifestyle magazine I have seen an add of Ligion and Laser Medical Center. Tell me whether using Ligion or going to the Centre would help me? Give me your opinion. Thanking You, Pizza Faced.

Hello Pizza faced,
I don't think you need visit a laser centre for pimples, since of your age its normal to have a few pimples. You can wash your face with neem water everyday. Apply clove cream on the new pumples every night. Use a toner to clean your skin every morning (Noxzema for sensitive skin) with a cotton swab. Drink plenty of water and avoid oily food.

Dental wise

DR. Mahfujul Haq Khan BDS, DDS, FSDCE (USA), PhD (Japan), Post Doc. (Japan) Specialised: Crown and Bridge work, and Periodontal plastic surgery (USA) Senior Medical Officer, Department of Dentistry, BIRDEM Hospital.

Dear Dr. Khan
I am a 40-year-old smoker and have had dental problems consistently since the birth of my first child 10-3/4 years ago. My two front teeth are rotting out and as you can imagine, it totally ruins my smile. I had one filled but it now has a hole in it. My question is, which would be less expensive, to have both teeth filled or to have them pulled and replaced with dentures of some sort?
Saira Majid, Mohammadpur

I think it's too early to have this kind of dental problem at your age. As you mentioned that "Two of your front teeth are rotting out", actually it is not clear whether this is increasing day by day or not. If you don't have diabetes, and if these two front teeth are not loosening, then I strongly recommend you to do dental X-Ray and go for root canal treatment followed by porcelain cap. Please do not go for dental extraction if it is not badly tilting or moving. We have a lot of options/new techniques to cure this sort of problem you mentioned. Once you go for extraction or pull out your teeth, the more the replacement cost will be!

Dear Dr. Khan,
I had severe dental pain last week, but it suddenly disappeared when I took some strong pain killer. Right now, I don't have any pain but I found a cavity on my back teeth. I don't know what to do. It seems odd to me that my pain ceased after only one painkiller. Anyway, please give me some ideas on what I should do. Should I visit a dentist immediately? Can I wait for another month?
Ranzzon, Dhanmondi

Yes you should visit your dentist immediately and it seems that you may need root canal treatment, which can save your damaged tooth. When the pulp (the soft tissue inside the tooth that contains nerves and blood and lymph vessels) is diseased or injured and unable to repair itself, the pulp dies. The most common cause of pulp death is a fractured tooth or a deep cavity, which can expose the pulp. If the damaged or diseased pulp is not removed, the tooth and surrounding tissues become infected. Sometimes patients may experience severe pain, which may continue several days, sometimes it may disappear after a sudden shooting pain. If the pain disappear it dose not mean that your infection has been cured. Without treatment, your tooth could eventually cause other complications (such as cyst, abscess, tumor, bone infection etc ). If the problem is caught early enough, however, your dentist can save your tooth using root canal treatment. Mind it now a days, any sort of dental treatment should be painless!

Dear Dr. Mahfuj
I am a diabetic and my younger sister is non diabetic. I need to remove several numbers of teeth according to my dentist as those are tilting. On the other hand, my sister has very strong teeth. Will a diabetic patient lose his/her teeth sooner than a non-diabetic? As a diabetic, I am worried to go to any private dental clinic. Will it be safe if I do it outside BIRDEM? How can I get treatment from BIRDEM hospital under your supervision?
Anowara Begum

Yes, diabetic patients are more prone to develop dental disease like gum infection. But proper treatment at the right time can reduce such chances. Diabetics are known to have a decreased dental healing response. Gingivitis is an infection within the gums caused by bacteria found in plaque. A diabetic's body doesn't respond as quickly to fight this type of infection as a non-diabetic. If the infection persists it can become worse, leading to the infection of underlying bone that anchors the teeth in place which may cause early loss of your valuable teeth. Regular brushing, flossing and most important scaling (Professional cleaning by your dentist) can help reduce plaque and bacteria that cause infection and thereby decreasing the risk of gum disease. The BIRDEM, dental department is well equipped to deal with any kind of oral and dental disease. As a diabetic, BIRDEM will be the safest place for you. Yes you can get all the treatment under my guidance.

For more information visit Dr. Khan's website "www.aikodental.com"

J-Lo eyes

Want those glam, wet-look J-Lo eyes? Add some shine to your eye-lids by mixing some Vaseline with your powdered eye-shadow (resist pinks and blues, and choose your shade wisely).

 

UNDER A DIFFERENT SKY

By now

By the time this piece gets published I will be breathing Dhaka air. I will have flown for 20some hours and experienced bad food and loud snores. I would have already had some good and some awkward conversations with the other passengers of British airways and probably will find at least one one-degree with one of the flyers (my long lost cousin twice removed, or my friend's brother-in-law's ex wife), I would have caught up on sleep and have Lopa Mudra singing "Klanto Mon sukno Jiboon,…de bhijiye de amoron/ meghla din… bristihin…. ar bhallagena" right into my ears through my one-side-dead earphones…I would have landed in the land of Kal Boishaki and road side phuchka with a kompito hridoy and buk bhora hasi…by this time I surely will be there…

I would have by now seen all the ones I missed for what seemed like forever, I would have already had cried a few good times about relatives I lost and familiar old houses which no longer open their doors for me. I will have seen once youthful faces of my uncles and aunts now aging, reminding me of my own age…new lives adding generations while the oldest generation have disappeared leaving me uncomfortably somewhere in the middle.

By the time this piece gets published I would have eaten at Dhaka's hundred and one new and innovative restaurants, shopped like there was no tomorrow and will have given the phuchka wallah on the side of the street his best business of the day. By now I would have given a few dollars to the beggars in front on the airport who only want dollars and not taka. By now I will have purchased a few beli phul er mala from the little girl who sells them between traffic lights, and by now I will be more immune to the poverty in Dhaka streets than I originally intended.

By now I would have missed some inane luxury that only America offers, will have taken at least 50 cold showers over one week, I will have seen the faces that is Dhaka now and missed the faces that once made Dhaka.

By now I will have caught a few natoks in the Mohila Somiti, will have against my will tried at some friend's or relative's insistence pizza hut's pizza or some famous burger of Dhaka. I will have already experienced a few rain showers, many traffic jams, a nervous breakdown, sheer blissfulness, pearls of sweats on my forehead and the comfort of suti saris.

By now I will have had a few arguments about American vs. Bangladesh, or tradition vs. tradition, or about "Bangladesher manush" vs. "America er Bengali." I will have perhaps realized I am more loyal to America than I ever hoped to be, which will trickle in drops of guilt in my tainted consciousness…
I will have bought a shada sari with bright red paar for Pohela Boishak, which I will be experiencing after 11 years in Dhaka. I will be making plans with close friends for post-botomul festivities, trying to figure out which area should I stay in and get the most out of, I will have already ripped one of my sandals from over walking in Dhaka streets.

I will have already ridden in a Dhaka yellow cab, will have planned a trip to Dhaka outskirts, and will have gained a few good pounds from the forceful love that only can be shown through food…

I will have by now figured out what kept me away for so long…what made me come back, and when I want to be back again. I will have also realized what keeps me going while I am away, and if my Dhaka is still my Dhaka and I do not belong anymore…

Between lots of tears and lots of laughers…Dhaka and I will have made up and started over out sweet and sour relationship one again…by now…

 

By Iffat Nawaz