The different prosthetics the soldiers would wear.

WWI was no doubt one of the most horrific times in human history; the death toll and carnage were beyond belief, and most of the dead and injured were young. People who had hardly left their mother’s apron, now broken men with disfigured faces. There were thousands of them, and the ones who survived were nothing more than a shell of the person they used to be prior to the war. The ones who stayed behind carried the heavy burden of continuing with work and taking care of family, alone, while worrying about their loved ones. No one left this war unscathed. Read More

The young years, when I thought it would last forever

The dictionary defines beauty as the pleasure an object evokes in the beholder. We can’t ignore beauty; beautiful objects stir up emotions in most of us and who isn’t moved by a beautiful painting, a blooming flower, or a gorgeous baby? Who doesn’t turn their head around when a beautiful woman enters a room? How many of us enjoy a beautiful piece of music or a pleasing singing voice? When we see, or feel, or experience beauty we respond to it immediately. To deny the importance of beauty is to, I don’t know, live in a very desolate world which could also mean that one’s suffering from depression. Beauty is intoxicating and good looks will give you an advantage in life, and whether you like it or not a preference for beauty and youth is hard-wired into our brains. People have always played around with their looks in the name of beauty, this has been the ethos for centuries–it’s not a 21st-century invention. Media and advertising only have a limited role to play in the way we define beauty, because the pursuit of beauty is innate in most human beings, hardwired into our brains because that ability to choose the best- looking mate also meant the survival of one’s genes. Subconsciously, this is still what we do. Look at the Ancient Egyptians, for instance, they used oils and creams to soften their skin in the harsh, unbearable summer heat. Ancient Egyptians were so particular about their scent, clothing, and jewelry. Much before France became synonymous with perfume, the Egyptians and Mesopotamian had already made their mark 5000 years earlier. Their reason for creating exquisite fragrances was to appease their gods. Their rulers and priests were even entombed with fragrances. They would use special scrubs to cleanse their bodies and smooth out their wrinkles–mixing scented fruit juices together with was, Cyprus grass, fresh Moringa oil, and gum of frankincense. They would shave the hair off their bodies because hair was considered impure and unappealing!

Big name cosmetics companies would’ve done just as well in Ancient Egypt I suspect.

Fast-forward to modern times, how many of us are willing to accept that we’ve aged, that we don’t look the same? I am pretty confident with my assumption that most of us care. Othersize we would not be helping grow these global cosmetics industries. They know how we feel and they play on all of our emotions and focus on our insecurities in order to sell us more products and make more promises. So much has been said and done to educate us about how to combat wrinkles, and how to prolong our youthful appearance with magical elixirs and groundbreaking treatments, but what about those women who’ve done it, tried it, and now they’re sort of ready to age, naturally, organically and they just don’t give a damn? They’re probably the exception to the rule—a minority in a world that seems to be obsessed with promoting the look of youth.  Read More