Hair Salon

Yesterday was my first foray into "luxury Dubai", the other end of town which is comprised of multimillion dollar villas and the Burj-al-Arab and a suite of other topscale hotels, eateries, shopping centers, etc.

I went there for a haircut and color, because after having had the same wonderful hairdresser for 7 years, I am now lost in the hair wilderness, blindly stumbling around searching for a new one. I found this salon in a couple of directories so decided to try it out.

The hotel in which this particular salon was housed is a massive, lush complex of marble, stone and gold, with ambient lighting and attentive service staff unobtrusively catering to one's every need. Before the appointment, I had a latte and an orange juice on an outdoor veranda overlooking the gulf and was served a variety of delectable little cookies and pastries along with. It was only $7 for OJ and $6 per capuccino, so not too bad. I was initially worried about being accidentally ushered into a $100 brunch or something. As it turns out, had I snuck the gold-plated latte spoon into my purse, I could have walked away ahead.

Then: the hair appointment. I was cut and colored by a really good looking gay Syrian guy who had two assistants of his own. The assistants were bringing me tea, dropping my sugars in my tea, stirring my tea for me, bringing me magazines, and handing him tools and stirring the haircolor and applying and removing my towels and giving me a head massage. It was quite the experience. Net tab? $195. More than I'd like to have paid, but I'm willing to live with it - it carries me another 8 weeks, at least. (Cut & color at high-end Dubai salon: $195. Looking gorgeous when boyfriend arrives? Priceless.)

And... luckily... the hair turned out great! It's a little darker than it was before, so I think now I look more French, or Iraqi. (I keep getting comments that I look Iraqi.)

Two months from now, I may go back - and if I do I'll drag Dan along. This guy does men's hair too, and I think he might be able to apply a stylish mohawk to Dan's coiffer.