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| Sunday, 30 June 2002 |
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Wow! Lankan women with red hair and saree Last week Colombo's high society women were all excited about the new look they were to have. Thanks to our hairdressers who were being tempted by three young men from Mumbai with products and advice on how fantastic they would look if only they changed the colour of their black hair to a vibrant red. The three men, French born Didier Villanueva, Managing Director Dinesh Dayal, Chief Operating Officer and Naresh Pillai Export Manager of L'Oreal India Private Limited, who had a field day visiting our hairdressers and wooing them with this classic colour from L'Oreal Professional, were thrilled at the warm welcome they received wherever they went. ''They greeted us saying: 'we have been waiting so long for this colour. Thank You for bringing it to us", Dayal recalled. The three men were also optimistic this product would revolutionise Lanka's hairdressing industry. Why were our hairdressers so keen on this product? ''Why? Because we were offering them the talents of the French colourists. The colours have been designed in Paris by those living in the world's fashion capital and the city of the arts and your hairdressers who are constantly visiting places like France, Paris, UK, Singapore, Thailand, Korea to participate in hairdressers' contests, have seen how well women in saree look with coloured hair. They have also witnessed how popular these products are in those countries and have been longing to set the trend here too, said Villanueva. What's more, Pillai will be keeping these products at Victory Impex Pte Ltd., a consumer arm of their company, for distribution. He says the three of them spent a few days here having seminar/workshops and training programmes for our hairdressers in the technique of using this magnificent product named `Maji Contrast' - most appropriate for the Lankan woman. Don't be afraid say Villanueva, Dayal and Pillai; ''L"Oreal has a special technique designed for use by South Asian hairdressers. India has been successful in having its women marry hair colours with the vivid colours of their sarees. So why not the Lankan woman?"
Welpenela in cocktails
Two men eating Brie and drinking Chablis at a recent gathering were overheard saying there is no one to beat the Lankans when it comes to creativity - especially in the making of those pre-dinner drinks you call cocktails. They were, of course, discussing the recent Marie Brizard Bartenders competition and the kind of cocktails conjured up by our young boys and girls working in our 5-star hotels, restaurants, pubs and clubs islandwide. Many had come up with some ingenious ingredients like herbs, belli, nelli and welpenela in their cocktails. The men were discussing the aphrodisiac qualities of welpenela that humble plant you see many people having in their gardens. They were intrigued by the name `Love Booster' given to it and the suggestion it be best as an after dinner cocktail. And my mind went back to what Francois Grau of Allied Domemecq who was here as one of the judges told me. He was impressed by the use of this plant and other herbs in the cocktail and he was most interested in learning about the health benefits of welpenela juice. Grau was impressed too by the interests and efforts of our young people. "I admire all these young people because it takes a lot of courage to pour and mix and flare. It's a special skill. The competition was impressive. There was one female who was calm, confident, a good performer and I hope there will be more females participating in future," he said. He found our contestants to be lacking in communication skills. In terms of barmen's performance. "It was good, hygienic". "I travelled all the way to Cyprus where there was a similar contest and despite the struggle there to get contestants, there were only ten participants, said Grau who found our contestants 'quite professional'. "In my opinion flaring should not be a criterion for selecting the winner. Sometimes too much flaring leaves the guests splashed with cocktails and no one likes to have his clothes messed up," said Grau. |
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