The problem with surfactants is that they also strip the natural oils produced in your scalp that is meant to moisturise your hair. For people with naturally oily hair, shampoo may not be a problem, but for those of us who have naturally dry hair, shampooing can become a cycle of stripping your natural oils and piling on moisturiser and oils to replenish your moisture.

Personally, I have very coarse hair that is extremely dry. It is a struggle to keep the brittle feeling at bay. After trying several different products I came across the concept of a shampoo-free regimen. For just over one month, I left the shampoo bottle alone and tried the “nopoo method” to keep my hair and scalp both clean and moisturised.

The first cleanser and conditioner combo I found was baking soda and apple cider vinegar.

I started with one tablespoon of baking soda in one cup of warm water. I would mix this in an applicator bottle and apply to the roots, massage gently for a few minutes and rinse. The second step was to dilute two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar in one cup of water and spray all over the hair (not the scalp) and then rinse thoroughly.

After this I would apply leave in conditioner and a little oil to seal my hair. I did this twice weekly for just over two weeks and this process worked fine for my hair, my scalp was clean; my hair was not as dry as when I shampooed. I believed that I found the key to maintaining my hair.

Upon doing some more research, I found that constantly using baking soda can eventually cause the hair to become MORE brittle. The alkaline pH of the baking soda (approximately 9.5) over long periods of frequent use could never be a good thing when hair prefers a pH of around 4.5. I found that the high pH of the baking soda is good to lift the cuticles and effectively cleanse the hair, but too much of this can cause breakage.

Another pH-balanced alternative for cleansing the hair is clay. Bentonite clay or rhassoul clay mixed with water and apple cider vinegar in a 1: 3: 1 ratio and applied to the scalp and hair left my hair smoother, shinier, and even more moisturised than using the baking soda and vinegar rinses alone. I used this mixture for another week before I decided to reduce the vinegar rinse to once every three washes and add a rinse-out conditioner to the process. For three weeks, I washed and conditioned my hair twice weekly using the bentonite clay wash, a moisturising rinse-out conditioner, a leave-in conditioner and oils to seal.

This experiment went on for a total of five weeks and I found that my hair is not dirty or greasy, but is soft and well moisturised. There is also less broken hair when I comb.

From this (short) experiment, I found that that eliminating shampoo benefitted the condition of my hair and scalp tremendously. The plan is to continue to tweak this regimen to include deep conditioning and clarifying steps.

If you struggle with hair that seems to always be dry or if you would just like to reduce the amount of chemicals you apply to your skin and scalp by extension, maybe going “no-poo” could be for you.

Earlier this year, to the dismay of some of us who were ardent binge watchers, the show was cancelled after its second season.

Fans took to Twitter and other online forums to petition for the return of the series. Efforts were rewarded later in June 2017 with the announcement from Netflix that the finale would be aired in 2018.

In a time of fractured relationships between people, ethnicities, race and nationalities and divisive attitudes created along these lines, getting lost in the world of film and television isn’t so much of a negative thing. If anything, the unity of the fans, against a corporation like Netflix, displays the power of the audience.

While some may debate the value of popular television, this move by fans is, more importantly, an indication of the power of stories and the content that move people to protect those stories if they have to.

Sense 8 follows the lives of eight persons who are all born at the same time in different parts of the world.

They are sensates, people who are connected telepathically and live the experiences of the people in their group or cluster. Each cluster has a mother who gives birth to them. Call her a second mother, one who gives them their sensate quality since they all have real birth mothers.

Each of the characters comes from a different city–Chicago, San Francisco, Nairobi, Mumbai, Berlin, Reykjavik, Mexico City and London–though the locations for filming extend beyond just these eight. Apart from its sometimes quirky editing (the introduction to the episodes is worth looking at) and R-rated scenes in some instances, the core of the series is its take on difference.

Comments on the divisiveness of tribal relations in Kenya that produces divisions among people even though they belong to one country; the LGBTQ representation which comments on the discrimination faced by people of such orientations; capitalist ventures that see the exportation of substandard products to countries that are ignorant of the fact that they may be importing medicines for instance that are on the verge of their expiry dates, are just some of the major issues at hand.

The telepathic connection between the characters gives these issues more weight, for shared experiences magnify sadness and injustice as they do joy. In Season 2 Episode 2 a scene stands out that, in a sense, captures the entire series.

When Lito, one of the sensates, a gay man who happens to be a public figure, openly declares his sexual orientation it comes with repercussions for his career. While the media in Mexico plays on his distress, Capheus the bus driver is under similar scrutiny in Nairobi.

In his case, discrimination comes in the form of racial prejudice.

Capheus drives a bus he calls “Van Damn.” He is an avid Van Damme fan for to him, Van Damme’s films are about courage.

It’s a simple fact for him but not for an interviewer who believes that the films glorify the white man’s courage.

“What does courage have to do with a man’s skin?” he asks his interviewer.

A question is then posed to Capheus as it is to Lito – “Who are you then?” “Who am I?” Each character repeats the question and we now see that discrimination is a universal ill.

The questions raised in response now begin to echo from city to city through the voice of each character and it is worth quoting from the scene: “Do you mean, where from? Do you mean, what I’ve done? Do you mean what you see? Do you mean what I see, what I’ve seen, what I fear, what I’ve done. Do you mean who I love? Do you mean what I’ve lost? Who am I? “I guess who I am is exactly the same as who you are. Not better than, not less than. Because there’s no one who has been or will ever be, exactly the same as either you or me.” The answers are non-linear –given the nature of the echo–though I may have presented them as such.

We can detect a linearity with the punctuated “Do you mean…?” but this is as much as we can get.

The non-linear injects a sense of the thought process that takes place when faced with a question that cannot be pinned down to one answer.

It is a deeply philosophical question and a caption that features on a Sense 8 poster “I am We,” can serve as a possible starting point for those wishing to c o n t emplate the question in relation to themselves.

And with that, I eagerly await the finale in 2018.

Tennis superstar Serena Williams was two months into her pregnancy when she won the Australian Open Championship in January. Women have successfully and safely participated in competitive sport activities while pregnant for years. Dr. Raul Artal, a member of the board of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, as a guest editor on Obstetric Practice said, “Pregnancy should not be looked at as a state of confinement. In fact, it is an ideal time for lifestyle modification. That is because more than any other time in her life, a pregnant woman has the most available access to medical care and supervision.” If you were not physically active before pregnancy it is an ideal time for maintaining or adopting a healthy lifestyle.

Why exercise during pregnancy.

• Physical activity in pregnancy has minimal risks and has been shown to bene_ t most women, although some modification to exercise routines may be necessary because of normal anatomic and physiologic changes and fetal requirements.

• At a time when your body looks like that of a stranger’s, you may wonder how this body can possibly be yours. By exercising you can increase your sense of control while boosting your energy level. You feel better as a result of the endorphins released during exercise.

• It assists in relieving backaches and improve your posture by strengthening and toning muscles in your back, butt, and thighs.

• It reduces constipation by improving the movement of food along the intestines.

• It prevents wear and tear on your joints (which become loosened during pregnancy due to normal hormonal changes) by activating the lubricating fluid in your joints.

• It aids you by relieving the stress and anxiety thereby making it easier to fall asleep.

• Exercise increases the blood flow to your skin, thereby making you look physical more attractive by giving you a healthy glow.

• It increases muscle strength and endurance which can greatly ease labor and delivery especially if you have a lengthy labor.

• Exercise will assist you in regaining your pre-pregnancy body more quickly. As you exercise during your pregnancy the probability of you gaining excess fat will be greatly reduced especially if you exercised regularly before pregnancy.

• Studies have shown that exercise may lower a woman’s risk of complications, like preeclampsia and gestational diabetes.

Most exercises are safe to perform during pregnancy, as long as you exercise with caution. Do not overdo it, and receive the green light from your health practitioner before doing any type of exercise.

The safest and most productive activities are swimming, brisk walking, indoor stationary bicycling and low-impact aerobics (taught by a certified aerobics instructor). These activities carry little risk of injury, bene_ t your entire body, and can be continued until birth. For women who do not wish to venture out of the comfort of their homes, especially closer to their due date, there are many exercise videos designed for pregnant women that can be purchased or viewed on-line.

Other activities such as jogging or running can be done in moderation. You may want to choose exercises or activities that do not require great balance or co-ordination, especially closer to your third trimester. Some women who have been actively weight-training continue to do so when they become pregnant. However, one must approach this with caution as your body goes through major changes during pregnancy, such as an increase in blood volume, by approximately 40 per cent. An increase in the heart rate also occurs as more blood has to be circulated, thus causing the heart to beat faster. Dizziness may also occur as a result of the additional pressure placed on the large veins in the back region that take blood back to the heart from the lower extremities. Workouts have to be tailored to your body’s changing needs, which we will discuss further in part two of this article.

We will also explore weight training and some of the major exercises that provide the biggest benefits to your new body.

But, this is what happens at the Norris Deonarine Northern Wholesale Market in Macoya on a daily basis.

The backlog of traffic is caused by farmers who wanted to sell their produce but were unable to procure a space.

Minister of Agriculture, Land Fisheries Clarence Rambharat, who on Friday turned the sod for a new $4.5 million car park to alleviate parking along the highway and onto the road which distressed residents, said this was common when there was a lack of space to sell.

“Once you have competition for space, you will have people who are blocking spaces making it difficult for the bonafide farmers, so the first thing we have to do is make more spaces available.

“By removing the traffic within the market we are able to make more space and it would improve the traffic space within the market. It would also allow us to squeeze the vendors inside a little better.” When asked about the “touts” or those who ran roughshod over the vendors, Rambharat they needed to “get rid of all criminals and persons inclined to all criminal behaviour.

“The board of Namdevco has their job to do and I’m here to make sure that they do what they have to do, but they have been operating under challenging circumstances.

Once we have have completed the first phase I expect to see improvements,” he said.

Namdevco chairman Dennis Ramdeen admitted that as a board they did not move swiftly enough.

“The minister has been very clear in giving us a mandate. We are here to help, but it is not the cure for all.

We have to extend the southern side and tackle issues inside of the market,” he said.

Ramdeen said there would be a police presence when vendors arrive to bring in their goods from 4 am until noon.

Vendor Randy Ramoutar, who left his Rio Claro home at 9 pm on Thursday, hoping to get a spot to display his goods, was still trying to sell his bundles of chadon beni.

“We are not getting any justice out here because we have no rights at the end of the day which is unfair.

We have no proper facilities.

We supposed to come together and support each other because we have no interest here. We have no rights, none whatsoever.

“We want a market for we goods. Is a friend and favour thing. I write to the minister, tell I want to meet him. This is my bread and butter. They importing the product and like we selling rubbish.

This is what I do for a living. I do chadon beni, plantain, dasheen fig, I not robbing nobody. All I asking for is a chance. Why do you want to bring goods from Guyana that we growing here?” Ramoutar asked.

As to vendors who were retailing their goods, Rambharat admitted it has always been a problem at the market.

“It is good for the consumers and for the retailers because they (retailers) buy from the wholesalers, so it is difficult to exclude them.

We can have wholesale on some days and retailing on others, maybe changing the hours.

“We have to try to accommodate everybody.

Yes, we want wholesalers, but we also want people earning a livelihood in the market.”

Even with the change in route, it didn’t increase the number of bands leaders wanted to participate in the morning segment of the celebrations.

Despite the few bands, Arima Mayor Lisa-Morris-Julian hailed the festivities “The celebration was fantastic.

We need more bands to come out next year. People saw how safe it was going around the savannah.

People made their two laps, got tired and went again. No problems with the blocking of Queen Street. We are trying to bring back J’Ouvert in Arima.” When asked why Arimians and band leaders prefer to parade in the evening, Morris-Julian said, “The decline of J’Ouvert had become a safety issue and people started to come out later and later but people won’t have that to worry about it because we have in total, 500 regular police officers, army and municipal police officers on the streets.” There was no Wett Fete this year, an event usually held on a Saturday by promoters Boom Champions 94.1fm. An Arima businessman decided to seize the opportunity and started promoting Colour Fest (a similar event) but did not fulfil all of the requirements of the Environmental Management Authority and the Police Service and the event was cancelled on Friday.

The Parade of the Bands in the afternoon saw revellers hitting the streets from about 3 pm intent on maximising the three hour permit to masquerade. First to hit the road was Rum Splash from Tumpuna Road South, who made the first lap around the Arima Savannah, (the second largest roundabout in Trinidad and Tobago).

A quick survey among masqueraders, brought to light that they were pleased with the change in route to the savannah, as it gave them more space to revel. Patrick Joseph, one of the Rum Splash bandleaders, said, “ The route change is good. Passing through the heart of Arima is only good for the bandits and mischief makers.” Also among the revelry, was a small band from China Railway Construction (Caribbean) Co Ltd (CRCL). Although CRCL had a mere 11 people, it was evident that the Chinese too were basking in the experience of local culture.

The celebrations continued with steel pan and parang at 6 pm and a Youth Concert at 10 pm.

“This is disgraceful,” Opposition Senator Gerald Ramdeen, a lawyer, declared on Friday as he disclosed to the media an August 7 letter to the Port Authority board from chief engineer Brendon Powder who pointed out flaws in the vessel, leased from Bridgemans Services Group (BSG) from Vancouver, Canada. The concerns about the vessel’s defects were the real reasons for the cancellation of the lease agreement and not because of delays in its delivery as stated by the board, Ramdeen declared.

At a news conference in his Woodbrook law office, Ramdeen said the disclosures in Powder’s letter to Port Authority general manager Charmaine Lewis was based on an inspection of the vessel conducted by Powder and acting TT Inter-Island Transportation Company Ltd CEO Leon Grant in Panama from July 30 to August 6.

Overall, according to Ramdeen, Powder reported the conditions of the hull, superstructure, jet rooms, engine rooms, vehicle deck, passenger spaces and bridge were satisfactory for a vessel built in 1996. However, several problems emerged with Ocean Flower II when it underwent a sea trial on August 5. They included electrical starting glitches, delay in the start up of one engine, all four engines did not operate during the sea trial, oil leaks around the engines and the vessel rocked severely in choppy waters.

Ramdeen said Powder indicated to Lewis that after the sea trial was completed on August 6, “it was untenable to have the Ocean Flower II sail to Trinidad in that condition.” Powder recommended that the Ocean Flower not be used for the inter-island high speed ferry service between Port of Spain and Scarborough until the issues were addressed and rectified.

Ramdeen echoed the call made earlier in the week from Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar for the police to investigate the termination of the Ocean Flower II contract.

Alleging incompetence and corruption, Ramdeen said running the Works and Transport Ministry “is not running a supermarket.” He said the entire affair was “deserving of nothing less of resignations and firing” of the parties involved, reiterating the Opposition’s call for Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan and Port Authority chairman Alison Lewis to be fired.

He claimed the termination of the contract was indicative of what happens when the Cabinet is composed of “a pick-up side.” But Sinanan is standing by the board’s procedures for leasing the vessel. “I expect that the board would have taken everything into consideration before making its decision,” Sinanan said when contacted on Friday. The minister said he was satisfied this was done based on Lewis’ response to claims made by Ramdeen and others. Sinanan also said the Ocean Flower II was leased and not purchased. Also, he assured that ending the contract for Ocean Flower II in no way jeopardises the lease arrangement with BSG for the Cabo Star cargo vessel, already in operation, saying Government is satisfied with this contract.

Lewis too assures no wrongdoing in the handling of the Ocean Flower II lease, maintaining the late arrival of the vessel, and not other issues, was the reason for cancelling the contract for BSG. Lewis again cited clauses on the delivery of the vessel which the Port Authority considered in making its decision.

Last week’s statement from the authority said the charter party agreement dated June 16, showed the Works and Transport Ministry agreed to a one year time charter of the Ocean Flower II from BSG to operate on the seabridge. Under the terms, the outside due delivery date was July 15. This is followed by a grace period of seven days before the application of liquidated damages and the provision for one extension period to be granted.

After that period, the charterer may exercise the option to terminate or cancel the contract in accordance with Clauses 1 (d) and 45 (b) of the agreement. The authority said following an application by BSG for an extension of the due delivery date to August 1, “the delivery of the vessel remained uncertain.” Accordingly, legal provisions were reviewed by the Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs.

After this review, the Works and Transport Ministry issued a notice of termination/cancellation dated August 8 to BSG. The authority added, “No payments were made to Bridgemans under the agreement for Ocean Flower II.” Lewis rejected calls from Ramdeen for her and the board to resign, saying should they step down for acting responsibly by saving taxpayers’ money. The Port Authority said the seabridge continues to be serviced by the Cabo Star and the passenger ferry, TT Express. The passenger ferry TT Spirit is on drydock for maintenance.

The body of Okeiro, 15, who was sent by his mother, Abia Williams, to sell vegetables in front of the Bethel House of God Church in Freeport, Thursday, was discovered floating at the back of the church on Friday morning.

The autopsy, conducted by forensic pathologist Dr Valery Alexandrov, showed the schoolboy was stabbed 15 times on his face, neck and scalp.

The pathologist, in recreating the scene, found that Okeiro had to have been restrained by one or two attackers while another stabbed him.

Alexandrov also found that Okeiro’s wounds had caused extreme blood loss, which caused him to collapse from haemorrhagic shock after breaking free from his attackers.

He was subsequently thrown into the river behind the church where he drowned.

However, according to forensic pathologist Dr Valery Alexandrov, there are three instances in which he would seek to ensure that homicide cases are not converted into the lesser charge.

These are when the homicide is committed with brutality, torture and, or, execution-style.

Alexandrov made the comments yesterday at the Bayshore Basketball Court at Trainline Marabella, where members of the Sow a Seed, Reap a Harvest Community Outreach hosted its second annual backto- school and health fair. Sow a Seed, Reap a Harvest Community Outreach is an non-governmental organisation with the Legal Affairs Ministry.

When someone kills another person, forensic pathologists call it a homicide.

It is never called murder.

“Murder is a judicial term. The judiciary deals with murders and manslaughters, two different categories. Every defence lawyer is trying to convert murder into manslaughter because it does not imply the hanging,” Alexandrov said.

Alexandrov explained that there are five categories of death, one of which is homicide. The others include accidents, natural, suicide and undetermined.

He noted that apart from the high homicide rate in this country, there is also a high accident rate and often drivers and passengers do not wear their seatbelts.

“Believe it or not, in (United States of) America if the passengers or drivers are not belted its immediately US$200 fine. In this country, for whatever reason I don’t know, people do not put seat belt. I did the autopsy of the man who invented the belt and he died in motor vehicle accident without seatbelt,” Alexandrov said.

In cases of suicides in this country, the most common one is by ingesting poisonous substances followed by hanging.

Alexandrov has performed an estimated 30,000 plus autopsies for the past 45 years worldwide.

He has been working in TT for the past nine years.

Many people, even at a young age, have heart diseases because a lot of people have diabetes, he said, also commenting on lifestyle illnesses.

“Diabetes is famous for complications of the kidneys. Despite popular belief that blood pressure depends on heart, blood pressure depends on kidneys.

The youngest heart attack victim was a 16 year old boy. If I did not know that the heart belonged to this 16 year old boy, I would say it belonged to somebody who is 75 years old or even more,” he explained.

At the health fair and distribution yesterday, the forensic pathologist gave demonstrations with real human remains and explained information about the field of study which he described as “fascinating”.

“When an autopsy is done, we give all the information to police investigators for them to have a scenario about what happened. The autopsy does not solve crimes. But the autopsy is very important to give a clue about what happened and most important, how it happened,” Alexandrov explained.

Also speaking at the event was Reverend Karen Alexis, a member of the Arima Open Bible Church who encouraged the youths to make positive choices in life.

The team has been at IMG for a one-week training camp prior to their opening fixture and have played one game so far, managing a 1-1 draw with Tampa Bay United’s Under-17 team last week. This is the team’s first official tournament since coming together under coach Russell Latapy in February. Their only previous overseas assignment was at the Cayman Airways International tournament in May which was won by Cuba.

Latapy expects the Costa Ricans to be handful but is not writing off a positive start from his young troops. “We know it’s going to be three tough matches starting with the first one against Costa Rica. We are looking forward to the tournament.

It is a learning process and we are really looking forward to this entire experience,” Latapy said.

“I am extremely happy for these matches because the faster these players can gain invaluable experience at this level, it will be better for them in the long run and better for Trinidad and Tobago football on a whole. It’s a difficult group but in saying that, what we can do is try to play the way we want to play which is with the football and work as hard as we can.

“As long as we play to our standard then I would be happy. It is a process. The players are starting to understand how we move the ball about, how we move the opponents about, the type of organisation we need in and out of possession and in dead ball situations. We are getting to a good point at this time,” Latapy added.

Left winger Jaiye Sheppard from Roxborough, said he was upbeat ahead of the tournament and not overawed by the opposition.

“We have prepared well and we will be aiming to show this by playing a good game of football and putting out our best effort on the day for our country. It’s all about representing the red. white and black,” Sheppard said.

“Coach Latapy has worked with us for months now and everyone understands their role and functions.

It is a big opportunity for us and I’d like to thank everyone for the support so far. We will take the game on its own and try to play to the plan and hopefully we can do well and come away with a positive performance and result,” Sheppard added

He said Government could then use the money to construct outreach centres throughout the country. “I (during his stint as health minister) had started building one in Arima, a rehabilitation centre and also the Tacarigua old health centre, we were refurbishing it for child psychology because there is nowhere in this country that has proper diagnosis and treatment of children who are mentally ill,” he told Sunday Newsday.

He also said the buildings at the St Ann’s Psychiatric Hospital were in a deplorable condition.

Khan raised the issue as he again appealed to the authorities to intensify their efforts in tackling mental health in the country. His position came after South West Regional Health Authority psychiatric/ mental health services regional manager Pooran Sankar recently announced there were approximately 11,000 people registered at outpatient clinics in the south-west region.

Khan had subsequently disputed the figures, saying it was actually about one in four people with mental illness in the south-west region in a population of between four to 600,000 residents. He said 80 per cent of the patients housed at St Ann’s Hospital did not need to be there.

“They are dumped there by their relatives and the relatives only come for them when they want to take out their pension or their disability at the end of the month. Take them to the bank, take the money and dump them back there.” Khan said when he was health minister he had told then social development minister Dr Glenn Ramadharsingh that the patients’ money should either have been given to the ministry or the psychiatric hospital to be managed.

Khan said mental illness was the foundation of many of the problems in society.

“But people. but people just write it off because a mentally ill person looks normal.

They don’t have a problem to look at physically but people with mental health issues look like normal people. But internally they sick.