Marquee is a gorgeous 1950s movie-glamour-themed salon new to the UAE, with branches at Arabian Ranches Golf Club in Dubai and the Eastern Mangroves Promenade in Abu Dhabi.
The concept was developed by Shabana Karim, the owner and managing director of the successful Nail Spa chain.
Karim has recruited top stylists from abroad - the UK, South Africa, Greece and Italy - so you know you are in capable hands.
Marquee offers gorgeous and innovative luxe touches everywhere, including hairwashing stations with chairs that extend into beds so you lie flat and an in-wall vacuum at floor-level, meaning no more gross piles of hair sitting around.
Beautiful lighting, upbeat show-tunes-style music, fresh juice, tea and macaroons complete the experience.
During my visit to the Eastern Mangroves Promenade location, my stylist, Yana, recommended a detoxifying and hydrating Kevin Murphy Hair Facial. Having found for herself since moving over from London late last year that the desalinated water here in the UAE can be drying, she determined I was having the same problem.
Murphy, an Australian session stylist known for his work with celebrities and in fashion editorial, believes hair should be treated much the same way as skin and has designed products that are plant-based and silicone, paraben and sulphate-free.
My custom hair facial involved three shampoos: the first was a detoxifying blend designed to strip away build-up. With that on, my scalp tingling, I spent 10 minutes under a fancy steam lamp. Two more shampoos - one to balance pH levels and another to hydrate - were followed by a conditioning treatment. I was placed under a rotating heater for another 15 minutes before it was all washed away. My hair was left feeling squeaky clean and very shiny - and it stayed that way for days.
Yana then gave me a skilled chin-length blunt cut with side-swept bangs. In another twist on styling, the salon offers a variety of blowouts and updos based on photos of film stars of the past - think Audrey Hepburn and Ava Gardner - and will soon introduce a braid and ponytail bar. From the moment you enter, Marquee proves a class-act salon and a welcome addition to the UAE's styling scene.
. Marquee's Kevin Murphy Hair Facials start at Dh100, while cuts start at Dh280. For the Eastern Mangroves Promenade location in Abu Dhabi, call 02 449 4044; for Marquee at Arabian Ranches Golf Club in Dubai, call 04 420 7700
amcqueen@thenational.ae
Hydrate with a hair facial at Marquee salon
The Nail Spa's Shabana Karim has introduced her 1950s movie-glamour-themed salon concept Marquee to the UAE.
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