Two hairdressers who got tired of selling things they had never used
The salon came first. The shelf came four years later, and it is still deliberately short.
Why there are only forty products
We opened the salon in 2019 with two chairs. For the first years we did what every salon here does: we sold whatever the distributor delivered, in whatever quantity got us the better price, and we said the things on the box back to our clients.
The moment that changed it was a client who had bought four bottles from us over three months and came back with her hair worse. Nothing she had bought was wrong on its own. Together they made no sense, and nobody in this room had ever used three of them on an actual head.
So the shelf was cleared. What went back on was only what we use in the salon, and a product now gets tried on at least twenty heads over a month before it is stocked. Roughly a third of what we try makes it. We are offered new ranges most weeks and we say no to nearly all of them, which has cost us money and is the only reason the advice in this shop is worth anything.
The shelf is about forty products. It will never be four hundred. If we do not stock what you came in for, we will tell you honestly whether it is because we did not like it or because we have simply never used it, and those are different answers.
The people who choose the shelf
Aishath Shiuna
Opened the salon in 2019 and cleared the shelf in 2023. Decides what goes on it, and says no most weeks.
Hawwa Leen
Does the colour work and writes most of the routine cards. The person to ask about fading and about scalp care under a scarf.
Mohamed Inaz
Runs the counter, keeps the small sizes in stock and packs the quarterly boxes for the island customers who collect.
How buying here works
How do I pay for an order placed here?
By bank transfer. The order gives you a reference, the confirmation screen and email show the account and the amount, and you quote the reference when you transfer.
Your items are held once the order is placed and released when the transfer shows. There is no card payment on this website.
Do you deliver?
No. Everything is collected from the counter in Hulhumalé, and that is a deliberate decision rather than a gap.
Oils and thick conditioners leak, and a leaking bottle in somebody's bag is a complaint we cannot fix from here. We also want thirty seconds with you when you collect, because that is where most of the useful advice happens.
How long will you hold my order?
Seven days from the transfer, and longer if you tell us you are travelling. Island customers regularly order a month ahead of a trip to Malé and we keep the box with the reference on it.
After seven days with no word, anything scarce goes back on the shelf so the next person can buy it, and we telephone you first.
Do I need an account to order?
No. There are no customer logins here, no saved basket and no order history.
Your order reference is how both of us find it again. Keep the email, or send us a message with your name and we will look it up.
Come in and ask, it costs nothing
Nirolhu Magu, Hulhumalé. Open until eight, Saturday to Thursday.