Odel Salon and a rant in general about Salons

Salmiya's newest salon, Odel, opened its doors last month.  I wanted to write about them right after my first visit, but held off until I'd tried them out at least twice.


First off, this salon is absolutely gorgeous!  The owner has rented out two adjacent apartments and knocked out the middle wall to create a wide open space.   Whoever did the interiors is really worth his or her weight in gold as the salon is beautifully and tastefully done up.  It looks sophisticated and very inviting, definitely a place to relax! 



This is the common area right in front of the lifts and just outside the salon which has been converted into a small reading room.  There's a few titles on the bookshelf and apparently every Monday is reading day?  Not sure how that works, but still, not a bad idea at all! 

Apart from the main open space, there are 7 rooms, each for a specific service.  There's a room for pedicures and manicures, another for haircuts and colouring, a really cute room for kid's haircuts, another for facials and other skin treatments, one for waxing, one for massages and finally a bathroom for the Moroccan baths.  Phew!  Each room has a different theme and I was oohing and aahing as the staff proudly revealed each room to me.  I wanted to take photos, but felt a little self conscious to ask and hoped there would be photos of the rooms on their social media pages.  Unfortunately, they just have a few on instagram, but do have a little nosy when you're free.  Here's links to their website (though this is still a work in progress) and facebook.  

Oh, I forgot the most important feature, they have a Book Now tab on their facebook.  How awesome is that?  You can book the services you want, the staff you prefer and can see the available dates and times.  All prices are also listed.  I love that feature and find it oh so helpful! 

I also saw a few endorsements from various Bollywood actors on the salon's facebook and instagram pages.  Not sure if they were bought, but if the owner knows them personally, then WOW!  I don't know the first thing about Bollywood, but that's still quite impressive!  


I just got my eyebrows threaded at the salon, but both times I left with two perfect arches, a feat which only one other salon has managed to accomplish so far!  I have weird brows, sigh.  I've yet to try out their other services, but from what I've seen, the place is kept really clean and looks hygienic and I hope it stays that way.  

That's the thing about salons here.  If you aren't willing to pay an arm and a leg, you're left with just a few options.  Most start off well, but sooner or later, their standards start to slide. 

I used to mainly visit two salons here in Kuwait.  One has the most amazing hot oil head massages.  You feel like you're in heaven and those 25 or so minutes are absolute bliss.  The two staff who work there are friendly and I love their work.  However, the owner looks like she just walked off the set of a B-rated movie and posts selfies of herself on the salon's Facebook page in the form of advertising.  The owner also made a few snarky comments about my accent and asked me if I was putting on a fake accent to be "above her".  A person's accent is a combination of where their parents are from (you grow up listening to your parents talk), where they grew up and friends and family around them and is certainly not faked to appear to be above someone, thank you very much!  I haven't gone back since, but I terribly miss their clean ups and hot oil head massages. 

Another very well known salon in my area does amazing brows and I'm a regular.  They are an appointment only salon and will not accept walk-ins.  They're that busy!  Friendly staff and excellent work.  On the surface, they look clean and tidy, and I didn't realize just how many basic codes they were violating until I did some mad googling when I broke out very badly after a waxing session.
  1. I noticed that the technicians do not wash their hands between customers.  The staff may have just completed someone's pedicure before moving onto another customer's brows! 
  2. I had on a full face of makeup (which is probably my mistake, I was coming in straight from work), but the staff didn't cleanse my face and instead just layered on some talc.
  3. The staff used her unwashed hands and not a spatula to take the melted wax from the wax warmer.  
  4. This same pot is then used for all the other customers.  The staff are basically just double dipping with their fingers  inside that one common pot and then touching my face.  I'm sure that warm pot is a breeding spot for germs, bacteria and who knows what else which is being passed on from customer to customer. 
  5. I was recommended that I do a skin lightening facial after the waxing to calm my skin.  What does skin lightening have to do with treating irritated skin by the way?  I realize now that the facial was just a way to earn a few more bucks and the application of thick heavy creams probably did my skin more harm than good. 
Do these salons have inspections from the Health Ministry?

Ok, rant over, I wish Odel the very best!  They've definitely started off on the right foot and I hope they stay that way.  For all those other salons out there, can someone hire me?  I'd love to visit all these places and write lengthy reports about what they're doing wrong.  Ha!

3 comments:

  1. I've not heard very reviews about this salon from my friends. Yes, their interior is amazing, but apparently their service isn't good at all.

    Personally, I love the idea if this salon, including their name, decor, digital marketing etc.

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  2. Hi! I've yet to try out any of their services apart from just getting my brows threaded. It'll be interesting to see how they do. A friend went for a haircut and she had to wait for 45 minutes even though she had an appointment so that isn't a good sign. Appointments should be honoured! However, the haircut turned out really well, so I guess it was worth it in the end.

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  3. I am a regular at ODEL. Like every other salon, they too had a bit of hiccups for just one service (hair color) and one hair cut in a few hundreds. Totally justifiable! One good thing I love about ODEL is that they take reviews and suggestions more serious than the business itself. Everyone from the Owner to the cleaning lady works hard every day and night - and that is obvious by the way they carry themselves both inside the salon and on their digital marketing. Like everyone else does, I hope they maintain their standards and class. If there is one place I will go back to, it is ODEL :) Liz

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