Wonder girl

By Nilika de Silva

"When I was little I used to read those little Ladybird books, make cakes, sew and do all those indoor things till I was ten."

No folks, she's not another Anita Dickman, or some other culinary artiste, but Thuhashini Selvaratnam, Sri Lanka's wonder golfer, an unassuming young woman whose charm lies in the way she makes being a champion ten times over, seem "all in a day's work". But she just can't hide the dreamy look in her eyes when she speaks of golf.

For someone who says her hobbies are travelling, visiting different countries and historic places, trying out different food and meeting people, Thuhashini appears to have been 'hobbying' all her life. Travelling to participate in international tournaments since she was a child and throughout her teen years, Thuhashini has seen more of the world than most people her age. One of her favourite places is Northern California.

A lover of "Chicken Soup" stories, she says they make ideal reading while flying. "They've even got one for golfers," she giggles. "It's fun because you don't have to spend forever and ever on the stories." By the way, Thuhashini is a 'speed-talker', by that I mean her average rate of speech is six words per second! I wonder to myself whether this is a prerequisite for a child prodigy, because the others I have known also talked very fast.

When asked who her favourite singer and star are Thuhashini apologetically says there's no one special, but she does like Celine Dion very much. She alternates somewhere between hard rock and "too slow" music and likes watching movies too, but only a 'selected' number. "I am not a TV fan either," she adds.

Asked what she likes to do in her leisure time, Thuhashini, who graduated with a double major in Business Management and International Business last year from the Arizona State University, explained that she didn't have much of it. "The last five years in college, there was very little time because it was one whirl of golf, school, homework, studying, catching up, going for tournaments, coming back, etc. Any leisure time I had I would just go to a mall and walk," said Thuhashini who denies being a shopping fanatic, but describes herself as someone who simply "likes shopping".

Her earliest memory is of her fourth birthday party. "I can remember all my birthday parties," she laughs. And on every birthday, she likes to donate a Jaipur limb to someone. She feels very strongly about helping the poor and giving alms to children's homes. "I am a very religious person. I go to the temple," she says simply. I was left with the thought that here's a winner with a warm heart.

That 'magical touch' for this millennium

By Ayesha R. Rafiq

That final, but oh so important touch before you step out for a dance, sometimes even more important than what you're wearing. A touch of it here and there and wonders can be wrought. Maybe even a dab or two for the day time to lend you that extra little bit of 'feel-good'. What am I talking about? What does every girl save up her pocket money so diligently for, just to splurge on at the end of the month? Make-up of course!

There's no end to the wonders make-up can create these days. A touch of foundation and scars and marks disappear. A dash of eye-liner or mascara and your date will look a little longer and deeper into your sparkling eyes. The right shade of lipstick and your lips look luscious, a dab of blusher and rosy cheeks abound. So what woman can resist the pull of a shop full of make-up or the brilliant sales techniques used to convince you that plum red really is the best colour for you.

Here then are a few tips for you from an expert to help you with what's in and what's not, to ensure that you keep looking your best wherever you go at whatever time of day.

In a day and age when an increasing emphasis is being placed on how you look, more women are resorting to wearing light make-up during the day and to office. But as Ramani of Ramani Fernando Salons says, the colours used during the day are even more important, given the subtlety needed for that time, and especially as you are going to be wearing it for eight or nine hours.

Powder or if you have bad skin a touch of foundation, eyeliner, a light lipstick and a touch of blusher will more than suffice for office or day make-up. But the cardinal rule with regard to eye make-up whether for the day or night is well shaped eyebrows without which no amount of eye make-up can really achieve the optimum look. Earthy and natural shades like all shades of browns or for those who don't like brown dusky oranges are definitely the in colours now, for any time of the day.

For most shades of skin colour a light brown lipstick would be the best to use for the day, but if you prefer a lighter shade, a coral colour would do just as fine.

Of course if you're not working and just want to wear a little make-up to go out for the day or even for a day wedding, the darker shades would be best. Deep browns can be carried off by the young, while glossy lipsticks are all the rage in Europe and slowly making their way down here too.

For eye make-up Ramani advises that for the daytime it's better to keep off the blue and green eye-liners, especially as green, particularly green nail polish is definitely on its way out. Blue eye-shadow or nail polish is however a good colour to use for the night.

Matt shades are still very much in for daywear but if you're going to be attending a day function with lot's of people, the glossy shades would definitely be a good bet, especially as they come in all the colours now.

For the night, glossy silver- the colour of the millennium, and golds are what everybody is wearing. But with these colours, while nailpolish is just dabbed on, it's important to know the correct method of applying the lipstick. A darker colour is generally used for the bottom lip while the upper lip will use a lighter colour on the outlines and the silver should be used to fill in the centre of the upper lip.

To complement all the glossy and frosted colours, Exclusive Lines now has face powder which also has a touch of shimmer and which is a great hit.

The ever popular black lipstick and nailpolish too are fading out now, according to beauty therapists at Exclusive Lines, but can still be used for very fair skin, while darker-skinned individuals should definitely avoid using it. The favourite reds and wine colours are also now being used more by the older generation and are generally thought of as too mature a colour for teenagers. The experts agree that the young should make maximum use of the glossy colours and the browns while they're youthful enough to carry it off.

An additional touch for eye make-up for the night would be white pencil used on the corners of the eyes over the eyeliner, favoured on the international ramp now and which suits many fair skinned people.

Apart from face make-up, body make-up too is here in a big way and looks quite perky on the younger set. Silver dust sprinkled on the shoulders and upper chest are a big favourite and add a shimmering aura to the wearer, but body tattoos using body paint or henna, which last a few washes, are also very popular, especially around the forearm or around the ankle, on the stomach or back of the shoulder. Body jewellery which comes in all colours but among which silver is still a big favourite is also popular, with belly rings and teardrops being the best choice.

Meanwhile, if you're a perfume fanatic, some of the newer perfumes in the shops might be worth checking out.

If you prefer a subtle fragrance, Night Flight by Davidoff or Peace by Kenzo might be worth checking out, while for those who like a woody scent Good Life also by Davidoff is a good bet. Meanwhile for daywear Lancome's Oui carries a fresh scent, and of course with the long time favourites Burberry's, Anna Sui, Cool Water, Splendour, and the Bulgary perfumes you couldn't go wrong.

So next time you're wondering if your make-up is 'with it', just remember these rules and you can't go far wrong.

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