They say the eyes are the window to the soul, and what a wise adage this is! Indeed, the first thing we tend to notice about people is the story their eyes are telling us. Our emotions, feelings, and moods and their swings are expressed largely through them and boy, do they tell a tale for one and all!

Bengali women are renowned for their bold, romantic looks. Oceans of ink have been spilt by poets, authors, and artists describing their beauty, depth, and complexity. And when it comes to decking up, it is our eyes that get attention first and foremost. In pursuit of drama, intrigue, mystery and beauty, all of our makeup prowess is unleashed through them.

Speaking of makeup, Bengali ladies are blessed with versatile beauty that can traverse between the best of both worlds. Her kohl-rimmed eyes do all the talking as she’s draped in a saree, reciting poetry or lounging in a sensual sarong by the beach.

Summer is here with her blaze of glory, and we are here for it. It may be sweltering out there, but that has not and will not stop us from going out and enjoying life to its fullest. Eye makeup is the most important aspect of our look, and we pay the most attention to it. And this year, for summer, effortlessly sultry eyes are all the rage.

Imagine this: it’s a hot summer day. The sun has been pouring all day long, and you are taking a much-needed leisurely dip in the pool. As you emerge from the water, your skin is moist, your hair is slicked wet, and it’s your eyes, golden and liquid, doing all the talking. Capturing the very essence of summer, soft, sultry, au naturel eyes are hot this summer.

Coachella has set fantastic trends for funky eye makeup this year, which will jazz up your whole look in an instant, whether you are raving at music festivals or shaking it up at pool parties all day long. The best part? It’s the easiest look to master. Prep your eyes with a primer and skip the powder eyeshadows for this look. Instead, go for creamy eyeshadow sticks that are quick, easy and highly pigmented. Start with a soft layer and then build up as much coverage as you want. Use your finger to smudge the edges to keep it soft and effortless. Shades like sunset gold, subtle copper, champagne and silver are perfect for this look. Finish with a swipe of mascara and voila!

Now, how does one elevate this look a bit more? For those countless pool parties and midsummer soirées, you are going to channel your inner summer goddess and jazz this look up with crystals and rhinestones. Go for a thin line of crystals or go all out with sparkling stick-on rhinestones choice is all yours. Perfect for a chic boho look, this little tweak will bring summertime magic. Keep the rest of your look simple with beautifully bronzed skin, nude lips, boho chic curls and let your eyes sparkle this summer and do all the talking.

When planning your look for that much-awaited friend’s birthday or cousin’s wedding, your outfit, jewellery, and shoes are all sorted, but your hair? Why do some women tend to think of their hairstyle as an afterthought?

Imagine showing up at an event, dressed to the nines, with your hair done but lacking pizzazz or oomph. Your whole look will, by association, lack pizzazz or oomph! This is where hair accessories come in. They are the perfect way to elevate any boring old hairdo, and what’s best, you can pick and choose just the kind you want, matching it to your outfit and style.
Hair accessories are some of the oldest forms of ornament known. From the dawn of civilisation, women and men both wore accessories in their hair to adorn and to signify status. To that end, hair jewellery was both functional and fashionable for ancient Egyptians. People of the higher social class wore particular styles to signify their statuses.

When choosing accessories for hair, one is truly spoilt for choice. There is a hair ornament for every occasion and style, so let’s start with the basics.

A tortoiseshell hairband will keep your wayward hair in place while looking chic and sophisticated. Claw clips and scrunchies in all shapes and sizes are every cool girl’s accessory of choice at the moment. You could take it one step further and get a claw clip personalised with your name.

For your best friend’s birthday party, wear rhinestone pins on your chic French twist to make it extra special.

Traditional hairstyles demand elegant pieces that will act as jewellery for your hair, so raid your mother’s treasure trove and wear her stunning gold “khopar kata” that will turn heads at every party.

Ladies of Bengal with their lovely locks knew how to accessorise in the olden days, so take a leaf from their playbook and wear your grandmother’s gold beni on your braid for your cousin’s gaye holud.

A silk off-the-shoulder dress in a jewel tone, worn with an heirloom hair ornament, will also look absolutely fabulous and will make you look and feel like the queen you really are.

What made two people from the food and hospitality industry decide to enter fashion? For Taskin Rahman and Samira Hamid, the answer began with a simple observation about Dhaka’s clothing culture.
“If someone buys a panjabi or shirt for Eid and goes to a café, you often see 25 other people wearing the same thing,” says Rahman, the founder of Caleo Collective. “We wanted to create something comfortable, versatile, and still within most people’s price range.”

That frustration with repetitive fashion, synthetic fabrics, and predictable design choices eventually led the duo to launch their fashion brand, a contemporary clothing label focused on relaxed silhouettes, breathable fabrics, and understated style.

But for the founders, this was less a sudden career shift and more a return to an older idea.