Features: Magazine | Literary Review | Life | Metro Plus | Open Page | Education Plus | Book Review | Business | SciTech | Friday Review | Young World | Property Plus | Quest | Folio |

Beauty, at what cost?

Beauty comes easy these days, but be sure about what goes into every treatment

IS IT REALLY HERBAL? Check out the contents before application

With beauty spas and parlours sprouting in every corner of the city, exotic beauty treatments are no longer the prerogative of the likes of Queen Cleopatra. With a mind-boggling range of options to choose from, and an equally incredible range of effects they promise, it is perhaps time to get acquainted with the basics of beauty treatments, the myths and facts of the scenario.

"There is no 100 per cent herbal bleach, at least none that can create instantaneous effects," says herbal beauty therapist Asha Gopikrishnan. The most trusted natural bleaching ingredients happen to be honey and lemon. The good news is these natural goodies work, but over a period of time. "As for the instantaneous bleaches, these concoctions contain ammonia and hydrogen peroxide, bleaching with which dries up the skin," Gopikrishnan adds.

Facial hair

Facial hair can be a painful nuisance, but never, ever, try to get rid of it by waxing your face. "Tearing off the wax strips from the face pulls your sensitive facial skin, and the skin never really gets right back in place as facial skin tends to loose collagen — the elasticity factor which keeps the skin supple, eventually resulting in sagging of facial skin," says beautician Nithya Raghuraman.

The most inexpensive and effective option to tackle facial hair is threading, which when done repeatedly over a period of time minimises the growth of facial hair. After threading, tone the skin with lotion based toners or ice. Collagen facials are now in the news. "But remember, collagen treatment works only when it is injected into the skin well below the epidermis and the dermis of the skin. Collagen cream based facials do not have the capacity to penetrate these layers of the skin," says beautician Kamala Sampath.

Collagen injections can keep wrinkles and crow's feet at bay, but only temporarily. The effect wears off in a few months. The sun may be the motor that runs our world, but it has a definite negative effect on the skin.

"Sunscreen lotions do help. But the effect lasts for only about a couple of hours. Besides, you need to apply sunscreens half an hour before you step into the sun for sunscreens to be really absorbed and work," says Nithya Raghuraman.

HEMA VIJAY

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail