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“I just love blonde hair, I’m crazy about it,” enthused Khaled Kahel, the owner of the new Colour Masters salon. Exactly what I wanted to hear from the enthusiastic colourist who was just about to highlight my hair.

“Some women say I’m like a second husband to them, purely because they don’t know what they would do without me colouring their hair,” he admitted as he whipped up some bleach ready to apply to my locks.

Opened last month, Colour Masters is a one-man salon offering a personal service to clients. With over eight years experience in London and nearing three years in Dubai, Khaled thought it was about time he focused on his passion – highlighting hair.

Having had a few botch blonde jobs in the past year and currently sporting a rather unflattering and unwanted ombre long bob, I thought I should put the Colour Master himself to the test.

As he confidently slapped on the bleach and foils, the Syrian stylist gave me a gentle telling off. “You must treat you hair like you treat your skin. Make a hair treatment part of your beauty routine,” he said sternly. “Bleach won’t damage your hair if you look after it. Work a mask on to towel dried hair and wrap it in a towel every week.”

After 30 minutes in the hot seat, Khaled whisked me off to the basin to rinse the colour off. Before applying the shampoo he worked in a toner, which he explained was to merge the previous colour with the new to give it an even tone all over.

The result was fresh sunny streaks with icy tones underneath the hairline.

With just six chairs and two sinks this gem might be tiny but who cares when you can get your roots retouched for no more than Dhs400.

8.BEFORE-AND-AFTER

Style Editor Jade ‘before’ and ‘after’

Prices for a half a head of highlight starts from Dhs300