Latest news with #CosmopolitanMiddleEast
Cosmopolitan ME
01-08-2025
- General
- Cosmopolitan ME
Global hijab stories are nuanced, and we're here for it
The hijab is one of the most visible and misunderstood symbols of Islam, yet to wear it (or not) is deeply personal, spiritual, and, for many Muslim women, complicated. Across the globe, Muslim women navigate a spectrum of experiences shaped by culture, politics, family, and personal conviction. For some, the hijab is an empowering act of devotion and identity. For others, it can feel like a burden, a choice constantly questioned or even stripped away by societal expectations. But here's what often gets lost in mainstream narratives: there is no one way to be a Muslim woman. From Dubai to New York City to the world, Muslimahs are rewriting what the hijab means to them. Cosmopolitan Middle East spotlights Muslim women around the world who speak candidly about their relationship with the hijab. These stories aim to reflect the fluidity and freedom in what it means to cover (or not) on their terms. Supplied. Photography by Carlos Velez; Makeup by Ali Lee Glam I will be proudly competing for the title of Miss New York USA 2025 and I'm a Black American woman in Brooklyn, New York. I consider myself a lifelong student of Islam. My faith continues to evolve and deepen as I grow, learn, and connect more with its teachings. I fully committed to wearing the hijab during Ramadan 2023. By the second day, I noticed how calm and safe I felt walking down the street, no catcalls from men, no judgmental stares from women. For the first time since childhood, I felt truly protected, like I was wrapped in divine armour. That awakening of peace became the reason I chose to never take it off. After so many years of feeling exposed, I can't imagine going out in public without it. It's become a sacred part of how I move through the world. Supplied. Photography by Ilayda Kaplan. I work as a model and stylist, and I'm the founder of Ummunity, a creative agency that centers and uplifts Muslim voices. I've been wearing the hijab since I was 15. It was a conscious, heartfelt decision and I remember how my parents responded: proud, but cautious. As a visibly Black Muslim woman in Germany, they knew it wouldn't be easy. I grew up watching the powerful women in my family wearing it with dignity and strength. I've never taken it off, but of course there were moments of struggle. Sometimes I felt limited not because of the hijab itself, but because of how society treated me for wearing it. My hijab is part of my journey back to myself. Supplied. Photography by Bianka Gill I am a Bangladeshi comedian, artist, and entrepreneur based in Toronto, Canada. I'm no longer a practicing Muslim, but I still have a spiritual connection to it. I wore a hijab from 8 years old to 21 years old. Unfortunately, I was forced to wear it by my abusive mother who used it as a form of control and dominance. I took off my hijab when my mom went back home to Bangladesh. I think if anyone is forced to do something they don't want to do, eventually that pressure will combust. Having been on both sides of the coin, it's clear that if a woman is completely covered up or not, she will be judged. Women can and should do whatever they want. I don't want to perpetuate negative or Islamophobic rhetoric though just because I've made the decision not to wear it. It's a fine balance that I feel responsible for and compelled to do, since so many comics punch down on Islam if they've had trauma with Islam. I still call myself Muslim to this day because I feel like it adds context to who I am, whether I'm religious or not. Supplied I am a pharmacist and the co-founder of The Sabaya Circle. I'm a Jordanian living in Dubai. I decided to take the step of wearing hijab back in August 2023. While I was going through a difficult time in life trying to navigate what I want, I started focusing more on my deen (spirit). It is a form of self love and selflessness. We 'sacrifice' a portion of our beauty to practice what we preach. The self-love aspect comes from loving yourself enough to choose something that you view as right for yourself. Supplied I am a Pakistani Muslim beauty influencer living in Calgary, Canada. Although I haven't committed to wearing the hijab full-time yet, I am building an increasingly modest wardrobe as I hope to wear hijab in the future. I wish it was understood how much of the oppression people often associate with Islam stems from culture disguised as religion; for many Muslim women, hijab symbolises freedom and self-agency, not weakness and oppression. I believe that our choice to wear hijab should always come from submission to God, rather than submission to any other human being. Next, read about faith and finance from our Ask a Muslim Girl Column here.
Khaleej Times
25-07-2025
- Health
- Khaleej Times
'Parenting comes with a manual': A new UAE support group is helping parents find their way
At 36, Kavita Srinivasan had it all. The title. The dream job. The baby she had long yearned for. As editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan Middle East, she was one of the most visible South Asian media figures in the region. Her life, like many others in the glossy world she inhabited, may have seemed like a picture-perfect blend of work, life, and motherhood. But beneath the surface, something else was unravelling. Something it took her years to fully understand. 'I couldn't breathe,' she says now. 'I went into the darkest, deepest depression. I couldn't be alone with my son. I'd shake. Panic attacks. And I didn't understand what was wrong with me.' Motherhood had been Kavita's dream for as long as she could remember. 'I was that girl who loved babies. I used to change random people's diapers. Everyone knew that about me,' she laughs, recalling how friends once gifted her Ann Geddes baby-themed stationery as a joke. But nothing prepared her for the version of motherhood that came with postpartum depression so severe it bled into the years that followed. Nothing prepared her for waking up to breastfeed, heading to the office to run a global magazine, returning home to care for her baby — and somehow still feeling like she wasn't able to do justice at both. 'I had help. But I was a wreck,' Kavita admits. 'I was working until 1am. I went back to work before my maternity leave ended because I thought that's what I wanted. But even work started feeling empty. I remember thinking, 'Who am I? This isn't for my soul anymore.'' The break didn't come all at once. Kavita continued to lead the magazine for three more years. On the outside, everything was thriving. Revenue had spiked considerable amounts. But inside, the conflict between her two identities only deepened — until she turned 40. 'You can't deny your truth anymore at 40. You will break. And I did,' she says. That breakdown, as it turned out, would become her breakthrough. During an interview with renowned psychologist Dr Shefali Tsabary, Kavita shared her struggle and Dr Shefali offered one simple line in response: 'You can't give what you didn't get'. 'And that just cracked me open,' Kavita recalls. 'I grew up with a mentally unwell mother. I took care of her all my life. I never realised how much that shaped me until I became a mother myself.' Kavita quit her job shortly after. During Covid, she did what she describes as 'nothing' — at least in the traditional sense. But internally, she was undergoing one of the most intense transformations of her life. For someone whose identity had been anchored to career success, especially in the high-octane world of media, this period of stillness was both terrifying and healing. 'I found the right therapist. I broke down. I relived my entire childhood, but with presence. That's what healing is. Feeling your pain with presence, not escaping it.' In this stillness, her real work began. Kavita enrolled in a holistic psychology programme at the California Institute of Integral Studies — ironically, one that was founded by the Sri Aurobindo Ashram, where her husband's family had deep roots. 'I hadn't told anyone I was applying,' she says. 'But it felt like a full-circle moment.' She also trained under Dr Shefali, eventually becoming a certified parenting coach. But even then, Kavita didn't rush to build a brand out of her new learnings. She continued her studies, spent time with her son, and let her identity shift gently. 'When you work in the media, especially as a woman, your worth becomes tied to how visible you are. But I didn't want to perform anymore. I didn't want to chase metrics. I just wanted to be true to myself.' View this post on Instagram A post shared by Kavita (@ That truth eventually took shape as an initiative she now finds a great sense of purpose in. Raising Hearts, launched a few months ago, is a UAE-wide community for parents that now brings together over 350 members. And it started with just one honest post. 'I told people I was starting something. That I didn't have all the answers, but I wanted to offer support. And it grew, slowly but organically.' The name, she says, came to her intuitively. 'We're hearts before we're minds,' she says. 'The first thing you hear in the womb is the heartbeat. So, 'Raising Hearts' felt right.' However, Kavita didn't want it to become just another series of well-spoken panels or influencer-friendly events. 'Raising Hearts' is about what she calls 'real, tactile, actionable support'. From segmenting sub-groups — single parents, fathers, screen-time concerns, co-parenting challenges — to offering free weekly workshops and planning hyper-local 'support pods', Kavita's goal is clear: no one should feel alone. 'You get workshops, guidance, therapy support, and a real community. People to call when you're overwhelmed. Someone to take your child for two hours when you're about to break.' But at the heart of this community isn't just parenting support. It's also, in many ways, about re-parenting. 'I do a lot of inner child work,' Kavita explains. 'Most people come to me thinking they need help with their child. But it's never really about the child. It's about the parent. The child is just the mirror.' Her work spans everything from pre-conception and guiding parents through pregnancy, to supporting those navigating grief — even holding space for adults still processing the trauma of a childhood marked by emotional neglect or abuse. 'Everything goes back to the first seven years,' she says. 'If a child is struggling with anxiety or tantrums or even pulling their own hair, it's a signal. Not of bad behaviour, but of emotional overwhelm. And we don't try to 'fix' the behaviour. We support healing.' Today, her vision for 'Raising Hearts' includes small, neighbourhood-based pods for real-life support, accessible education, and peer accountability. 'People say parenting doesn't come with a manual. I say it does. Parenting does come with a manual, we've just never been handed it.' Through her upcoming course on emotional training before having a child, Kavita hopes to bridge that gap. 'The biggest gift this generation has is awareness,' she says. 'We can question whether we even want to be parents. We can pause. We can learn. And we must.' Because in Kavita's world, parenting isn't just a new role you take on, it's a mirror. A lifelong journey, whose manual we begin to write by first doing the inner work ourselves. Long before we raise the child, we must learn to raise ourselves.
Cosmopolitan ME
21-07-2025
- Health
- Cosmopolitan ME
Summer skin 101
With dramatic temperature shifts from desert heat to blasted AC in Dubai Mall, summer in Dubai is all about layering. But layering is not only reserved for fashion. Our skin needs it too. Today's skin routines go far beyond serums and SPF. Boosting skin quality requires skincare 'stacks'. Yup, that means layering topical products with ingestible support. Cosmopolitan Middle East asked skin experts to weigh in on exactly how to design your summer skin stack. Hassan Galadari, Dermatologist & Aesthetic doctor Cosmo ME: What are skin routines for surviving summer in Dubai? Hassan: Summer skincare in Dubai needs more than just SPF and a serum. You want to think about barrier repair, deep hydration, and calming inflammation. I always recommend double cleansing in the evening to properly remove SPF, sweat, and pollution. Weekly enzyme masks can gently exfoliate without stripping the skin, while LED light therapy is brilliant for calming redness and boosting healing. Treatments like Lumecca Peak are also ideal in summer – it's a powerful IPL that targets sun-induced pigmentation and uneven tone without damaging surrounding skin, helping to reverse the visible signs of heat and UV exposure. Cosmo ME: Any go-to products? Hassan: Look for a good barrier-supporting moisturiser with ceramides or squalane, and layer it over a hydrating serum with hyaluronic acid. A mineral SPF is a must – ideally with zinc oxide or titanium dioxide, as it's less likely to clog pores. I also love misting with thermal water throughout the day and using a probiotic-rich essence or serum to support the skin microbiome. If you're struggling with pigmentation, medical-grade pigment correctors like SkinCeuticals Discoloration Defense or ZO Skin Health Brightalive can be game-changers when combined with the right in-clinic treatments. Cosmo ME: What are skin routines for surviving summer in Dubai? Dr. Hanieh: Serums and SPF are a great start, but in Dubai's climate, you need to go further. Think of your summer routine as 'skin rehab' – it's about defending the skin barrier, staying hydrated, and keeping inflammation down. I recommend switching to gentle, hydrating cleansers and adding in a weekly mask with soothing ingredients like oat or aloe. In-clinic, Viscoderm and Profhilo skin boosters are fantastic at this time of year – they flood the skin with hyaluronic acid, improve elasticity, and help maintain that dewy, plumped-up look even in dry heat and air-con. Cosmo ME: Any go-to products? Dr. Hanieh: I love products that multitask. A lightweight gel moisturiser with niacinamide can help regulate oil and calm redness, while a spritz of thermal water mid-day keeps skin refreshed. For pigmentation or dullness, I often suggest tranexamic acid-based serums – they're effective but less harsh than traditional brightening actives. And never underestimate the importance of a proper cleanse at night – even something as simple as a fragrance-free cleansing balm followed by a gentle foaming wash can make a big difference to your skin's resilience. Cosmo ME: What are skin routines for surviving summer in Dubai? Dr. Patricia: In-clinic, we see a rise in inflammation, congestion, and dehydration during the hotter months. Your routine needs to focus on stability – protecting the skin barrier and avoiding anything that could trigger flare-ups. I often recommend switching to a non-foaming cleanser, using lightweight moisturisers with ceramides, and keeping exfoliation minimal. For patients prone to pigmentation or redness, I might suggest mesotherapy or injectable skin boosters – they deeply hydrate and help reinforce the skin's structure, which is particularly useful when the skin is stressed by heat and sun exposure. Cosmo ME: Any go-to products? Dr. Patricia: For summer, I usually advise medical-grade products that are designed to support the skin's natural defences. Obagi's Hydrate is a great moisturiser that works for most skin types, and I'm a fan of mineral-based SPFs with zinc oxide – they're gentler and offer strong protection. If you're tackling pigmentation, SkinCeuticals Phloretin CF is a great antioxidant serum that can be used under sunscreen to reduce sun-induced dark spots over time. And for evening use, a low-strength retinoid a few nights a week can help keep cell turnover active without irritating the skin – provided barrier support is in place. More doctors' orders and skin care this way‼️
