Features | Online edition of Daily News

It’s not just the partying. Even make-up and hair treatments that you put yourself through before the day of the party, are bound to stress out your skin and hair.

Do it right

* Skin and hair are subjected to stress due to over use of products.

* Cleanse your skin and ex foliate to remove dead cells. Also keep make-up to a minimum.

* For limp hair, opt for a head massage to increase the circulation and then follow up with a deep conditioning treatment.

So don’t be surprised if you see a zit breaking out on your face, or discover that you have flaky skin and unusually limp hair after a night of revelry.

Experts believe that the best way to begin the new year is by allowing your skin and hair to relax so that it’s ready to take on the styles for the coming year. Like the rest of your body, even your skin needs to unwind because subjecting it to different kinds of make-up, environments, etc. can cause it to react adversely.

And when it comes to pampering your skin it’s all about sticking to the basics. After any event like a wedding or a stage show where you’ve continuously used a lot of make-up, it’s important to remove it all before moving on to anything else. This also causes a lot of dirt, oil and dead skin to accumulate, so go in for an ex foliating treatment, since apart from cleaning the skin, it also nourishes it.

Now, based on your skin type, choose the procedure that suits you the best. By this time your skin has lost a lot of moisture so to restore the suppleness, use a moisturizer that suits your skin type.

If you have oily skin it’s better to use a toner before this. Alternatively, if you have very sensitive skin, go in for a light facial steam and cleanse the pores with a light cleansing milk to remove the clogged dirt. For the next two to three days, keep the make-up light and simple — a light foundation, followed by kajal or mascara and a lip gloss, if you’re heading out.

One of the best ways to repair limp hair is to treat your tresses to a relaxing, deep conditioning treatment.

The main reason why hair becomes limp is either due to the overdose of styling products or frequent changes in the atmosphere. Now the best thing to do to add life to dull hair is to opt for a head massage which increases the blood circulation. After a day’s gap follow this up with some deep conditioning treatment to add shine to the hair.

Since you want your hair to relax, don’t tie it up. Fancy hair-dos are an absolute no-no for at least a week. Let your hair down or at the most pull it into a ponytail.

Deccan Chronicle

Enriching children through Lanka’s beauty

Nineteen is an age that is a stepping stone in a young girl’s life to leave her teen years aside and step into a world of challenges, decisions and more questions. But Sashini Pamoda Gunasooriya has a challenge that very few other 19-year-olds will ever face: running a travel company.

Sashini Gunasooriya sharing a moment of joy with children.

Sashini, the new Chairperson of Taashi Travel Lanka (www.taashisrilanka.com), has been thrust into the fascinating world of travel, not by design but by choice. Unlike many other young businesspersons, she did not ‘inherit’ a family company. Sashini, a student of Sirimavo Bandaranaike Vidyalaya and Devi Balika Vidyalaya has a strong interest in promoting the culture, beauty and traditions of Sri Lanka and that is what propelled her to establish an inbound travel company.

“This is a tourism company that arranges tours for foreigners and shows them their favourite spots in our isle”, young Sashini said with an alluring smile. She went on to say that since the war is over, “we have to gain their trust and show them that there is nothing to be afraid of anymore”.

This idea popped into her head suddenly and she wanted to make it a reality for a good cause. While most other company chiefs keep the profits for themselves, the difference here is that they are channelled to children’s charities. It is a noble mission indeed. “It is for the children. I love children”, she said. “They are the future of the whole Sri Lanka and they can make this world better than what we have at present.”

She wants to help every child that is suffering out there, children who are orphaned and left to be looked after through charity in orphanages. The money that she earns for the company’s tours goes towards helping these children in need.

When asked her what she thinks about children having mobile phones at a very young age like 8 to 10 years, she said, “Children above Grade 10 I feel, should use a phone in a state of emergency, because these days, they get to come home late after classes, specially children who don’t have vehicles and the luxuries of life. A mobile phone also has its bad side, where young boys have access to adult content with straight access to the internet from the phone. For that parents should have a control over the child”.

She further added that the main mistake made by the parents is they are not close to their children. That gap leads children astray. If parents could become closer to their children, get to know them more, by talking to them every day, even if one parent is in another country, it would surely veer children away from making hasty and nasty decisions in their lives.

Her first tour for a group of five Australians was in September last year and she registered the company formally in December. Right now, it is a ‘one woman’ show, with a lot of support from her Ammi and Thathi as well as her brother. Her guruji behind the whole enterprise, pushing her forward and encouraging her is Rohan Wickremasinghe.

While running Taashi travels, she is doing her International Advance Diploma in Business Administration Bsc (Hons) in Marketing-University of Wales, second year at the Singapore Informatics. She was earlier a student teacher at the Gateway Kids School of Computing (2005), Stall Assistant at the UK Education Fair (2008), Assistant to the Climate Change Positive Action held at the British Council (2008), a student helper at the Customer Service Week (2008) and marketing assistant at the UK Education Fair held in 2009.

She is one straight A student and has done well both in her O/Ls and London A/Ls. At Devi Balika she took part in almost every extracurricular her school organized. She was the President of the New Inventors’ Club, Secretary to the Scrabble Club, represented the school in the Fifth International Cultural Olympiad for World Peace, Luknow, India and also represented the all school band fiesta, various scrabble tournaments and the national music festival 2003.

In her free time she loves to listen to music, spend time with her family and her friends who she adores very much. Other than that she loves to hang out with her little mallas, her cousin brothers who are eight years old and one little toddler who is just three months old. Speaking to her about children simply brings a bright glow to her face.

It is very hard to find young people like Sashini, who think about the coming generation even when their era is also just beginning. Now, the only place you see girls her age are in shiny glossy papers, wasting not their money but their parents’ money on unnecessary things.

Sashini wants to take her country forward and make it known to people living all around the world and with it make lives of under unprivileged children joyous.

Yoga - Part XI

Sit on the floor. Lift your right hand while folding in the right leg and place it on the left thigh. As shown in the picture clutch the left ankle with the left hand.

Clutch the left ankle with your left hand. Try to clutch that leg with your right hand while touching the belly as shown in the picture.

Clutch the left ankle with both hands. Turn the head to the right. Breathe normally. Be in this pose for 10 to 15 seconds.

However, those who suffer pains in the neck area and undergone surgery lately should refrain from practising this asana. Pregnant women are advised not to practice it.

Recipes

Heat the oil in a large pan with a lid. Tip in the onion, garlic, ginger and chilli, then cook for three to five minutes until soft. Stir in the curry powder, followed by the carrots, lemongrass and zest, then cover and cook over a low heat for 10 minutes more.

Pour coconut milk into the pan along with the vegetable stock. Bring to the boil, then turn down and simmer for 15 minutes until the carrots are really soft. Remove the lemongrass and orange zest, then use a stick blender or food processor to whizz until smooth. Ladle into bowls and top with a swirl of reserved coconut milk and an extra sprinkling of curry powder, if you like.

Carrot and roast pepper purée

In a pan with the lid on, gently cook 300g sliced carrots in a little butter and one tbsp water for 30 minutes until softened. Grill one halved red pepper until charred. Leave in a plastic bag for 10 minutes, then peel off the skin and remove the seeds. Whizz the carrots and pepper with one tbsp vinegar until smooth. Serve the purée with chicken or lamb chops.

Pineapple and curry rice

In a large saucepan, sauté onion in butter until translucent. Stir in rice, garlic, and curry powder. Add broth, soy sauce and jalapeno, if desired. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and let stand for five minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Stir in green onions and pineapple chunks.

Thai Pongal at Mount Lavinia Hotel

Thai Pongal is an important aspect of Tamil culture and tradition, and indeed a gesture to thank nature and indeed for celebrating the life cycles that give us grain. Hence, Mount Lavinia Hotel has made plans to celebrate this festival quintessentially with a fabulous spread and the traditions observed for this time of giving thanks today at the Governor’s Restaurant.

This festival is the equivalent of Canada’s Thanks Giving Day. Pongal is a four-days-long harvest festival celebrated by Tamils living all around the world.

To give a brief summary on the festival takes its name from the Tamil word meaning “to boil” and is held on the first day of the month of Thai (January -February) when rice and other cereals, sugar-cane, and turmeric (an essential ingredient in Tamil cooking) are harvested.