Just another summer evening and I am once again trying my best to come up with some interesting topic to write for you guys. By the way I am not even well —- bad throat, flu, fever and what not. So be very careful guys, it’s time to be very conscious when you go out in the heat and try not to eat anything from outside. So stay inside the house especially in the afternoons and when going to work or anywhere you might get hungry, then don’t feel ashamed of carrying a lunchbox with you and you can even work on your lunchboxes and make them attractive as you might become a trend setter. And tap water is a big ‘no’. Hope you all have filters and if not then get one. It’s not expensive but it’s a must, otherwise try having mineral water for a few months as you have to be careful in particular during this season.

Today, while I was sitting in front of my computer thinking what to write I suddenly got a message on my cell phone. First I thought of ignoring it but then somehow I couldn’t resist the beep and picked up my cell phone. It was a message from my good friend from New Jersey and she SMSed me, “Sakib after getting my hair streaked I think they have gone really dry so tell me what to do about them?”

The first thing that came out of my mouth was, “Thank you so much, you’ve given me a topic to write on!” So I replied to her problem and thought of sharing it with you all as well. These days dying your hair is a first step to look fabulous and telling the whole world: ‘look at me! I am not a dark head unfabulous person any more. I HAVE STYLE.” No matter how bad you’re looking, but at least you have coloured hair.

First of all you have to be honest to yourself that are you doing justice to the colour your hair is going to have, as its not an easy job to select shades for our Asian complexions, because we have olive and pale skin tones and if we try using shades of blondes, it can make us look dull and even paler. Then the second thing is to maintain that colour and the texture of your hair, as again it’s a chemical treatment and it does harm our original hair texture.

Let’s go back to the shades which we should have regarding our complexions. If you are fair then you can get away with any light and medium shade, but please don’t go for jet black. Then I have seen some people with fair complexion who originally have dark hair and dark eyebrows and sometimes they colour there hair a light colour and leave their brows black, which is a ‘BIG NO’. You have to dye your eyebrows with your hair to make them appear part of the whole look and specially if you are going for high or low lights, it’s a must that you should dye the eyebrows in some shade of medium and dark brown as black brows look very stark on any complexion.

So girls, with rosy fair complexions you can get blonde or any streaks. It will complement your complexion. However regarding our Asian complexions, which vary from olive to pale and from tan to dark, as I mentioned earlier for these complexions we should go for darker tones, like burgundy, deep auburns and mahoganies. All these shades have a reddish tinge and this red tinge will give a lift to your complexion. And even if you think you can’t live without streaks; then you can go for red streaks in a burgundy base or maybe copper streaks in an auburn base. Trust me, you will love the outcome. And again, if you think you have to have blonde streaks then keep the base in burgundies for sure.

Now you have successfully gotten the right shade and the right look for yourself, but after a few washes you feel that you have lost all the body and the original texture of your hair. This is the time when you want a real wakeup call that: “Sweetie, it’s not that easy to look fabulous!” You have to pay the price. But have no fear as I am here. The first thing you have to do is to start oiling your hair, which can be once a week but make that a proper hot oil treatment. Be careful you don’t overdo the oiling as excessive oiling can even take away the colour. However people who have naturally light coloured hair and who have just gone for highlights, which are cutting down the natural hair colour, they can use oil every day if they like. Now you have to chose the right shampoo and the right shampoo is the one which says ‘for damaged and colour treated hair’ and usually they have conditioners for such hair too. So girls, if you are too lazy to use oil, then it’s a must to use conditioner to get rid of that dry fizzy look of your hair.

So girls, hit the road! Show off your fabulous coloured hair and tell the whole world that you have an attitude and you know how to use it and specially how to maintain it.