‘Beauty’ heals - In the eye of the beholder

Saira Liaqat squints through her one good eye as she brushes a woman’s hair. Her face, most of which the acid melted years ago, occasionally lights up with a smile. Her hands, largely undamaged, deftly handle the dark brown locks. A few steps away in this popular beauty salon, Urooj Akbar diligently trims, cleans and paints clients’ fingernails. Her face, severely scarred from the blaze that burned some 70 percent of her body, is somber. It’s hard to tell if she’s sad or if it’s just the way she now looks. Liaqat and Akbar are among Pakistan’s many female victims of arson and acid attacks. Such tales tend to involve a spurned or crazy lover and end in a life of despair and seclusion for the woman. The two instead became beauticians.

Click here to read the rest of article on Arab Times.

Picture caption: The above pic is taken from LA times with a similar article that was published on 16 August 2008. Click here to view the article. In the pic: Saira Liaqat, 26, puts make up on a client at the Depilex beauty center in Lahore, Pakistan.