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To save your skin from the summer heat you need more than a bottle of sun screen lotion, says aroma and beauty therapist Maha Danish.
Maha is a nature therapist who has spent 17 years cleansing skins and shaping the bodies of Turkish models, actors and singers such as Billur Kalkavan, movie star Yeliz Yesilmen, as well as singers Zainab and Sahsenem.
In Bahrain she operates from her treatment centre called Maha D' Line in Salmaniya.
A firm believer in natural products and the innate beauty of a woman, she said: "Summer is the time to be in tune with nature. Women's hormones work differently and the tendency to accumulate waste in the body is higher than a man - in essence it's a time to detoxify."
She advises regular exercise and eating the right foods and said: "Go back to Mother Nature and listen to your body. Be conscious of what you eat and drink - look at your lifestyle and sleep patterns?"
Maha's prescription includes swimming, walking and taking relaxing massages; eating lots of fruits and drinking room temperature water according to the body's need and activity.
She said: "Listen to the tick-tock of your body. People should eat with the weather. The sun tells you to wake up and the moon tells you to sleep. It's better not to eat too much in summer. Wear light clothes and use water-based moisturisers.
"Add a pinch of sea salt to balance the nutrients in water and help in blood circulation. However, drinking excess water can only bring bad news.
"Drink the juice of carrots, celery and green apple. Avoid red meat, turkey, squids, crabs and lobsters. Eat white meat twice a week and fish thrice a week.
"If you have to have rice - minimise it to twice a week. Eat brown bread and non-refined food. Eat fruits and vegetables that are yellow, green, orange and red in colour. The colours of the season help you get in tune with nature. Stay away from egg plant. When shopping buy the smallest size of vegetable as it has less hormones.
"If you have a craving for sweets or sugar, eat dates, dried figs or peaches.
"Eat three times a day but only the right foods. Never eat after eight in the evening as our system is preparing to go to sleep after that."
Maha advises people between the ages of 30 and 50 to take extra care of their bones. She said: "Lots of luxury and no movement will encourage the accumulation of waste ... with which comes a lot of diseases. The body is your main temple or mosque and it's never too late to detoxify. Spend BD5 for your skin and BD50 for the right foods and exercise."
Maha studied herbs under Dr Tolantino Bagusiti of the Philippines and underwent a series of aromatherapy courses. Through her various treatments she aims to help women look better by reshaping and sculpting their body, lifting and firming buttocks and achieving better skin tone.
She works on puffy legs, bulging waists and arms. She holds the patent in Turkey for a technique called Delayed Aging Techniques (DAT) that helps lift eyelids and gets rid of ageing wrinkles without botox.
Maha now wants to open a beauty training institute in her country of birth - Bahrain.
Her top tips
FACIAL AT HOME
Full fat milk in an espresso cup
1 tbsp almond oil
1 drop rose oil
Mix it well. Rub it in a clockwise direction on your hands and face with clean cotton with lots of love on your fingertips.
Keep rosewater in a small bowl with cubes of ice. Add plain water. Splash it on your face. Soak your face in the mixture with your eyes open. This stimulates blood circulation under the skin.
MOISTURISER
1tsp almond oil
2 drops rose oil
1 drop bay leaf oil
1 drop pacholi oil
Mix the above and use the palm of your hand to pat it on your skin.
