The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

‘Do it Here, Do It Right’ reads the logo on Diva’s bright
white wall. This hip hair salon in Dokki has a large following of faithful patrons,
quite possibly due to its head honcho, Mas, a Lebanese hair stylist with a
nonchalant, borderline blasé attitude and a keen sense of sophistication.

The salon itself is located just around the corner from
Cinnabon on Mosaddak Street in Dokki, with a wooden floorboard outside and white
ceramic tiles inside. A valet for the salon will park your car, and once you pass
through the large glass doors, a white front desk decked with OPI nail polishes
will greet you.

To your right is the venue’s window display stocking
Kerastase products next to a series of small rooms for pedicures, threading,
waxing and more. To your left is the white L-shaped room where your hair is styled.
You can wait for your turn on a large black wicker couch or black wicker
chairs, while six or so leather styling chairs are propped up in front of
large, black framed mirrors, and a tiny corner offers three hair-washing
chairs.

Here’s the problem this reviewer had with Diva: everything
took far too long. Arriving on a relatively quiet Saturday morning, this
reviewer was one of only two people waiting for their turn, and despite a
plethora of staff members milling around and watching a football match on a
large LCD screen, we waited a full 45 minutes before we were ushered into the
pedicure room, only to be told five minutes later that our hairstylist was
waiting to cut our hair and couldn’t be kept waiting. This resulted in a very
rushed job by the amiable pedicure technician Dalia. A pedicure costs 40LE,
while a manicure costs 15LE if you’re just applying colour. Eyebrow tweezing
costs 25LE and threading costs 10LE; be sure to ask Dalia to go easy on the
tweezing, as this reviewer woke up with marks along the eyebrows that lasted
for days.

When it comes to haircuts, if Mas is not available, ask for
Eddie, who works well with short haircuts and wavy/curly
hair. Polite and professional, Eddie cut the hair exactly as requested and
didn’t try the usual ‘Trust me I know what haircut suits you more than you do’ shtick.  

Nabil does a great job at blow-drying and straightening,
though he definitely didn’t master the concept of curling short hair. A haircut
costs 100LE, while a blow-dry and styling costs 70LE. Hair colouring is
available for 300LE and above, using L’Oreal, Chi and Keune products.

New customers may need a good dose of patience at Diva, and
while the services were good, the small space and limited staff make the hair
salon less efficient and speedy than larger hair salon chains. Also,
100LE for a haircut is definitely not cheap, especially if it’s for a simple
trim.