Pampering in Cairo

Yesterday was “pampering” day. On my agenda - pedicure, manicure and waxing. Was not very sure what to expect-women all over the world have the same beauty needs but the techniques and the results differ from country to country.

Once, while in Saudi Arabia, I went to a local parlour (since my Indian beautician friend was away in India) for “waxing”. In India, to remove body hair, we use hot wax (a mixture of paraffin or beeswax), which is applied to the skin, a strip of cloth placed over it and quickly stripped off, yanking out the hair in the process. It is painful! I expected the same here; but imagine my horror when the girl at the parlour came towards me, holding a wax look-alike in the palm of her hand! This was no hot wax (since she was holding it so comfortably between her fingers) and where were the cloth strips? Was I going to be subjected to more pain than before? I demanded an explanation as to what was going on-she explained to me that it was “hallawa” and extremely good for the skin; she demonstrated how it would work- since then I have become a fan of the “hallawa” way.

“Halawa” literally means “sweet” and can be eaten too! Seriously! It is a mix of equal parts of water and sugar boiled together until caramelized. Add a few drops of lemon juice and its ready. It is cooled to room temperature, then applied to the skin and pulled against the direction of hair growth and voila! No hair and your skin feels soft and smooth. Good for the skin too-since it does not burn the skin like the wax which has to be applied hot and can also be washed away easily from clothes etc since the mix is water soluble. And to top it all, it tastes yummy too! I did hands and legs and it set me back by LE 45 (INR 315).

The pedicure and manicure here was a disappointment - they just put my feet and hands in hot water, scrubbed perfunctorily, cut nails, filed them in a weird square shape and rounded of with nail polish. Hey what’s this? What about the massage? Without the massage, I would feel that the whole point of getting a “parlour” pedicure is defeated. My friends in India will agree, I am sure!