By SEETA PERSAD Tuesday, July 10 2012

“Real beauty cannot be mistaken. One must possess a kind heart and appreciation for people in order to express real beauty.” These are the words of the beautiful and talented Amanda Latchman, lead dancer of Amritam Shakti Dance Company, which won Mastana Bahar in 2008, when she spoke recently on beauty culture at the Couva Cultural Centre, opposite the Couva Health Clinic, Main Road, Couva.

Latchman noted that while it takes a long time to apply make-up and create hairstyles for performers, it is worth it when you have genuine love and passion for the arts. “I have been in dance for almost all my life, close to 20 years, and I have learnt a lot from just being on stage before a live audience,” she told the scores of young women who came from the neighbouring schools in Couva.

She went on to tell her attentive audience that beauty culture has now become an easy task as there are now so many products and services available for one to explore their full potential in this area. “In the early days, women used curlers for their hair, now we have flat irons and curling irons,” she said. Latchman added that techniques to create different looks with hairstyles and make-up are not difficult to learn and advised them to learn some methods that will work for oneself.

She noted that it is easiest to apply make-up to a face that is clean and flawless. She said, “You must not just wash your face with soap and think it is clean; you need to use a deep-cleanser and then a moisturiser.”

She also spoke about keeping the face and body beautiful by doing daily exercise and drinking water. “You know God gave us everything we need for free. He gave us water and fresh air and fruits that we can make good use of everyday,” she said.

The young women in the audience, who ranged in ages from 11 to 18 were given demonstrations of make-up and hairstyles which can be used for Indian dance and also beauty competitions.

Latchman also gave them some hand-outs based on her research on beauty culture.

She told the girls it is important to note that beauty, also called prettiness, or loveliness, is a characteristic of a person, animal, place, object, or idea that provides a perceptual experience of pleasure or satisfaction.

Beauty, she said, is studied as part of aesthetics, sociology, social psychology, and culture.

Giving a definition of an “ideal beauty,” she said it is an entity which is admired, or possesses features widely attributed to beauty in a particular culture, for perfection.The experience of “beauty” often involves the interpretation of some entity as being in balance and harmony with nature, which may lead to feelings of attraction and emotional well-being. It is often said that “beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.” This, Latchman said, is something to really think about.