Red Carpet Beauties

AS MOST OF you know, ladies here in the Kingdom are all covered up in public. We're required to cover our hair (with our tarhas of course) and wear our abayas whenever we go out of our house. The idea of a beautiful woman isn't exactly glorified (and/or exploited) in this part of the world, but as young and sassy Pinays, you know we'd find loopholes to express our beauty one way or another. Whether it is underneath our tarhas and abayas or through this blog! You better know that we bring it. Can I get a B for Beautiful? Right on. ;)

So, how can ladies in this desert city be fab and stay fab? Well, there are plenty of ladies-only salons peppered throughout the town. If you're Filipino, chances are you get a regular home-service haircut/manicurist from fellow kabayans who do it for some extra income. But if you miss the hustle and bustle of your local beauty shop, fret not. There are lots to be found here. Though you might miss your regular gay hairdresser as all these salons are for women only. Nevertheless, you'd feel right at your feminine comfort zone with the sounds of snipping scissors, loud gusts from the blower, bubbles from the foot spa machine and the snickering between gossiping girlfriends.

Members of the Pink Tarha Team, along with other girlfriends decided to try out The Red Carpet Hair and Beauty salon. It is co-owned by a well-known Filipina entrepreneur here in Riyadh located in the Suleimaniah District. We have been hearing from our titas and other common friends that they have been to the place and they gave us enough good feedback to try it out for ourselves.

Now readers, you all know my birthday just came to pass... :P and it was before my birthday extravaganza that we opted to try out the salon. You know, to glam it up for an upcoming big day. So my friends and I set up an appointment via telephone and we arrived at the salon at around 5:30pm.

Reception area

Lounge area

A mini-snack bar, I suppose.

First thing I noticed was, "They don't have a red carpet!". Hahaha. You enter the salon here like you do a neighbor's house, via doorbell and intercom. When I arrived inside, I didn't personally feel like a "royal treatment" was headed my way (as described on their flyer). The salon looked like any ordinary hair salon in the Philippines. I wouldn't say that it looked like a glam spot on the LA strip. But I suppose the ambiance was welcoming enough not to intimidate potential customers. It was clean and quiet. A little house music wouldn't hurt in my opinion.

I was booked for a haircut and a facial while my girlfriends were still undecided on either getting a pedicure or threading for their eyebrows. I hadn't had a haircut since January and my hair has lost its shape and volume. According to the grapevine, the hairdressers that this salon hired were all trained or were previous employees of David's Salon in the Philippines.

Their styling trays were clean and organized.

Hair care products used are from L'Oreal and Wella.

The "spa" area where they do the facials and body massages.

Facial products used are from Nu Skin

Apart from the areas seen here, the salon also has a space for their foot spa/manicure/pedicure clients. They are also known in the Filipino community for adding nail decals to their polish and I have heard good things about their foot spas. In an interesting note, as one of my friends was getting her eyebrow threading done, we learned that they also do "Brazilian waxing". *wink wink*

I opted for a 'Galvanic Facial Spa' which is an upgrade from your regular facial where they use this special device and gel that is supposed to further energize the skin. The facial was painful as it should be when they pierce your pores to take out the bad stuff. I just chanted in my brain, "Pain is beauty...pain is beauty...pain is beauty". LOL.

Voila!

My hair all done and my skin is still glistening from the facial (with my friend, J).

The service was fair enough. I just think that they were a bit understaffed. The mini bar wasn't even stocked I guess because no one offered us to have some snacks or something. I was satisfied with my haircut, but it wasn't like a "Wow!" moment. The facial was good, but when I started asking the lady about the benefits of what she was doing/applying on me, all I got were generic answers. It would be beneficial if she educated me along the process so that I too, can care for my skin better.

Overall, the Red Carpet Hair and Beauty Salon offered what it could. We all came out of that salon looking better than we did going in, so that means they did their job right, right? Right.

So, if you are in Riyadh and have been long searching for a salon to treat yourself to...Or if you are an incoming OFW having withdrawal syndromes with your local beauty shop in the Philippines...worry no more. You can try The Red Carpet Hair and Beauty salon and see if it fits you. If not, then rely on your Pink Tarha Ladies to scout out more salons in this city in the days to come. :)

Cheers!
-ec-

The Red Carpet Hair and Beauty salon offers hair design and style, hair treatments, hair coloring, nail care and nail art, facial and body treatment, massages and waxing treatments.

Contact them at:
Near RKH/Military Hospital
Suleimaniah District
P.O. Box 64115
Riyadh 11536, KSA
T: +966-1-293-3497
M: +966-55-651-0758