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Lady Gaga in a coffee filter dress

Lady Gaga – who refuses to be censored – was voluntarily “filtered” during her recent appearance on American TV talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live. Her gaganess showed up in a voluminous white dress, cape and matching hat that looked like bleached (and controversial!) karakul lambskin – but was actually sewn from coffee filters. Gaga’s frothy […]

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12 Cosmetic Chemicals You Don’t Want to Touch

Beauty ads make a plethora of cosmetics virtually irresistible: this lipstick will accentuate your luscious lips and this moisturizer will keep you eternally young and attractive, but there are all kinds of hidden dangers associated with these cosmetics that are very poorly understood – particularly in the Middle East and North Africa region, where regulations […]

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Are Brazilian Blowouts Putting Kinks in Health?

More popular in the US than the Middle East, the Brazilian Blowout craze (with its chemicals) did make the headlines in Dubai. I’ve never understood the desire to chemically straighten one’s hair, perhaps because my wavy locks can go either way, and natural tricks for my hair type work just fine. Even so, many curly-haired […]

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Toxic Chemicals in Everyday Items

Plastic is pervasive and so are the carcinogenic chemicals that leach from them. The rapid growth and urbanization of the United Arab Emirates is associated with increased uses of plastic in every aspect of modern life. In 2008, the World Health Organization voiced concerns that rapid urbanization may be negatively impacting people’s lives. Rapid growth […]