Saba Khan, a talented lady who has returned
to Pakistan after spending over two decades in the United States of
America.
Saba Khan, who has just set up a salon in Karachi's Defence Housing
Authority, remembers the time when she first entered beauty business.
That was 22 years ago, when she had moved to New York, after her marriage
to a Pakistani Businessman. She recalls that women, particularly the
whites, were reluctant to get their hair cut or facial done at the
hands of an Asia.
The Karachi born, Saba Khan did one year diploma course
from Robert Finance Institute of Cosmetology. The 9 to 5 training
programme was evenly divided between theory and practice, which was also
the case with the exam that she had to clear before qualifying for the
license. The course was pretty exhaustive. he subjects included skin
care, hair care, grooming and other important beauty related things. It's
a playing assignment because in the west, really take care of
themselves. They go to salons for regular cleanings routines, body
massage, hair treatments, etc .
Saba Khan says that it's more difficult to work on
black women as compared to white skins. Women in our part of world mostly
have olive complexions. And that makes them look quite attractive. Infact,
white women tan their skins in order to give themselves a wheatish
glow. " The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence," she
adds with a smile, " Our girls would give their right arm to acquire a
fair complexion. They may be dark themselves but they want to have a gori
bewi". That's partly because our boys have a weakness for fair
complexion. "Not really, there is a fair sprinkling of
professionals from both the sexes," she answered. She is all for
herbal treatments and makes her own herbal hair oil, which is sold at an
affordable price. She recommends that "women ought to wash their hair
with a combination of reetha, aamla and sikakai, after boiling the powders
of the three ingredients in water".
Saba Khan has recently returned from Bangkok where
she was ranked among the first ten cosmetologists in the category of
bridal makeup at the Hair Asia Pacific Show.
She was doing fairly well there but a business
opportunity that was offered to her husband plus the attraction of being
close to near and dear ones made the family return to Pakistan. She named
it La Meche which means "a lock of
hair " in French.
