Beauty Talk

Sadia Moyeen, Beautician La Belle

Dear Sadia,
I am allergic to sun-blocks. My eyes especially experience irritation. Can you suggest any sun-block that is not allergic or any other solution that I can use to get rid of sunburn without adverse effects?
Thank you
Sazia

Dear Sazia,
Sunblock is the greatest gift for sun protection. It's a pity you can't use it. Just a week ago I recommended a recipe for someone else. I am repeating it. Apply uptan ½ cup, milk or yoghurt, ½ tsp haldi, 1 lemon's juice on your face and other parts of the body exposed to the sun.

Hi Sadia,
Hope you are well. You told me to shampoo twice a week. But that left my hair greasy and full of dandruff. I apply crushed onions sometimes and oil the length of my hair. I am still losing my hair. What should I do? Another problem is when I keep the nails of my feet long, cracks appear on either sides of them. Please help me and finally, give me names of a few sun-blocks made specially for oily skin and where can I get them? Thanks,
Arusa

Dear Arusa,
You are losing hair because you still have dandruff in your hair. Apply lemon juice to the scalp only and shampoo off with Selsun Blue medicated shampoo twice a week. Once the dandruff has gone stop Sulsun Blue and address the greasy hair issue, switch to any shampoo that is specifically formulated for greasy hair and use 2-3 times a week. Avoid oiling. Always use cool water to wash hair.

Dear Sadia,
I am a man of 48 years having severe allergy problem with any common hair dye like Hi-po, Loriel, Lolen, Pentone. Legend etc. Do you know any kind of hair dye, which has no allergic reaction? I will be very happy if you kindly suggest me with a few names and places.
Thank you,
Zaman

Dear Zaman
Try Ammonia free colour by Clairol. It is a semi-permanent colour that will last you about 6 shampoo's.

Hello Sadia,
My hair is extremely curly. I have re-bonded my hair about a year back. My hair has become quite dry and damaged after that, and is falling off. Please suggest a good home remedy for healthier hair and a good shampoo and conditioner (I am using Garnier Fructis for damaged and dry hair). I wanted to re-bond my hair once again. Is this a good idea? Also, I wanted to buy a hair straightener. Can you please suggest which is a good choice for very curly hair like mine? Please advice.
-xxxx-

Dear xxxx-,
Concentrate on recovering the health of your hair and don't even think of applying any kind of chemical to the hair until it is in perfect condition again. You can use a straightener with ceramic plates to control the waviness. Meanwhile have regular hair cuts and try and grow out the dry and previously re-bonded sections as soon as possible. Oil your hair regularly. Apply 2 egg yolks, then shampoo and condition with your usual product. Apply anti-frizz mousse before drying with a straightener. Buy any Japanese or German brand with ceramic plate.

Hello Sadia,
I'm 26 years old. My hair is not too long. It was straight, and quite silky and shiny. But for the last 6/7 months, my hair became rough and dull. I shampoo it every alternate day; use Pantene shampoo and conditioner, oil my hair once in a week. But it becomes oily and dull the day after using shampoo. And recently I'm suffering badly from hair loss. What can I do now to save my hair and to make them healthy and beautiful? Farhana

Dear Farhana,
Use a specially formulated shampoo for oily hair and apply conditioner only to the length of the hair, avoiding the scalp completely. Use pack with 1 egg, 1tsp oil, 1 crushed fresh amla, squeeze of lemon every week.

Dear Sadia,
I am a fifteen year old girl. I have recently gained around 7 kgs of weight, which caused my appearance to change. I have been dieting and also working out, but it is not really helping. I heard about a product, which is called 'Ayu Slim'. I heard that it is only made of natural things, thus it has no side effect. However, many requested me not to use the product, as I am too young for doing so. I desperately need to lose weight and I want to know from you whether it is safe for me to use this very product. Please help me out here! -Fara

Dear Fara,
I have not heard about this product and besides I am not qualified in this field to advise you. Why don't you seek help from a nutritionist, who will be able to advise you on a balanced healthy diet and aid you in losing weight. Most gym's should have someone to help you or you could even try the local hospitals. Now with the grace of God we have a few good ones.

Style Files

Maheen Khan Fashion designer, Mayasir

Dear Ms Khan,
I really take a great deal of effort in carrying the right accessories, especially bags. I change them for all occasions and even colour co-ordinate them with my outfits. I would like you to tell me more about the new bags and the different shapes that they come in. When and how should we be using them?
Rina

Arm candy. This is a very important accessory. It says a lot about a person's personality, creativity, and style. There is no right ticket to a successful style. A purse is an extension of your ensemble. Today, it is used as a focal point. There are many different factors that probably can justify the use of a purse. Season, utility, and probably the kind of outfit you wear, also plays an equally important role. It is evident from recent trends that a perfect colour matching with outfits is not absolutely essential. You can very well use it with accent colours to make a statement.

This summer large bags are a happening option. The colours that always work well with anything are black, taupe, beige, navy, khaki, and tan. Texture is the in thing. Bags in raffia, cane, rattan, wicker, woven leather are all in fashion. Moreover this is the season you can use tropical bright prints on canvas or just canvas bags with leather trimmings. Bags embellished with embroidery, crochet, beads, and shells are creating a rave with boho styles.

Super soft washed leather bags are light, they are best now in a rounded, shaped over the shoulder style and the great thing about this bag is that it slouches into shape. A retro cycadelic tote will brighten up any rainy day. Many bags have front pockets, good for your mobile phones or keys. Others have multitude of compartments to further organise you. The summary bags are low key in appearance with spacious interiors, buckled and zipped pockets. They are over sized and sometimes can even double as an overnight. The most coveted bags are multifunctional, as they are beautiful, they are ideal for busy days, through night. There's no where this bag can't go.

By The Way

Heal the heels

Cracked heels can cause a great deal of pain. It is mostly caused by bacteria. Drive away the invisible enemy with a few easy steps. Soak feet in a tub of water to which lemon juice, and a few drops of olive oil have been added. Massage the area with 2 tsp coconut oil, 2 tsp honey and 1 tsp turmeric. This will help soothe and heal your cracked heels.

UNDER A DIFFERENT SKY

By Iffat Nawaz

Waiting for the next negative?

I woke with beautiful sunlight, the weather, my neighborhood's mood all singing optimism. Summer was at her highpoint, yet mild. A day when I was almost inspired to walk to work, take in everything I saw in sight, smile and nod at every face I crossed, sweet, bitter or just there.

So I ended up with my uplifted self at my desk around 9 am. And went for the usual email checking, news reading routine and there it was, waiting in my inbox, news about the 300 bomb blasts over half hour all over Bangladesh, August 17, 2005. The scale of the event, the frequency and the organized manner of the ordeal was more than astonishing, so I started searching. Of course many others were ahead of me, so there were the floods of email from different newsgroups, all with links and more insights, and discussions, and I read on.

I decided to check on my friends who were sitting in Dhaka. I wanted to see their reactions, hear their voices. Were they worried? Surprised? How many of them were looking forward to the holiday that would follow (the strikes) and how many of them took this to heart and analyzed it? And perhaps understood that this might be the beginning of something terribly alarming; that this might have been just a foreshadow. Perhaps we should wake up from our middle class, upper middle class or high society bubble and not wait for the bombs to go off in our living rooms. And do something, more than talking big and having fancy dinners while we pretend to be artfully simple, sitting and sipping tea near Dhaka University footpaths.

So I reached a few of them. The first one mentioned that he had heard one of the bombs while he was in some CNG and thought it was a tire that had burst. There was some havoc but nothing out of the ordinary. Of course Dhaka people tend to make a mountain out of a molehill, he said.

The next one I reached talked about the future, about the involvement of the political parties, how we are helpless and no movement of any kind, or any small or big revolution will change anything, because our system is not designed for that. It filters and stops any big changes; so why bother talking about it, unless someone can buy a gun and shoot a few. So more violence to stop violence was this person's solution!

The third person sounded genuinely worried. She expressed her worries not with too many words, which meant she was very bothered, as she is a woman of many words. So I stopped and thought and searched on.

I read more discussions through newsgroup emails. Already, many articles have been written about it. That's all - the expatriates had the big ideas, and the in-Dhaka crowd gave their two cents, which either seemed way too blown for their own benefits or way too down played.

I forwarded the news to my American friends. They expressed their courteous sympathy and mentioned how different it is when something like this happens to a third world nation as opposed to America or Europe. How if something like this had happened in America, it would have been world news. And no matter how much ruckus the fanatics tried to make in Bangladesh, the news still goes to the Americans through some Bangladeshi friend or acquaintance, in the form of a forwarded email only to be read during a boring Sunday afternoon a week later.

I know that I know nothing about this issue. I know there are intellectuals all over and around, who can make more sense out of the blasts than the originators brains could afford. I know that we will forget about this in a month, we have this power to get over all that's negative, maybe because more negatives come and take over the prior negatives. So being a Bengali sitting far, I wait for the next negative to wake me up from my bubbled temporary beautiful days and force me to keep writing pieces which only last 2 minutes…waiting…aren't you?