'Shaggy', 'messy', 'unprofessional'... Natural curls were once looked down upon in Egypt, where western beauty standards favoured sleek, straight locks. Now, things are changing. All photos: AFP
'Shaggy', 'messy', 'unprofessional'... Natural curls were once looked down upon in Egypt, where western beauty standards favoured sleek, straight locks. Now, things are changing. All photos: AFP
Curly hair is now part of an aesthetic liberation movement sweeping across the North African in recent years.
Curly hair is now part of an aesthetic liberation movement sweeping across the North African in recent years.
So much so that Sara Safwat, centre, a hairstylist founded the Curly Studio hair salon, with Rola Amer. The salon caters to women and men like them.
So much so that Sara Safwat, centre, a hairstylist founded the Curly Studio hair salon, with Rola Amer. The salon caters to women and men like them.
The obsession with straight hair, rooted in what Ms Safwat calls 'completely false beauty ideals', compelled generations of women to burn their hair to a crisp using chemical treatments and excessive heat damage. Now curlers have replaced straightening tongs.
The obsession with straight hair, rooted in what Ms Safwat calls 'completely false beauty ideals', compelled generations of women to burn their hair to a crisp using chemical treatments and excessive heat damage. Now curlers have replaced straightening tongs.
This base is steadily growing in Egypt's sizeable cosmetics market. Teacher and natural hair influencer Mariam Ashraf, 26, has seen the market's potential firsthand. Only a hobby at first, her Instagram videos quickly became 'a real source of income'.
This base is steadily growing in Egypt's sizeable cosmetics market. Teacher and natural hair influencer Mariam Ashraf, 26, has seen the market's potential firsthand. Only a hobby at first, her Instagram videos quickly became 'a real source of income'.
'Brands are contacting me more and more to showcase curly hair products,' she said. 'And now, modelling agencies are contacting me for advertisements.'
'Brands are contacting me more and more to showcase curly hair products,' she said. 'And now, modelling agencies are contacting me for advertisements.'

MENA

Get this straight: curls bounce back in Cairo - in pictures

Salons and influencers show the way for natural hair

The National

May 09, 2022

  • English
  • Arabic

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Specs

Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request

Volvo ES90 Specs

Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)

Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp

Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm

On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region

Price: Exact regional pricing TBA

if you go

The flights

Etihad, Emirates and Singapore Airlines fly direct from the UAE to Singapore from Dh2,265 return including taxes. The flight takes about 7 hours.

The hotel

Rooms at the M Social Singapore cost from SG $179 (Dh488) per night including taxes.

The tour

Makan Makan Walking group tours costs from SG $90 (Dh245) per person for about three hours. Tailor-made tours can be arranged. For details go to www.woknstroll.com.sg

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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES

SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities

Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails

Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies

Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments

PROFILE BOX

Company name: Overwrite.ai

Founder: Ayman Alashkar

Started: Established in 2020

Based: Dubai International Financial Centre, Dubai

Sector: PropTech

Initial investment: Self-funded by founder

Funding stage: Seed funding, in talks with angel investors

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The 12 breakaway clubs

England

Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur

Italy
AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus

Spain
Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Real Madrid

While you're here
The specs

Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8

Power: 640hp

Torque: 760nm

On sale: 2026

Price: Not announced yet

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Essentials

The flights
Whether you trek after mountain gorillas in Rwanda, Uganda or the Congo, the most convenient international airport is in Rwanda’s capital city, Kigali. There are direct flights from Dubai a couple of days a week with RwandAir. Otherwise, an indirect route is available via Nairobi with Kenya Airways. Flydubai flies to Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo, via Entebbe in Uganda. Expect to pay from US$350 (Dh1,286) return, including taxes.
The tours
Superb ape-watching tours that take in all three gorilla countries mentioned above are run by Natural World Safaris. In September, the company will be operating a unique Ugandan ape safari guided by well-known primatologist Ben Garrod.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, local operator Kivu Travel can organise pretty much any kind of safari throughout the Virunga National Park and elsewhere in eastern Congo.

KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
More from Firas Maksad
The fake news generation

288,000 – the number of posts reported as hate speech that were deleted by Facebook globally each month in May and June this year

11% – the number of Americans who said they trusted the news they read on Snapchat as of June 2017, according to Statista. Over a quarter stated that they ‘rarely trusted’ the news they read on social media in general

31% - the number of young people in the US aged between 10 and 18 who said they had shared a news story online in the last six months that they later found out was wrong or inaccurate

63% - percentage of Arab nationals who said they get their news from social media every single day.

While you're here
Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Updated: May 09, 2022, 10:24 AM`
PhotographyEgypt