Emirates Woman- April 2021

A MOTIVATE PUBLICATION

APRIL 2021

UAE DHS25 OMAN RO2.70 BAHRAIN BD2.60 KUWAIT KD2.10 SAUDI ARABIA SR25

emirateswoman.com

THE GRATITUDE ISSUE

Her Highness Sheikha Sana Al Maktoum

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the elements collec tion bloomingdale’s dubai

Bloomingdales.ae

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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Obaid Humaid Al Tayer MANAGING PARTNER AND GROUP EDITOR Ian Fairservice EDITOR/ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Amy Sessions amy.sessions@motivate.ae SENIOR ART DIRECTOR Olga Petroff DIGITAL EDITOR Olivia Morris JUNIOR DIGITAL STYLE EDITOR Sarah Joseph GENERAL MANAGER PRODUCTION Sunil Kumar ASSISTANT PRODUCTION MANAGER Binu Purandaran PRODUCTION SUPERVISOR Venita Pinto CHIEF COMMERCIAL OFFICER Anthony Milne GROUP DIRECTOR Andrew Wingrove DIGITAL SALES DIRECTOR Sabir Khodabux GROUP SALES MANAGERS Bindu Gupta bindu@motivate.ae Chaitali Khimji chaitali.khimji@motivate.ae SENIOR SALES MANAGER Neha Kannoth neha.kannoth@motivate.ae GROUP MARKETING MANAGER – DIGITAL Anusha Azees WEB DEVELOPER Firoz Kaladi

HEAD OFFICE Media One Tower, Dubai Media City, PO Box 2331, Dubai, UAE, Tel: (+971) 4 4273000, Fax: (+971) 4 4282261, E-mail: motivate@motivate.ae DUBAI MEDIA CITY SD 2-94, 2nd Floor, Building 2, Dubai, UAE Tel: (+971) 4 390 3550 Fax: (+971) 4 390 4845 ABU DHABI PO Box 43072, UAE, Tel: (+971) 2 6772005, Fax: (+971) 2 6770124, E-mail: motivate-adh@motivate.ae LONDON Acre House, 11/15 William Road, London NW1 3ER, UK, E-mail: motivateuk@motivate.ae

Printed by Emirates Printing Press, Dubai

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MALL OF THE EMIRATES, DUBAI

Editor’s Letter Welcome to The Gratitude Issue. are what creates perfection in the form of the new RollsAs a personal note of gratitude, I would like to Royce Ghost. We also have exclusive interviews with prominent Emirati business woman Muna Al Gurg in The thank His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Philanthropist on page 108, Alserkal Avenue’s Executive Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE Director Vilma Jurkute in A Conscious Vision on page and Ruler of Dubai for creating a city full of opportunity 106, Founder of Odeem, Fatma Al Otaiba in The Measure and drive, a city I’m extremely proud to call home and of Quality on page 56 and Maryam & Muna Saeed, to champion the incredible women who reside within it.

Co-Founders of Al Mraikn in Sister Act on page 64.

Never before has it been more evident of how efficient, Some of the most incredible women supportive and resilient UAE is, than we know share how they practise in the last 12 months.

SMALL gratitude in Stay Grateful on page 110 I would also like to thank Her and we interview Skin Laundry on Highness Sheikha Sana Al Maktoum THINGS MAKE their new tech approach to beauty in for the honour of allowing us to PERFECTION, Grateful for Good Skin on page 100. present her as our cover star for this BUT PERFECTION Finally, The Wanderlust on page 124 prestigious edition. Shooting the IS NOT A features an exceptional edit of the best cover at sunrise with a backdrop of spiritual retreats around the world.

SMALL THING. the outstanding Burj Khalifa was a Looking at this issue reminds me moment that allowed us to not only of one of my favourite quotes: “Small capture the beautiful Soft Power things make perfection, but perfection is not a small shoot on page 28, but also allowed us to share time thing.” Henry Royce, Founder of Rolls-Royce. with one of the most hard-working, inspiring and brave I am grateful for a team who uphold this belief and young women we’ve worked with to date. strive to make the small things perfect on a daily basis.

With special thanks to K, who supported to make We as a team would also like to take this opportunity this happen – your energy and intuition are incredible. to wish all those practising – Ramadan Kareem for the We partnered with Rolls-Royce in an exceptional month ahead. shoot, Post Opulence on page 44 where the small details

Amy Sessions EDITOR / ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER

T H E H E R O B U YS

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Duerto suede Western boots Dhs2,175 Isabel Marant available at MATCHESFASHION

Ambre Cognac Candle, 300g Dhs403 DIPTYQUE available at OUNASS

Boots in croc print leather Dhs2,200 Paris Texas available at OUNASS

Feu de Bois Candle Dhs403 DIPTYQUE available at OUNASS

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CONTENTS APRIL 2021

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THE MONITOR

Monitor News p.24 Social Listings p.26 Cover Shoot – Soft Power with Her Highness Sheikha Sana Al Maktoum p.28 Left: The Imagine Ring in rose gold; The Fantasy Ring in rose gold; The Reminisce Bangle rose gold with pink sapphire; The Butterfly Garden Bangle yellow gold; All from the ‘My Treasure’ collection

by Sana Al Maktoum Fine Jewellery

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serpent bohème collection

CONTENTS APRIL 2021

Post Opulence – The new Rolls-Royce Ghost p.44

Summer Classics – The Bouguessa SS21 collection p.58

Rare – The one-off vintage finds you’ll be grateful you own p.118

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FASHION

Under Cover – Layered alternatives for Ramadan dressing p.42 Sister Act – Interview with Maryam & Muna Saeed, founders of Al Mraikn p.64

Quality of a Queen – Interview with the founder of Didon Jewellery, Azza Skhiri p.84

BEAUTY

Hot New Buys p.98 Grateful for Good Skin – Interview with Skin Laundry p.100

Nature’s Strength – Noor Al Bahrani Lookbook p.70

A Wellness Journey – Interview with the founder of Live The Process p.86

The Beauty Shelf – Bahraini businesswoman Abeer Al Matooq p.102

The Jetset – Taller Marmo’s Ramadan capsule collection p.80

Unparalleled Enchantment – Bvlgari’s High Jewellery p.90

AM to PM Beauty – Founder of The Elixir Clinic Acaena Amoros p.104

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The Measure of Quality – Founder of Odeem, Fatma Al Otaiba, shares her exclusive new collection

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CONTENTS APRIL 2021

The Conscious Edit – Interview with the founder of The Goodness Company, Geeta Pahlajani p.130

Capsule Cool – Experimental fashion brand IAM MAI p.74

106 FEATURES

A Conscious Vision – Interview with Alserkal Avenue’s Executive Director, Vilma Jurkute p.106 The Philanthropist – Interview with prominent Emirati businesswoman Muna Al Gurg p.108

Stay Grateful – Incredible women discuss how they practise gratitude p.110

118

Practising Gratitude – Interview with The Hundred Wellness Centre’s Emotion & Relationship Coach p.112 The Power of Gratitude – Interview with Bahraini entrepreneur and life coach Abeer Al Matooq p.114 The Gratitude of Giving – Sheikha Latifa Al Khalifa is transforming the way children learn p.116

The Cover

LIFESTYLE

Downtime – An edit of the best candles p.120 Culture Club – The Arts Club, an inspiring haven p.122

The Wanderlust – An edit of the best spiritual retreats around the world p.124 The Beauty of Heritage p.128 The Contemporary Nomad – Interview with the Co-Founders of MONTROI p.132

The Soulmate Ring from the ‘My Treasure’ collection by Sana Al Maktoum Fine Jewellery

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The New Classic

THE HERO BUYS

Ramadan Dressing

This scent will see you through Iftar and beyond as it pays homage to Paris with hints of feminine musk Honoré Delights Eau de Parfum Dhs1,337 for 100ml Ex Nihilo

Baguette Fan Crawler Earrings in Gold Plating Dhs275 Tai Jewelry AI JEWELRY available at Ounass

IDA Brown Croc Bag with chain Dhs2,902 L’Afshar THREE

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Arch realist brow defining pencil Dhs94 Code8

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OWN

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Intensive eye renewal cream Dhs265 for 15ml Shani Darden

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Retinol + Bakuchiol Serum Dhs1,188 Dr. Lara Devgan

Crystal-embellished 55 slingback pumps in patent leather Dhs3,350 Miu Miu

WORDS & STYLING: AMY SESSIONS; IMAGES: SUPPLIED

Mrs Ross fringed crepe kaftan Dhs4,416 Taller Marmo available at NET-A-PORTER

THE MONITOR – NEWS

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Social Listings A curated guide of who to #follow this month C O M P I L E D BY: S A R A H J O S E P H

@bouguessa

@montroi

@livetheprocess

@the.goodnesscompany

Contemporary womenswear to inspire confidence with sharply tailored silhouettes and clean cuts.

Celebrating nomadism across the modern silk route with handcrafted pieces and curated city guides.

Thoughtful construction and an unsurpassed level of detail create perfect symmetry as an ode to balance.

Created with an aim to unite mindful products with people who share a passion for sustainable living.

@skinlaundry

@odeem_official

@sanaalmaktoumofficial

@discovermleiha

These no-downtime laser facials are customized to best suit your personal skincare needs through advanced technology.

Exceptional handbags, seamlessly handcrafted with the greatest attention to detail.

A brand of beauty, founded by Her Highness Sheikha Sana Al Maktoum to empower women.

Nature at its most beautiful.

@theelixirclinic

@noor.albahrani

@rollsroycecars

@raiine_official

A bespoke wellness clinic specialising in enhancing clients’ wellbeing through IV therapy, vitamin infusions and more.

Fusing femininity with delicate embellishment.

Luxury and ease are an everlasting expression of the exceptional RR has come to stand for.

A trans-seasonal wardrobe of easy to wear pieces with a touch of rock’n’roll.

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THE MONITOR

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Creative Direction: Amy Sessions Photography: Greg Adamski

Words: Olivia Morris

SOFT POWER Her Highness Sheikha Sana Al Maktoum, founder of Sana Al Maktoum Fine Jewellery, talks to Emirates Woman exclusively about gratitude, determination and the inspiration behind her debut collection

Right page: The Enchanting Necklace in white gold with pink sapphires and diamonds (en tremblant movement); The Fantasy Ring in white gold; The Dream Bracelet in white gold; All from the ‘My Treasure’ collection by Sana Al Maktoum Fine Jewellery

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COVER STORY

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The Soulmate Ring in white gold, blue sapphire & diamond; The Mesmerize Necklace in white gold with blue sapphire; The Imagine Ring in white gold; All from the ‘My Treasure’ collection by Sana Al Maktoum Fine Jewellery

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Left page: The Imagine Ring in rose gold; The Fantasy Ring in rose gold; The Reminisce Bangle rose gold with pink sapphire; The Butterfly Garden Bangle yellow gold; All from the ‘My Treasure’ collection by Sana Al Maktoum Fine Jewellery; This page: The Fantasy Ring in rose gold; The Reminisce Bangle in rose gold with pink sapphire; The Butterfly Garden Bangle in yellow gold; All from the ‘My Treasure’ collection by Sana Al Maktoum Fine Jewellery

COVER STORY

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This page: The Soulmate Ring in white and yellow gold, yellow sapphire & diamonds; The Mesmerize Necklace in white gold with blue sapphire; The Imagine Ring in white gold; All from the ‘My Treasure’ collection by Sana Al Maktoum Fine Jewellery; Right page: The Soulmate Ring from the ‘My Treasure’ collection by Sana Al Maktoum Fine Jewellery

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COVER STORY

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COVER STORY

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The Treasure Necklace in white & yellow gold, yellow sapphires & diamonds (en tremblant movement); The Soulmate Ring in white and yellow gold, yellow sapphire & diamonds; Both from the ‘My Treasure’ collection by Sana Al Maktoum Fine Jewellery

The Fantasy Ring in white gold; The Enchanting Necklace in white gold with pink sapphires and diamonds (en tremblant movement); Both from the ‘My Treasure’ collection by Sana Al Maktoum Fine Jewellery

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COVER STORY

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PRODUCTION: OLIVIA MORRIS; FASHION ASSISTANT: SARAH JOSEPH; MAKEUP & HAIR: ANIA PONIATOWSKA AT MMG ARTISTS

“The persistence to always move forward and improve in Dubai trickles down from His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and flows through the veins of every resident of the city.”

Born and raised in the UAE to a mother with a love for the arts and a caring and supportive father, Her Highness Sheikha Sana Al Maktoum has a lot to be grateful for, especially her family, which is at the heart of her eponymous jewellery brand, Sana Al Maktoum Fine Jewellery.

The down-to-earth Sheikha recently debuted the brand with the ‘My Treasure’ collection, using butterflies, a tribute and a symbol of her gratitude to her late grandmother, after whom she was named. Each piece honours the memory of the elder Sheikha Sana Al Maktoum, one of Dubai’s most remarkable women, as it encourages women to embark on a journey to find their inner strength and purpose.

“Butterflies are symbols of transformation and beauty and my grandmother grew up at a time when options were limited for women, but she didn’t let that stop her,” Sheikha Sana says.

“She found a way to shine and to help others shine which is why I consider her a treasure.” Taking inspiration from her grandmother has taken the young Sana on her path to entrepreneurship and womanhood. Her Highness’ warm and gentle nature belies her fierce determination to stand on her own two feet and her keen awareness of the world around her. Understanding that her position in life awards her privilege, she aims to utilise her position to partner with education-related charities, with a focus on women and children. “I was blessed to be born in the UAE, a safe haven to people from various backgrounds, where women are respected and treated equally, but I know that there are many who are not as blessed,” she explains. “I hope to help change this by partnering with charities supporting the education of young children and women’s empowerment.”

Being from the UAE is a blessing Sheikha Sana never for-

gets, particularly in challenging circumstances. “2020 was a difficult time for the world as a whole, but through it all, thanks to the leadership’s focus on putting people’s safety first, and the many frontline workers who worked diligently to ensure that we were cared for every step of the way, we have been edging closer to the light at the end of the tunnel,” Her Highness says, sharing her gratitude. “We all came together as a society and didn’t give up on our hopes and dreams as a nation – we even made it to Mars!”

The UAE is a place with endless possibilities. Having grown up in Dubai, Sheikha Sana has always been inspired by the energy of the city and the infinite opportunities the emirate has. It’s something she attributes to the leadership of Dubai. “The persistence to always move forward and improve in Dubai trickles down from His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and flows through the veins of every resident of the city,” she says. “That mindset is infectious and helps me strive to do better every day.”

It’s this mindset and determination that has led the young entrepreneur to create an already hugely successful fine jewellery brand, alongside an incredible team that she’s hugely thankful for, who have been working with her to build her brand and to deliver an end product that is not only beautiful but also reflects the ideals that have been carefully crafted into every piece. As a true believer in women’s empowerment, Sana Al Maktoum Fine Jewellery focuses on working with those who value kindness, gratitude, spirituality and honesty.

“I was blessed to be born in the UAE, a safe haven to people from various backgrounds, where women are respected and treated equally.”

For more on Sana Al Maktoum Fine Jewellery visit sanaalmaktoum.com and follow @sanaalmaktoumofficial on Instagram

COVER STORY

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F A S H I O N F

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HERMÈS

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THIS PAGE AND OPPOSITE: @FATMAA

UNDER

Layered alternatives for Ramadan dressing

Small cat-eye acetate sunglasses Dhs1,300 Celine

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Elliot wool-twill waistcoat Dhs2,640 Pallas Paris

Crew-neck cottonblend T-shirt Dhs530 Raey available at MATCHESFASHION

14-karat gold diamond bracelet Dhs10,222 Sydney Evan

FAS H I O N

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COVER

WORDS & STYLING: AMY SESSIONS

Oversized collarless suit jacket Dhs1,915 Raey available at MATCHESFASHION

Re-Edition 2000 Nylon Mini Bag Dhs2,750 Prada

Wide-leg wool-blend trousers Dhs1,575 Raey available at MATCHESFASHION

FAS H I O N

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Yeezy Boost 350 V2 Sesame Abrar Nawaz Shaik Dhs1,723 Adidas

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POST OPULENCE

The new Rolls-Royce Ghost is the epitome of minimalist elegance Creative Direction: AMY SESSIONS

Photography: GREG ADAMSKI

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VIDEOGRAPHER: JOACHIM GUAY; FASHION ASSISTANT: SARAH JOSEPH; HAIR & MAKEUP: ANIA PONIATOWSKA AT MMG ARTISTS; WITH SPECIAL THANKS TO ALSERKAL AVENUE, AL QUOZ; ALL FASHION AT OUNASS.COM

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: AGMC ROLLS-ROYCE MOTOR CARS DUBAI

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The Measure of Quality Founder of luxury brand Odeem, Fatma Al Otaiba shares her exclusive new collection, combining attention to detail and outstanding craftsmanship

WORDS: AMY SESSIONS

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FAS H I O N

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What do the first 30 mins of your day look like, your morning routine? I’m an early riser so I like to get up by dawn. The first thing I do is brew my coffee, eat dates and pray. After that, I try to fit in a workout most mornings – I find this to be the perfect way to start my day with energy.

What is at the heart of ODEEM, the DNA? Timeless pieces and quality – both in material and production. Odeem pieces are ones that last forever. It’s something to be worn now and 20 years from today.

How has being based in the Middle East helped or hindered in continuing to grow the brand in the last year? The Middle East or, Dubai in particular, offers a lot in terms of diversity and talent. The support of those around me, especially the creative community, has added a huge amount to Odeem and we are continuously grateful for this support How do the creative and commercial sides of the business work together and how does your role support this? As both the Founder and Creative Director, I have found that without the creative, the commercial side is non-existent. Wearing both hats gives me the opportunity to bring the vision of the brand to life and with that creative vision, I am always confident of the end product.

Do you feel particularly drawn to either side of the business? Definitely the creative side. I love seeing the final product and the fact that I am able to create this from the beginning.

I specifically enjoy the evolution process and seeing how the product is realised. When its right, it’s very satisfying and that’s why one of my favourite things to hear from a customer is that the piece they’re carrying is not just beautiful but also feels very practical.

Tell us about the inspiration for the brand and how the aesthetic emerged? It’s a personal aesthetic – it’s what I wear, and what I would like to wear. So, every aspect of the bag is thought of carefully in terms of functionality, colours, textures and quality. I wanted a product that I am drawn to visually as timeless and unique, carries no label whilst still being positioned alongside other well-known luxury brands.

Do you create bespoke pieces and what is the most memorable piece you’ve created?

We do give our customers the option of ordering pieces of the collection in bespoke colours or skins but it always has to be a bag within our designs. The most memorable piece is one I created for my mum, because it’s something she requested specifically. I love how much she believes in me, my products and the brand.

You only use the most superlative of materials combined with a true attention to detail.

Is this approach to design reflective of your personality? The main inspiration for the approach to design comes from the quality that I seek in products. It’s reflective of my style, aesthetic, and love for certain fabrics and textures. Quality to me doesn’t necessarily mean price and luxury doesn’t necessarily reflect high prices – it’s all about how you feel or how the product makes you feel.

What has been the biggest challenge since launching the brand and how did you overcome it? Our biggest challenge was launching in January 2020, as COVID hindered us when it came to brand awareness and participating in public events or pop ups that we needed as support for reaching new clients. We’re grateful, however, to social media and Dubai being a city that opened up much more quickly than others. This allowed us to be present for people to discover the brand and quality of products behind it.

How has social media affected the business

FAS H I O N

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and which platform has been most useful?

Instagram for sure has been the most useful. We were able to raise brand awareness and reach a wider market since we are not available physically yet. Instagram gave us the opportunity to show people our collection and shop it instantaneously. We are also launching our new website soon.

Tell us about your latest collection and how do you carefully select those with a social following to support the brand through such platforms?

The latest collection has been inspired by Nikita – one of our most practical handbags. We wanted to recreate this as a clutch. We carefully choose women that we are inspired by, that support our brand and whose style we love.

How did you define the perfect size for the new collection? We wanted to create something that would have flexibility when it comes to carrying it both night and day – this is always an inspiration when designing Odeem pieces. The new collection is also the perfect size when it comes to travelling (I am hopeful that we will go back to travelling normally one day).

This is ‘The Gratitude Issue’ – what are you grateful for? I am grateful for a lot on both a personal and professional level – health, family, children, Odeem and the team behind it. The brand is not a brand without the support of a strong team and we need to always be grateful for that and all those around us.

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SUMMER CLASSICS

The Bouguessa SS21 collection is all about French staples WORDS: AMY SESSIONS

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ALL AVAILABLE AT BOUGUESSA EW_042021_P58-63_Lookbook Bouguessa.indd 62

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FAS H I O N

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Ten years ago, sisters Maryam and Muna Saeed took a leap of faith to launch their very own abaya brand Al Mraikn, which creates modern designs to empower women to feel confident in themselves

Sister Act WORDS: OLIVIA MORRIS

FAS H I O N

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FAS H I O N

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IMAGES: SUPPLIED; ALL ABAYAS BY AL MRAIKN, ALL JEWELLERY BY SHAMSA ALABBAR JEWELLERY

Can you talk us through your career? Al Mraikn is a family business between two sisters. We established our company to create abayas and dresses by myself and my sister Muna in 2011. We started our company from scratch. It was hard for two ladies to create a working environment of their own without anyone’s support, taking the huge risk of becoming businesswomen. But we believed in one another and we managed to create our own company and own line. We started with a small shop and four employees. From there it began to grow into creating our own factory, joining the biggest fashion events and becoming partners in huge e-commerce websites and working with influencers and bloggers.

What inspired you to start your own fashion brand with your sister? My sister Muna is my biggest inspiration. In our business, I’m the heart and she is the brain. Our secret of having a successful career and brand is that we keep our divisions separated – I do the designs and she is the CEO. Our divisions are separate, yet we are also connected.

How has your brand evolved since it launched? Our business evolved because we focus on four main factors – communication, commitment, division and keeping up with changes. We are always open to new ideas, new journeys and never afraid to take new risks. In any business taking risks might be a huge step to take but by believing in one another and having confidence in our work we evolved.

What does Al Mraikn represent?Al Mraikn represents the powerful, modern Arab woman. Our goal from day one was for our clients to feel empowered and confident but yet practical. You will notice in our designs that we mainly focus on creating an outfit that would make the client feel feminine and elegant.

What sets Al Mraikn apart from other brands? The abaya industry has grown exponentially in the last five years, but since we started our business 10 years ago, we’re ahead of the curve. We established a database and we’re incredibly connected to our clients, which is key in our business. We cherish our clients, we listen to them and we gain their trust – this sets us apart from other brands. Along with creating our own fashion line inspired by our culture, adding small creative touches to our styles also makes us stand out.

Who are your mentors in life and how are you grateful for them? Our mentors are key female figures in the United Arab Emirates who we consider to be our spiritual leaders. Her Highness Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak Al Ketbi is our biggest mentor given her connection to the woman field and how she made the women of this nation feel proud of themselves and made Emirati women be part of many sectors that we had never thought becoming part of. Her Highness Sheikha Hind Bint Maktoum bin Juma Al Maktoum is also the queen of our hearts. Her Highness represents the kind and caring part of the Emirati woman and shows that as ladies we can all grow together all over the world by giving chances to people. Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher Bint Mohammed Al Qasimi is also a true living example of a powerful woman. She stands up for women’s rights and teaches the next generation

that they can be successful, independent, kind and smart women. For that, we are grateful to these powerful leaders.

We’re all about female empowerment, as are you. How do you help empower women? We aim to make our clients feel empowered by loving themselves and being confident in what they wear. Being the women they really want to be forging their careers, studying or being a mother. Whatever they do, we hope that wearing something timeless will help them stand out and feel confident in themselves.

How do you want to inspire others? We aim to inspire the younger generation. We aim to encourage young women to have their work and be independent, powerful and intelligent ladies. We often get emails from younger women who would like to start their own businesses and we give them full support and hope to be an inspiration for many more.

This is ‘The Gratitude Issue’ – how do you practise gratitude in your life? The most important thing any person should be grateful for is the blessing that we have and thanking God for that. We are grateful to live in a safe and developed country. We practise gratitude with our employees and clients every hour of the day because our employees are the heart of our work, we make sure that we make them feel loved and appreciated for each and every single detail. And, of course, to our clients for having trust in us and our work.

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STRENGTH

Noor Al Bahrani’s Spring/Summer 2021 collection takes inspiration from the beautiful, resilient desert rose

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ALL AVAILABLE AT NOOR AL BAHRANI

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WORDS: AMY SESSIONS

CAPSULE COOL Experimental fashion brand IAM MAI creates modern collections through minimal silhouettes

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“I have always been drawn towards minimalistic styles and neutral colours. I’m a firm believer of ‘less is more’.”

What do the first 30 mins of your day look like, your morning routine? My aim is to start my day over a quiet coffee while journaling but in reality, most days it’s a mad rush to get my kids ready and out of the door!

What is at the heart of IAM MAI, the DNA? IAM MAI is known for juxtaposing unique elements inspired by the environment, architecture and natural elements, and artistically translating them into contemporary versions of kaftans and abayas.

How has being based in the Middle East helped or hindered in continuing to grow the brand globally? I am still focusing on growing my brand regionally so at this stage being based in Dubai is perfect as it’s a fashion hub for the region. We are all so well

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connected online these days that location is not an issue anymore.

How do the creative and commercial sides of the business work together and how does your role support this? I handle both the creative and the commercial side of my business. So, my role involves everything from designing to overseeing production and processing orders.

Do you feel particularly drawn to either side of the business? I’m a creative person so I’m definitely drawn to the creative side of the business. I find the commercial side of things a bit more challenging, so it’s been a learning curve.

You’re known for your minimalistic aesthetic. Tell us where this preference comes

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from? It comes from my own personal taste, I have always been drawn towards minimalistic styles and neutral colours. I’m a firm believer of ‘less is more’.

What has been the biggest challenge since launching the brand and how did you overcome it? The biggest challenge is balancing work commitments with family life. Having young children means my schedule can be thrown totally off track in an instant so working around that has been challenging. Like all working mums, it’s a balancing act trying to juggle both as best we can. It’s just about setting time aside for work and then being fully present when it’s family time. If things don’t go according to plan, I always remind myself tomorrow is a new day to start fresh.

How has social media affected the business and which platform has been most useful?

Social media is an incredible tool to portray my brand and also reach people from all over the world. I mainly focus on Instagram and it’s been really useful for connecting with new customers and developing my brand image.

Tell us about your latest collection and how do you carefully select those with a social following to support the brand through such platforms? After everything we’ve been through this past year, I was inspired by the importance of human connection. I referenced this through the knot, which is a symbol of togetherness and connections.

I have focused on voluminous silhouettes

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and minimal details, highlighting the knot in different ways. When it comes to social media collaborations, I like to work with like-minded people and those who fit my brand image. I prefer an organic process so that it’s an authentic collaboration.

This is ‘The Gratitude Issue’ – what are you grateful for? My family, my health and this beautiful city I call home.

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Taller Marmo’s Ramadan capsule collection echoes icons from the 60s and 70s

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WORDS: AMY SESSIONS

Quality of a Queen Founder of Didon Jewellery, Azza Skhiri discusses being inspired by a legacy What do the first 30 mins of your day look like, your morning routine? First of all, I do my skin routine, then I practise gratitude, either by meditating or by doing a few yoga poses depending on the mood.

What is at the heart of Didon Jewellery, the DNA? Didon is inspired by Queen Didon and her legacy, an amazing, inspirational woman for modern women today. Didon Jewellery is minimalistic, sleek yet practical and timeless.

How has being based in the Middle East helped or hindered in continuing to grow the brand globally in comparison to other locations you’ve lived? The buildup to launching the brand was in Canada. The first show the brand participated in was in NYC and the production has always been in Dubai. The UAE has always been part of Didon even before moving in here, the market is different and this adds to the beauty of seeing Didon grow steadily and organically.

How do the creative and commercial sides of the business work together and how does your role support this? Didon is a startup so as Founder and Creative Director, I need to wear many hats even though I am more driven by the creative side. Designing and seeing the final piece come to life is fulfilling, what’s even more fulfilling for me is seeing the brand succeed and expand.

Do you feel particularly drawn to either side of the business? More to designing and the manufacturing stage, although I do also love the marketing and communication side.

Tell us about the inspiration for the brand and how the aesthetic emerged? I’m a Tunisian woman, the history of Queen Didon who flew tyranny with her people and landed in new

territories through her intelligence is a wellknown one in Tunisia. Queen Didon was able to establish a powerful empire, Carthage, which is still part of our heritage as a Tunisian.

I am also passionate about history and combine this with design through Didon Jewellery.

What has been the biggest challenge since launching the brand and how did you overcome it? The journey of a startup is challenging but it’s worth it with every stage achieved and every success gained. I want to empower others to go through the process and I am grateful for every single challenge along the way.

How has social media affected the business and which platform has been most useful?

Social media has had a huge impact commercially on brands. Instagram particularly

Top: Elissa Ring Dhs2,196; Below: Juba Ring Dhs11,500; Deido Python Dhs4,617. All Didon Jewellery

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provides the perfect platform to present this dream and it is my personal favourite.

Tell us about your latest collection and how do you carefully select those with a social following to support the brand through such platforms? Didon is celebrating women and empowering them in fulfilling their dreams, I’m thankful for the support of every woman who understands and respects the brand DNA in showcasing and supporting Didon across social media especially.

This is ‘The Gratitude Issue’ – what are you grateful for? I’m grateful for the basics; health, family, living in security, being able to exercise, doing a job that I love and all the support Didon has gained, especially from the women who support me.

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WORDS: SARAH JOSEPH

A Wellness Journey

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What do the first 30 mins of the day look like, your morning routine? I wake up around 6:30 am, and drink lots of water before walking my French bulldog. Then I practise yoga or do some meditation, have coffee with goats’ milk and an Aloe Vera shake before kickstarting my day with a breakfast. Sometimes when I have time, I journal.

What inspired you to launch Live The Process? When I launched the brand, no platform existed which primarily focused on health and wellness content with an active collection that was feminine. It was all new back then as the concept was created nearly ten years ago, however, came to fruition around seven years ago.

How have you embodied wellness elements within the label? I would say our tagline – The Workout Within has brought the elements of the inner and outer into one message. As working on your inside is just as important as feeling and looking good on the outside so the two worlds collide. Our activewear now also has a lot of knitwear, to go beyond the conventional form of gym gear. The brand’s focus is to exist beyond a space of being able to wear pieces outside the gym space, along with working out in them. Every element infused into the brand is about the celebration of self-love, highlighting that no one is in a better place and we are all just Living The Process. Wellness starts with its name and it’s truly about valuing one’s self.

How has the brand scaled in growth since its inception? This was not my full-time job until the pandemic started in April. It was always a passion project that turned into my sole focus. I previously had a brand consulting company so being all in, with my partner really propelled the brand to the next level. We have been quite calculated in terms of growth as we were conscious of making sure we had a good infrastructure and felt confident about our product, production and the different elements that a brand requires. We’ve always had a creative vision, but it’s important to lay the foundation for growth. Every year we were in a different place of growth, whether it is our content, design, production or creative.

We haven’t rushed the process as we knew it was important to get each step right.

What key practices have helped you maintain a positive mindset? Spiritual practice, energy work and intuition including friends, family, meditation and yoga.

What advice would you give to your youngerself? Although it’s easier said than done, the one piece of advice would be to not rush into things, as all happens when it’s supposed to and just because things don’t happen the

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way you dream or imagine, it can always turn out to be the best for you, it’s important to trust the process.

What have been the hurdles you have experienced in your career and how did you overcome them? I’ve had days where I’ve not known my exact purpose and what I’m here to do. Some of the hurdles I faced were the constant strive for perfection, leading to constantly being stressed out. Always trying to please people and make sure they always

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got what they needed also lead me to improper care of myself. After working on all these qualities and while continuing to do so, I have different tools, knowledge and a perception which enables me to be the best version of myself without sacrificing it for others. My life is about me first and this was my hardest lesson of all.

What key lessons are you thankful for through the years? Throughout the years, I’ve learned how to deal with people and all

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“My life is about me first and this was my hardest lesson of all.”

their eccentricities, learned how to forgive myself, how to be honest with myself, to not blindly trust people and see who they are faster and also learned how to embrace the power of receiving and not just giving.

How does Live The Process give back to society? We are always looking at a way to give back, whether it is through charity or volunteering with our time. To cover interesting people and what they do as our blog is not used to make money, rather highlight amazing people and their process. Supporting people when needed through our platform and partnerships, is also what we focus on. Our first partnership, with the David Lynch Foundation, has grown so much over the last seven years and it’s incredible to see how meditation is such a key component in people’s life.

What is a holistic lifestyle to you? To me it revolves around happiness, travelling, moving, eating well and spending time with family, friends and of course my dog. I would say the simplest things in life are what makes me happy these days and of course the brand, which celebrates a holistic lifestyle and it continues to inspire me every day to be able to create and connect in such a beautiful way.

This is ‘The Gratitude Issue’ – what are you grateful for? I’m grateful for my health, to do what I love and what I’m passionate about.

For being able to connect with my intuition, to have so many great friends and family that are a constant support, to my partner – who I’ve gone through quite the rollercoaster with and my dog Bodhi. I’m grateful for being able to feel what happiness feels like, to not live in a state of fear to feel secure and safe, to know I’m just at the beginning of Live The Process with so much more in the pipeline for the label.

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IN PARTNERSHIP

Unparalleled ENCHANTMENT Precious gemstones and incredible craftsmanship are the key cornerstones for Bvlgari’s High Jewellery

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IN PARTNERSHIP

Previous page: High Jewellery FIOREVER necklace in pink gold and diamonds; High Jewellery earrings in pink gold and diamonds; High Jewellery ring in pink gold with 1 cushion rubellite (14,67 ct), sapphires and pavé-set diamonds; High Jewellery ring in platinum with 1 round brilliant cut diamond, 22 rubies and pavè set diamonds; High Jewellery SERPENTI secret watch in pink gold and coloured gems; This page: High Jewellery JANNAH necklace in pink gold with 212 Akoya white cultured pearls and 66 round diamonds; High Jewellery JANNAH earrings in pink gold set with diamonds

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IN PARTNERSHIP

Left page: High Jewellery necklace in pink gold with 53 polished cabochon-cut turquoises set with diamonds; This page: High Jewellery bracelet in pink gold with diamonds, cabochon cut pink tourmalines and rubellites variety; High Jewellery earrings in pink gold with 2 fancy cut pink tourmalines and amethyst beads set with diamonds ALL IMAGES BVLGARI

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B E A U T Y F

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E

HERMÈS

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Hot New Buys C O M P I L E D BY: S A R A H J O S E P H

The best edit of luxe beauty

Radiant Glow This miracle dual-action formula uses an acid exfoliation blend with radianceboosting ingredients to refine the appearance of pores. The research-powered Super Radiance Resurfacing Facial provides that instant gleaming glow to reveal youthful looking skin. Dhs257 for 50ml Charlotte Tilbury

A PRIVATE BLEND The Tubéreuse Nue fragrance conjures the nocturnal bloom of fresh petals as a soft musk essence. Dhs2,300 for 50ml Tom Ford

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Supercharged Skin Charcoal reduces the appearance of congested skin with a scrub that refines rough, bumpy texture with its natural exfoliating powders. The Charcoal Smoothie jelly body scrub overall helps to reduce the appearance of congested skin. Dhs164 Sunday Riley available on cultbeauty.co.uk

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Brow Hold An easy-to-apply formula which sculpts the brow giving it that feathered look, allowing them to stay in place all day.

Dhs102 Anastasia

INTENSIVE REPAIR This high-concentration shampoo provides a nourishing touch for damaged, frizzy hair.

Replenishing the roots and protecting the scalp through UV filters, it is ideal for those subject to daily sunlight. Dhs155 for 250ml SachaJuan

Curl Enhancing This fragrance-free hydrating product gives shine and definition to your hair as it melts into your curls with the ease of an oil. The Curl Crème reduces any frizz while leaving it absolutely natural. Dhs140 OUAI

Powerful Hydration

Supple texture This multipurpose face oil comes in a portable form which glides on, to moisturise the skin with coconut alkanes as a spot oil treatment. The oil stick consists of a series of high-performance oils, to enhance your skincare routine. Dhs95 Jones Road

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Made with 8 hyaluronic acids which infuse within the skin’s surface, this unique formula provides long-lasting hydration while reducing the appearance of fine lines. Delivering incredible water retention properties, the Hyaluronic Global Face Cream improves any uneven skin tone as it combats pigmentation.

Dhs315 for 50ml By Terry

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WORDS: AMY SESSIONS

Grateful for Good Skin

Skin Laundry is renowned for harnessing the power of lasers to deliver serious skin results What is the most common request from clients coming to Skin Laundry? We receive many queries ranging from are our laser treatments painful to what kind of downtime is there? We strive to reassure our clients as best as possible prior to their treatment.

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Do you believe that good skin also combines our approach to food, sleep and a balanced lifestyle? Absolutely! All factors need to be taken into account and the internal is as important as the external. Taking care of your skin does start with having the best prod-

ucts suited to your skin type, but also is a combination of what you put into your body – this includes food, water intake, vitamins and most importantly wearing SPF. What is at the heart of Skin Laundry, the DNA? We pride ourselves on not only being results-driven, but also being safe, effective, efficient, affordable and easily accessible.

We cater to those who have a very busy lifestyle and want to improve their skin without having to wait months to see results. Our USP is our laser treatments combined with our in-house products developed by our team of dermatologists in the US. You’ve grown globally, tells us about why you’ve chosen the locations you have to date? Skin Laundry gravitates towards developing cities who are forward-thinking and growing. From Hong Kong to London, US to the Middle East. As a brand we are expanding globally, therefore we choose our locations very carefully as we are all about convenience, ease of access but also ensuring we are offering the best environment to make people feel great. Dubai is one of the beauty capitals of the world. The beauty and skincare market here is excelling which allows us to tap into an audience who would appreciate our services and products.

How do the laser facials work and which combination of treatments would you recommend for every skin type? Our dedicated laser technician reviews in detail with each client their skin concerns, medical history, skincare goals and skincare type. Our personalized treatment plans, alongside our in-house skin product recommendations work toward the client’s expectations to achieving great skin.

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For beginners we recommend our Signature Laser Facial which uses safe energy-based technology to boost collagen production, minimized pores, tighter skin and improve discoloration. This treatment is completely safe on all skin tones and types and will leave your skin glowing and deeply cleansed! For those who need advanced treatment, we recommend our fractional laser which utilizes a unique technology to help smooth fine lines and wrinkles, improve overall skin texture and skin strength. The USP of Skin Laundry is that we offer tailored memberships for our clients, so that they can combine treatments with recommended products from our DHA registered laser technicians.

What has been the biggest challenge in the last year and how did you overcome it? Like many businesses, Covid-19 played a challenging role in our business. The launch of our brand in the UAE and the opening of our new clinic in Dubai was an exciting time for us. Unfortunately, the gravity of the Covid-19 outbreak caused Skin Laundry to close after only 1 month of opening. For 8 weeks the clinic was closed and our daily struggles in recuperating, keeping our staff motivated, building our customer base and maintaining the reputation of a brand was a challenge we were able to overcome. Our re-opening had over 1,000 people on a 7-week waiting list! After an amazing launch, our re-launch was equally successful with queues of people who had waited to have treatments once it was safe to do so. We believe having such a well-recognized global brand allowed us to gain trust quickly in this market and most people already knew the brand from London or LA and were excited to try the treatments for themselves.

How has social media affected the beauty business and which platform has been most useful? Social media if anything, has encouraged the growth of our business. We have built a great rapport with our followers by sharing advice, skincare maintenance tips as well as creating great video content showing our treatments to keep our audience engaged. The best platform which has been successful in growing our followers and providing conversion in leads has been Instagram and TikTok. Is there anyone who cannot have these treatments? Client safety is paramount and we have a set of guidelines that we follow to ensure this. These include women who are in their first trimester of pregnancy, anyone who is taking oral antibiotics or has active skin infections. Clients with a history of skin cancer or have vitiligo. We also stress that anyone who has had Botox or filler 5-6 days prior or has sunburn should not have the procedure.

Do you see similar or differing trends in terms of beauty treatments globally? People are moving towards technology when it comes

“People are moving towards technology when it comes to skincare.”

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to skincare. Lengthy wet facials do not fit in with those with busy lives and we are seeing the results we want quicker with machinebased facials. Gone are the days where you would wait months to notice a difference in your skin or lying for over an hour getting a facial. Advanced technology provides results a lot more quickly as well as reaching the deeper layers of skin that a traditional facial would not be able to.

This is ‘The Gratitude Issue’ – what are you grateful for? For Skin Laundry – we are grateful for the health of our staff, something which is paramount. We are extremely proud of being a strong, female-led team taking the Middle East by storm! Our biggest achievement has been developing our amazing community of Laundry Club members worldwide and meeting customers from our clinics all over the world who share the same love we do for what we do.

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The Beauty Shelf

Bahraini entrepreneur and life coach Abeer Al Matooq takes us through her hero beauty products C O M P I L E D BY: O L I V I A M O R R I S

Lip Oil Dhs105 Clarins

I absolutely love the lip oils from Clarins. They comfort and hydrate the lips really well.

Amour Blush Dhs126 Nars Cosmetics

This blush goes so well with my skin tone. It’s also incredibly versatile and works with any makeup look.

Skin Trainer Line Kiko – CC Blur Dhs90; Eye Serum Dhs85; Regenerating Serum Dhs120

Velvet Matte Lip Pencil Dhs140 Nars Cosmetics

Diorshow Pump ‘N’ Volume Mascara Dhs150 Dior

This mascara is my all-time favourite – you can never go wrong with it.

Moisture Surge Dhs126 Clinique

All of the Nars Velvet Matte Lip Pencils are amazing, but my favourite shade is Walkyrie, a dark nude colour.

I cannot live without this product – the name says it all. It leaves my skin feeling hydrated and moisturized all day long.

Exaggerate Waterproof Eye Definer Dhs34 Rimmel London

Ultra HD Lip Booster Dhs85 Makeup Forever

This waterproof eye pencil is so black. It defines the eye really well and stays on the eye the whole day.

I can wear this every day, whatever the occasion. It’s so light on the lips and it gives this light and natural plumped look.

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I love the entire Skin Trainer line from Kiko. My favourites are the CC Blur, the Eye Serum and the Regenerating Serum. They are very effective and gentle at the same time.

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IN PARTNERSHIP

Minimal & Modern D I N H VA N PA R I S PRESENTS ‘THE PULSE COLLECTION’ – A BLEND OF RHYTHM AND MODERNITY Known for its simple, understated pieces that still deliver impact, dinh van Paris presents ‘The Pulse Collection’ as an ode to its fresh take on fine jewellery – bringing everyday luxury to the modern woman. The Pulse line exudes modernity and minimalism, creating a tribute to light though the construction of each piece. Inspired by the notes of a graceful music score, rhythm is combined with luminosity, alongside the use of diamonds and hollow lines to create exquisite, elegant pieces. The collection follows a monochromatic and elegant colour theme of white and rose gold, creating the ideal canvas to elevate any look.

THE HERO PIECES Pulse medium ring white gold and diamonds; Pulse bracelet rose gold; Pulse studs rose gold and diamonds. All dinh van

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C O M P I L E D BY: S A R A H J O S E P H

AM TO PM BEAUTY

Acaena Amoros, founder of The Elixir Clinic, talks us through her beauty and skincare routine Talk us through your morning routine. In my 30s, I realized the importance of a skincare regime to maintain healthy skin. I have a very strict morning and evening routine that consists of Dr. Barbara Sturm’s products. Every morning, I start with the Dr. Barbara Sturm Foam Cleanser and twice a week use the Dr. Barbara Sturm Enzyme Cleanser. I finish off my morning routine with the Brightening Moisturizer combined with Sun Drops for sun protection.

And how about your evening routine? This is similar to my mourning routine, but I take the time to ensure my face and neck are well

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cleansed and hydrated before bed. I’m big on serums, so I tend to mix it up depending on my mood. For example, if I have spent the day in the sun, I ensure to use the Calming Serum in the evening.

What are your go-to skincare products? Dr. Barbara Sturm skincare products are definitely my go-to but I have recently been introduced to Tata Harper and I am absolutely loving the Clarifying Mask and Elixir Vitae Serum.

Are you a fan of masks? I love masks, they make me feel hydrated with a fresh glow. I incorporate a face mask into my routine on a

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Clockwise from top left: Noir Extreme Eau de Parfum Spray 100ml Dhs677 Tom Ford available on bloomingdales.ae; Liquid concealer Dhs115 KKW available at glamazle.ae; Foam cleanser Dhs235 Dr. Barbara Strum; Elixir Vitae serum 30ml Dhs2,000 Tata Harper available at OUNASS; Hypnôse Drama instant volume mascara Dhs150 Lancôme available at sephora.ae; Dior Lip glow Dhs166 Dior available at faces.com

weekly basis, either at the end of the week or if I have an event or special occasion to prepare for. I started using Tata Harper Clarifying Mask a few months ago and absolutely love it.

How would you describe your relationship with makeup? I’ve never been a fan of too much makeup and I can confess that I’ve never “contoured” or “baked” my face. I always stick to the simple natural “no makeup” look which consists of a little touch of KKW Beauty Concealer, my M.A.C Mineralize SkinFinish Powder and blush, Huda Beauty Eyeshadow and Lancôme Mascara with a nude lipstick.

What can always be found in your makeup bag? My Dior Lip Glow is an essential!

Let’s talk fragrance. What are you loving at the moment? Tom Ford Extreme. It’s an alluring scent!

Talk us through your hair routine. I tell my friends this all the time, “don’t underestimate the power of hair masks”. I try to incorporate hair masks in my routine at least 3 times a week. The results I’ve seen in the growth, texture and quality of my hair is amazing. I use the Philip Ingsley Elasticizer followed with Moroccan Argan oil and Keratin.

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A Conscious Vision

Alserkal’s Executive Director, Vilma Jurkute, on launching a new sustainability agenda whilst reimagining the cultural space

WORDS: SARAH JOSEPH

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What do the first 30 mins of the day look like, your morning routine? My mornings are dedicated to self-regeneration and knowledge. I usually start with a workout, followed by an iced coffee and a lot of reading to make sure that I am up to date on news and current affairs. I make time to reconnect with my academic research situated across the various disciplines of urban studies.

What is your approach to sustainability? What sustainable practices are currently in practice at Alserkal and do you have any additional plans to develop this? The word Anthropo-

cene begins with a Greek word ‘antropos’, meaning human, and as we try to address the undeniable human impact on the environment, I believe we must begin with a selfaudit. Sustainability demands for a political and intellectual solution, involving complex alliances of actors from all over the world.

Resisting the temptation of addictive growth and progress and reappraising our conditions of production and consumption are important ideological steps towards change.

I am mindful of how easily terms like ‘sustainability’ can become commodified over

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IMAGES: MUSTHAFA ABOOBACKER, SUERAYASHAHEEN; COURTESY OF ALSERKAL AVENUE

the cultural ecosystem of the UAE and beyond, reflecting our polyphonic identities, artistic commitment, and diverse knowledge paradigms.

As a collective of over 70 creatives, cultural thinkers and makers, we have always been driven to challenge the conventional and see the boundless possibilities of the work we do.

What have been the biggest hurdles to date and how did you overcome them? What key lessons are you grateful for in business? It is never easy to be the ‘first’ or a pioneer, because there is no model or playbook you can follow. I take comfort in advice someone once gave me: “Don’t be afraid of uncertainty, it means you are innovating”. To be honest, when we started, I felt like the West didn’t know what to do with us because we didn’t fit any of their ‘boxes’, in terms of art paradigms. We began as an arts neighbourhood in the Al Quoz industrial area, then through Alserkal Avenue’s expansion in 2015 we extended our platform to welcome a curated community of entrepreneurs across various industries, acting as a building block for the creative economy locally and through our commitment to artistic production, residency programmes, scholarship and research we evolved further as an institution, forming the Alserkal Arts Foundation. It created for a context-specific and organic model that responds to our city, our history and publics. Alserkal and its initiatives are everyone’s community commons: collaborative, open, experimental and flexible by nature.

Why do you think Alserkal Avenue has holistically grown as a centre for art and design? How has the concept of culture and heritage in Dubai grown over the last few years? Despite the rapid commercial growth that Dubai has seen, our arts and culture scene is still young, and the potential that it offers to young artists is immense. We need only to look at the growth that has taken place over the last decade to realise that the momentum will continue to pick up pace.

Dubai’s arts ecosystem, which started with just a few commercial art galleries a decade ago, has grown to become a holistic arts scene. We’ve witnessed the development of robust education programmes, not-for-profit spaces with active community programming, and the emergence of new collectives and homegrown concepts within the creative industries. Locally-based talent is more eager and more able than ever to time, often endorsed through tokenised indevelop their artistic practices locally now frastructure solutions. At Alserkal, we have that there is the infrastructure to support formed a Sustainability Working Group to that; the Alserkal Arts Foundation space develop solutions, not only through projects was a big step in further enhancing the such as solar power, recycling and pedesAlserkal family’s commitment to the arts. trianisation, but by changing our behavThe next step, as our founder Abdelmoiours and focusing on economies of repair nem Alserkal always reflects, “Is not about as a community at large. It is a big task – physical expansion, but about legacy buildwe must reimagine what circular economy ing through nurturing artists, not-for-profmeans for our part of the world and for the it programmes and research endeavours.” creative industry overall.

How has this community scaled in growth How does this cultural district continue to celsince its inception? Alserkal Avenue is an ebrate homegrown talent? We grew to become inclusive space, a cultural inventory asthe region’s most influential arts and culture sembled from various industries and discidestination over the last few years, and for that plines in art, design, architecture, literature, we are indebted with gratitude to the homefilm, performing arts, lifestyle and food, grown art galleries and the new international all in the context of the industrial area of spaces that have chosen Alserkal Avenue as Al Quoz. The Avenue’s grassroots evolutheir home. With our expansion in place, it tion was spearheaded by risk-takers driven was essential to protect our cultural integrity by tenacity and creative ambition in a city by creating the environment for knowledgethat has always embodied potential. While sharing amongst the best talent. We are conwe might be just over 10 years old, we have, tinuously building an arts infrastructure with individually and collectively, contributed to many ‘firsts’ along the way. In order for the

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ecosystem to flourish, it was essential to create a space where culture is produced and consumed and driven further through artistic discourse. I cannot help but remember an old TV interview of Leo Castelli’s (the famous collector and gallerist in New York in the 70s), where he was asked on what basis he selected his artists and his answer was “I pick them not because they are good, but because they are the leaders of a new movement”. I think the same applies to our community members at Alserkal. We take the risk on the risk takers and through our collective efforts further grow the impact of the arts in the city and beyond.

Alserkal Arts Foundation forms an important pillar of our public promise at Alserkal.

As a non-collecting foundation, we are committed to artistic production, residency pro-

“Don’t be afraid of uncertainty, it means you are innovating.” grammes, research grants, and alternative learning through colloquia and other forms.

Supporting a new generation of thinkers to challenge the conventional – leading to new forms of knowledge – is what lies at the heart of our mandate.

This is ‘The Gratitude Issue’ – What are you grateful for? Community. The erosion of boundaries through shared compassion is something I will carry with me from this pandemic. Over the past year, the aspects of collectivity, togetherness and giving back that are an intrinsic part of our community ensured that we never felt alone.

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The Philanthropist

involved throughout the design until its completion. Honestly, the sense of fulfillment is difficult to put into words.

How do you give back to the community? Education and healthcare have been equal passions for me. Through the years I’ve been involved with several community outreach projects. The most recent one being the donation towards building a neonatal intensive care unit in Jenin, a Palestinian city in the West Bank. The donation will buy new equipment for the unit in the state-run Khalil Suleiman Hospital. The support is desperately needed in the occupied territories where newborns lack adequate access to healthcare. The project is being managed by the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund.

Which career milestones are you most proud of? When I completed my MBA at London Business School (LBS), I realised how access to the right kind of educational opportunities can help change futures. Setting up the Muna Al Gurg scholarship for Arab women at LBS has been a moment of pride for me personally, particularly as I’ve seen women from diverse career backgrounds graduate and thrive.

Who would you say your mentors are in life and how are you grateful for them? My sisters and I were brought up in an environment where hard work and determination were encouraged and celebrated. The life experiences that we had in our formative years was the mentorship from our father.

These lessons helped shape our life paths and was the fuel for our individual successes and passion for social causes.

We’re all about female empowerment, as are you. How do you help empower women? There are many reasons women leave their professional careers, but especially so after childbirth, sometimes never to return. After I became a member of the ‘30% Club’, a global campaign to increase gender diversity at board and senior management levels, I looked inward

Can you talk us through your career? After a short stint at an advertising agency, I joined our family business in 2000, the Easa Saleh Al Gurg Group (ESAG), to focus on marketing and communications. Since 2009 I’ve been Director of Retail, responsible for strategy and operational development of the Group’s international and local retail brand portfolio. It’s been a fascinating experience, as I’m the second generation of our 60-year-old business.

What inspired you to venture into philanthropic work? Both my parents were role models and had traits that I wanted to emulate and build upon.

During my teens and early twenties, I was greatly influenced by my father’s charitable projects across geographies spanning East Africa, the Gulf and across to the Indian subcontinent. He eventually went on to to build one of the UAE’s first official family-sponsored charity foundations.

My late mother believed that every individual has a role in bettering their community and was a supporter of the arts in helping establish the first Dubai Community Theatre. She also did a lot of work with the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund. My initial personal exposure to philanthropy and the satisfaction that comes with it was from the building of a school in Bwejuu, Zanzibar, for 300 children which we were able to build through the family foundation. I was

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Muna Al Gurg isn’t just a leading Emirati businesswoman, she’s also a philanthropist passionate about giving back on a local & global scale

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WORDS: OLIVIA MORRIS

throughout our organisation to find ways to further support our female employees.

Most private sector organisations in the UAE currently offer a 45-day maternity leave.

We explored the issue and came to understand that this somewhat limited policy was a significant factor in women opting to at least temporarily leave, and in many cases never returning. We decided to change this at ESAG Group to give mothers greater flexibility in their work-life balance, whilst also taking an extra step in not losing business talent and diversity. I proposed to increase our maternity leave to 90 paid days which was approved by our board at the start of 2020. From a funding perspective, I have supported female entrepreneurs by investing in Mindshift Capital – a global, women-run venture firm investing in amazing women-led companies solving important problems.

How has the support you have in turn received, shaped you as a woman? One of the biggest inspirations of my life has been my aunt Dr Amina Kazim who played a big role in my childhood. She was the first UAE national female physician and the only Emirati anaesthetist in the country. She was also the first UAE national woman to obtain a private pilot license. Despite facing many challenges, her spirit of giving and also sharing knowledge with many left a great impression. I hope to emulate her zeal for life.

How do you want to inspire others? I think it’s important to talk more about philanthropy. Our region is one which celebrates charitable givWhat are your hopes for women in the future? My conversations ing but has historically been discrete about it. with Gen Z and the Millennial generation indicate there’s a growThere’s an opportunity to magnify the impact ing interest in social impact and meaningful entrepreneurship. I of what is being done by adopting a strategic hope that those who have the means and resources ‘pay it forward’ approach. I’ve been fortunate to have recently within the community and society. Each of us has a talent that worked with the Gates Foundation in helping can be used for the greater good, what is required is the mindset to me assess and optimise my philanthropic work. transform thought into action.

In the not too distant future, I plan to establish What have been the hurdles you’ve experienced throughout your my own foundation, specifically to create emcareer? When I began my journey as a young business leader, the powerment pathways for women and girls across challenge was to be heard in a room full of men, some of whom who the Middle East and North Africa. I hope we’re were also older and more experienced. Over the years I have learnt successful in our mission, but also aspire to be that it is important to be assertive and find your voice if there are an example to other budding philanthropists goals to accomplish. that want to take a similar journey.

What have been the key milestones? The most significant milestones relate to our family business. First was when I joined ESAG and took What does it feel like being a woman in this region over the responsibility of strategy for the retail arm of the business. that is paving the way for others? I am fortunate The next milestone was when my father, who is the founder of our to be an Emirati citizen as the UAE believes in business, decided to hand over the reins to his three daughters. And offering equal opportunity to all and focuses on finally, the satisfaction that I have taken the lead in creating gender gender balance in every sphere. I have learned balance and inclusive policies that enhance women’s participation that competence is essential. Have the ability to within the UAE’s private sector. communicate clearly. Voracious curiosity and listening well – to what is being said and someThis is ‘The Gratitude Issue’ – how do you practice gratitude in your times to what isn’t, is important. Also, stand up life? Over the years and especially during 2020, I have realised that for yourself without being overly aggressive, and a crucial aspect of maintaining wellbeing is gratitude. I make it a create bonds with people you respect and adpractice to list three things that I am grateful for every morning. mire by finding a commonality.

This helps me face the day with greater positivity.

“Over the years and especially during 2020, I have realised that a crucial aspect of maintaining wellbeing is gratitude.”

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C O M P I L E D BY: O L I V I A M O R R I S

Stay Grateful

We talk to some of the most incredible women we know about practising gratitude GHIZLAN GUENEZ Entrepreneur

@ghizlan_guenez What are you most grateful for in your life? I’m most grateful for my mindset which allows me to appreciate the little and big things in life and to not take things for granted. I’m also grateful for being able to continue to grow and enjoy this journey that is called life with all of its ups and downs.

This is ‘The Gratitude Issue’ – how do you practise gratitude in your life? I’m

very intentional with gratitude. I journal and I write down three to five things that I’m grateful for on a daily basis. Sometimes it is big like being healthy and seeing your loves ones well and happy.

Sometimes it’s as small as staring out the window and seeing clear blue skies.

We are abundantly surrounded by things that we should be grateful for and we need to ensure we open our eyes to that.

ASMA HILAL LOOTAH Founder of the Hundred Wellness Centre @thehundredwellness

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What are you most grateful for in your life? I am most grateful to God, as I believe my faith has given me the wisdom, strength and foresight to flourish and prosper both mentally and physically. I am also grateful that I have self-awareness to make positive changes to my life. Living consciously and making a choice to be mindful and aware of every aspect of your life is vital for happiness, health – both physical and emotional, success and relationships.

How do you practise gratitude in your life? I learned an incredibly valuable life lesson from an online course I took by Shawn Anchor. The practice involves writing down three new things every day that you are grateful for and by doing so, your brain is trained into looking for positives. This practice has had a wonderful impact on me and has changed the way I think, and without doubt contributed to my positive outlook on life. Life can often become challenging for everyone and when this happens, I make a conscious decision to pause and take a moment to appreciate everything around me. Even in tough times, there is always something to be grateful for and I believe that ultimately a grateful heart finds peace.

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YASMIN AL MULLA Creative Director of YNM Dubai @YNMdubai @yasminalmulla What are you most grateful for in your life? My health, my family, and the UAE – and everything in between.

This is ‘The Gratitude Issue’ – how do you practise gratitude in your life? Each morning is a fresh start, waking up with

a thankful heart is my drive in life. I truly appreciate each blessing: small or big, simple or major. Every blessing is a fortune thing by itself, therefore I am always grateful and thankful for everything I have in my life.

KHULOOD THANI Creative Director of Bint Thani Studio @khuloodthani What are you most grateful for in your life? Every small detail that I have in my life and contributed to make me who I am.

This is ‘The Gratitude Issue’ – how do you practise gratitude in your life? It’s important to be connected to the energy of gratitude through appreciating things that we already have instead of looking for things outside. I usually practise daily gratitude affirmations as part of my spirituality and I should say that it has supported me a lot.

RAHA MOHARRAK

The youngest Arab and first Saudi woman to climb Mount Everest @rahamoharrak What are you most grateful for in your life? It’s truly impossible to count or quantify the amount of gratitude I have for my life and that’s precisely what I’m grateful for the most, being healthy and having a healthy family and true friends is a wealth that’s incalculable.

This is ‘The Gratitude Issue’ – how do you practise gratitude in your life? I practise gratitude by living with the code of paying it forward and always striving to do small things with love, we might not have the ability to change the world but we all have the ability to change someone’s world.

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Practising Gratitude

of their hiding places so we can get to know them, understand them and accommodate them. I love working with human emotions and meeting my clients on that deep level where masks are shed, and true selves are most welcome. Coaching relationships, including the relationship with oneself, involves creating the interpersonal safety and connectedness that allows patterns of behaviours to be understood and for helpful tools to be taught and employed to create well-balanced, healthy, and fulfilling relationships.

How do you help people find purpose in their lives? I help people by guiding their selfawareness journey. When people know what they truly value and gain insight into their WORDS: OLIVIA MORRIS true strengths, talents and natural preferences, their vision about what they want for themselves becomes clearer. The journey of finding purpose can and needs to be an enjoyable and exciting one. When we get to know ourselves better, we are more likely to choose paths and destinations that we are excited about, and the excitement drives us. My role is to guide my clients in navigating the path by clarifying and correcting patterns of thinking, beliefs and behaviours.

What are the benefits of emotion & relationship coaching?

Clients of emotion and relationship coaching benefit in various ways such as enhanced self-awareness and selfCan you talk us through your career? My career spans over 20 management, resolved psychological wounds and trauyears. I graduated with a BA in International Business and mas, healthier relationships, higher self-esteem and a rich Marketing and my first job was in a consultancy that provided repertoire of life and social skills. My clients generally feel training and consulting services focused on Human Developsupported and guided through their unique journeys toment. I then joined one of the largest multinationals worldwards goals that we set together in the beginning of our wide, in the oil and gas sector and progressed until I managed work and regularly revisit.

Customer Feedback in Africa and the Middle East region. It was a time of so much learning and almost exhilaration at What advice would you give to people to practise gratitude coming to outcomes that minimized and eliminated recurrent in their lives? For gratitude to be experienced, we need to be problems. That was the time when I first tapped into my paspresent for ourselves. In the rush of our daily lives, we often go on autopilot mode, and although it helps us tick off to sion for understanding and tackling root cause and effectively do’s on our endless lists, autopilot deprives us of experiachieving the desired outcome.

Twelve years ago, I personally worked with a coach on encing the moment as it happens. We miss out on simple what turned out to be an inspiring and gratifying self-expleasures and hardly take time to reflect on the good things that happen all the time. My advice is to slow down enough ploration journey that propelled me towards my next move, a to be able to experience the moment as it happens and to plunge into the human psyche. I studied Neurolinguistic Protake mental notes of what you experience. Make it normal gramming and coaching and completed an MA in Psycholto speak to yourself like an excited child. You can tell yourogy with an emphasis on Marriage and Family Therapy. In parallel, I joined another consultancy and provided character self things like “I am really enjoying the taste of this sandbuilding and leadership programmes to hundreds of particiwich” or “It feels so good to lie in my own bed at the end of pants in both the private and public sectors. I am on a journey the day”. The more aware and present we are, the more we of continuous learning and have along the way incorporated can capture moments and experiences that we are grateful many new skills and approaches into my toolbox. for. Keeping a gratitude journal is a great way of keeping a record of the things we feel grateful for.

What goes into being an Emotion & Relationship Coach? It takes a lot of academic knowledge, life experience, intuition What are the hurdles people face when going through this and capacity to attune to be an effective Emotion and Relatype of coaching? I think the main hurdle is usually a kind tionship Coach. We all know both human emotions and huof resistance and it is perfectly normal. We all have parts man relationships can be overwhelming. Coaching emotions of us that want things to stay as is, familiar even if it were involves creating the holding space for emotions to come out uncomfortable or even painful. It is what we know and that

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The Hundred Wellness Centre’s Emotion & Relationship Coach, Roh Hafez, reveals exactly how she guides people through their journey of self-awareness and gratitude

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part of us wants to keep it this way.

In the process of coaching, change happens, change in beliefs when they are clarified and challenged, change in thinking patterns, in behaviours and ultimately in feelings.

Whenever there is change, there is a degree of resistance. It is a hurdle, but it’s not insurmountable. In my work, I welcome resistance as a natural protective part of my client and work with it as long as they are willing to show up for our sessions.

Can you outline the main issues people come to you with? The most common complaint I come across is being “stuck”. People come to me because they feel they are stuck in a mood, in an emotional state, in a situation, in a relationship, in a job, career or in a phase of life.

Although being “stuck” is a common complaint, every individual and relationship is unique, and we treat it from this standpoint.

How do you go about helping them?

The first step in helping my clients is always getting to know them and understanding their context, their life, family, work, support system and so on. I then go on to learn more about the issue they are coming in hoping to address. Enough time is dedicated to understanding the issue, and once that is clarified, we work together to define the goals we want to work towards. Once the goals are clear, a high-level plan is set in place that would include interventions that would benefit this specific client bearing in mind personality and context. My intention is always to create a safe holding place for my clients and to effectively support and guide their journeys.

Your top three tips for people to ensure they stay grounded and grateful.

Practise mindfulness as you go about your daily life. Create experiences and situations to be grateful for. Keep a gratitude journal or jar and regularly revisit it for reminders and inspirations.

This is ‘The Gratitude Issue’ – how do you practise gratitude in your life? I stay present and anchor myself in the here and now. Noticing the colour of the sky, a laughing stranger or a helpful friend. I also work towards goals aligned with my values, my progress gives me opportunities to be grateful.

Lastly, I use a rosary to count my blessings, with every shifting bead I would mention one thing I am grateful for and it can turn into a long list. Those lists can go on and on, and with every shifting bead, comes a positive shift in how the world and life appears in that specific moment, and all those tiny shifts create lasting impact.

“Create experiences and situations to be grateful for.”

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WORDS: OLIVIA MORRIS

filled reality for yourself. If you feel like you’re at a standstill in your life, it can get you out of that so-called “rut” and it helps you take your power back and be the leader in your life and the writer of your own story. Overall, life coaching can help you balance your energy so you can enjoy the true essence of who you are. It also helps you manage your relationships better with confidence and true self love.

You’ve achieved so much throughout your career – what are you most proud of? I am most proud of the person I am today, my ability to see through challenges and work through it all while remaining the loving and joyous person I know myself to be. I actually love my ability to remain this grounded and balanced while moving forward constantly.

Who would you say your mentors are in life? There are so many, so I cannot name them all, but I am truly grateful to each and every one of them. I was always blessed to have genuine people around me who took the role of my wise and loving mentors.

What does it feel like being a woman in this region that is paving the way for others? I am blessed to be born in this day and age, and I’m so very grateful for all the women who came before me and opened doors that were previously closed. Today I do feel both grateful and responsible to be someone who eagerly drives change for other women to be able to speak their truth and be the best they want to be.

What are your hopes for women in the future? Honestly, my hope is for us not to even take gender into consideration because to make this world a better place to live we need men and women to support each other. My view is that we all came here with a message, a purpose and a role in the orchestra of life. So, by working together harmoniously we will reach a beautiful balance.

Can you outline the ways you give back to the Bahraini and wider GCC community? I was and still am engaged in a number of projects that support women in leadership or who aspire to be in leadership to unlock their potentials and learn about their unique strengths in order to put them into use and create better futures and careers. I also create a lot of content in this regard and share it on my social media platforms, website and more. I also have a best-selling book Be True to the Song in Your Heart, which was also then translated into Arabic so it could reach a wider audience.

How do you want to inspire others? By helping people know themselves more, love themselves more and better understand and appreciate the difference each and every one person can make.

What have been the largest hurdles throughbecause they do not know how to find it. In out your career? For me personally it was alcoaching, we call it the geography of happiways striking a balance between life and work. ness. However, if you don’t know what you’re What have been the key milestones? I would looking for, how will you find it? This is where consider leaving my safe job as an executive I come in to help people find their purpose. and launching my own business a milestone Purpose is what keeps you connected to your because from there my career and entire life own core, which is the source of your true took a turn and a new version of me was rehappiness and joy. There is a huge difference vealed. This version of myself is stronger, between what many people assume as hapmore focused and more loving, too. piness and what true happiness actually is.

This is ‘The Gratitude Issue’ – how do you What are the benefits of life coaching? Life practise gratitude in your life? I do a lot of coaching gives you clarity, so you get to journaling and I regard it as a very imporknow who you are, what exactly you want, tant practice of mine, it helps me keep things what are the feelings you are longing for, in perspective especially during tough and what makes you happy, what resonates with challenging times. It helps me stay focused you and what brings you fulfillment and on what’s good, what’s bad and what’s more meaning to your days. It can also help working. I have a strong belief that there is you create peace with potential tragedies good in every bad – we just have to be intelyou have gone through and work through ligent enough to see I and focus on it to have trauma to create a more balance and fulmore of it. Gratitude is magic – I know so.

The Power of Gratitude

Bahraini entrepreneur and life coach Abeer Al Matooq helps people find true happiness which, in turn, supports finding gratitude in all aspects of life

Can you talk us through your career? I started working very early on in my life, first at summer jobs which I continued throughout my high school and university careers. My career then “officially” began when I started my first job at a large multinational company. I was still doing this in tandem with my Bachelor’s degree in English Literature and Psychology. From there, I progressed in my career to where I was appointed Director of Human Resources and Administration at one of the government entities in Bahrain.

From there, I decided to establish my own coaching consultancy firm where I now work with organisations as well as individuals to help align their daily actions with their end goals and results, helping them work from a space of clarity, focus and power.

How do you help people find purpose in their lives? Most people don’t live their best lives

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Can you talk us through your career? I’m a two-time STEM certified professional and educator. Prior to co-founding Clever Play, I worked in Government for a few years, in Research and Security. I did my undergraduate degree in Melbourne, Australia with a double major in Politics and International Studies and a postgraduate degree in International Relations from the UK. All my life it seems I have been learning how to serve.

Schooled by life experiences and educated in Global Politics and International Studies, I sought the big picture – global problems – aspiring to be an ambassador for my country [Bahrain] and found my special space in the company of children – transforming the way they learn and live, empowering them to serve the future with their best.

What inspired you to launch Clever Play? My nephews, Ali and Mohammed. They were six and four at the time and we wanted a space for them to be able to explore their interests and discover their passions outside of the conventional classroom. A space that would celebrate their curiosity, spark their creativity and value hands-on learning by giving them the opportunity to try new things, build valuable skills, and take control of their own learning. We didn’t find what we were looking for, so we decided to start one!

Can you talk us through the initiatives on how you give back to the community? As a socially-driven startup, giving back is very

much in our DNA. We believe that companies can and should do more than just make money. They should also serve others in the process. We are a proud member of Pledge 1% – a network and movement of companies committed to making giving back a priority.

My colleagues and I pledged one per cent of our time to volunteering opportunities. For example, I help young entrepreneurs with diverse backgrounds gain skills and experience through mentorship. My colleagues are very much involved in their own communities and look for opportunities to give back and be of service. We also recently ran a Girls for Tech Camp to teach and train 1,000 young Bahraini girls between the ages of eight to 14 years coding and digital skills with the support of Zain Telecomm and the Supreme Council for Women. Additionally, in 2020, I was selected as one of only 100 Meaningful Business leaders worldwide for our efforts combining profit and purpose to help achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals, especially Goal #4 (Quality Education) by Meaningful Business in the UK. You’ve achieved so much throughout your career – what are you most proud of? I am most proud of what we were able to achieve for our biggest source of inspiration: children. To us, children are the most important people in the world. We know that when children are educated, encouraged and empowered, they have the power to change not only themselves but their communities and the world at large. Championing children is one of our core values at Clever Play and being in the business of empowering them through foundational STEAM skills early on is key to unlocking their promise and potential. Despite overwhelming evidence in support of early childhood education, high-quality, playful STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineer-

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ing, Arts and Math) programmes have not yet been incorporated into early childhood education. We are slowly but surely changing that. I am proud of the progress we have made on that front, and for making STEAM accessible to over 14,000 children to date.

Who would you say your mentors are in life?

My sister and co-founder, Muneera, is my biggest mentor. She has allowed me to see the hope inside myself and provides me with direction, encourages me when I am down and pushes me when I need to be challenged. She has given me the tools I needed to navigate the challenges I was faced with at each stage of the business journey. She is a constant source of inspiration and support but also challenges me to grow in new and very uncomfortable ways. I continue to learn from her every single day. My gratitude for her contribution to my

success personally and Clever Play’s business success is immeasurable!

What does it feel like being a woman in this region that is paving the way for others? I am beyond thankful to have strong female role models in my family from my grandmother, to my mother and sisters. They taught me that “real success” is not defined by financial wealth, or status, but by becoming the person you have the potential to be and serving others in the process. I am thankful for the brave, trailblazing women who went before me and inspire me to embrace ambition and push for more. So often I get contacted by women who praise my journey – I’m so grateful to them for elevating me and giving me the confidence to continue. But I also want to say that to every woman who thinks they can’t do the same, I’m here to tell you that you can.

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What are your hopes for women in the future?

I’ll quote T.E. Lawrence who said, “All men dream but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake up in the day to find it was vanity, but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes and make it possible.” My hope for women is to be dangerous dreamers of the day, who act on their dreams with open eyes and make it possible. My hope for them is not to break someone else’s ceiling, but their own!

How do you want to inspire others? Through my personal story and everyday actions.

I stumbled into entrepreneurship very reluctantly. I didn’t have a formal business or education background when I started.

It was the scariest thing I’ve ever done at that point in my life, and yet, I didn’t let that stop me. I started before I was ready, I surrounded myself with a great team, and I committed to embracing a white-belt mentality – learning as I went. I am living proof that you don’t need to go to college for business to start one. I want to inspire others not only to do more, but to be more.

What have been the biggest hurdles throughout your career? As an entrepreneur, I’ve faced a lot of hurdles. The biggest ones are wrestling with bouts of doubt, uncertainty, instability and balance. I doubted myself and my capabilities at the start because I never saw myself as a “businessperson” and I didn’t have the formal qualifications or experience to fall back on. In fact, it took my co-founders and I almost two years to finally take the leap and launch Clever Play. At the start of our business, uncertainty was around every corner. It was definitely a roller coaster ride – and sometimes still is!

What have been the key milestones? In our short business life so far, we have had plenty of milestones that we are proud of, namely: receiving local, regional and international recognition for our work, and also preparing Clever Play to be franchised across the GCC. This has been a milestone we were working towards ever since we started, and now we are happy to say, almost three years later, that we are ready to expand to the region! We are excited to offer our top-notch STEAM programmes to pre-schools, schools and individual partners who believe in our mission and want to help us change the face of education in the region by making STEAM education a fundamental part of early childhood education!

This is ‘The Gratitude Issue’ – how do you practise gratitude in your life? I keep a gratitude journal and write down three things I’m grateful for every morning. I also handwrite letters to individuals who have had an impact on me whom I’ve never properly thanked. I actively look for gratitude in any challenges I am experiencing and I try to do random acts of kindness as often as possible.

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Rare

The one-off vintage finds you’ll be grateful you own WORDS & STYLING: AMY SESSIONS

From left: Hand-sculpted Crystalline Teakwood Chair Dhs18,365 per chair; Paolo Salvi Table Lamp in Travertine and Chromed Metal Dhs13,957; Panton S-Chair in Black by Verner Panton for Herman Miller, 1975 Dhs2,678; Chaise Longue Model “Le Bambole” by Mario Bellini Dhs40,212. All available at 1st Dibs

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“MARSALA” LOUNGE CHAIR BY MICHEL DUCAROY FOR LIGNET ROSET A large lounge chair designed by Michel Duracoy for Ligne Roset in France, 1970s. The Marsala Chair features a bronze lucite curved frame. This chair has new chenille upholstery.

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Downtime

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Pace yourself for positivity and peace

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From top left: Cuban Tobacco scented candle, 300g Dhs269 Lumira available at NET-A-PORTER; Mineral of Essence Rectangle Marble Candle Dhs400 LAVA; Ambre Candle, 190g Dhs258 Diptyque; Elements Scent Water Candle Tom Dixon Dhs764 Tom Dixon; Solis Rex scented candle, 800g Dhs897 Cire Trudon; Ambre Cognac Candle, 300g Dhs403 Diptyque; La Casa Sul Lago Candle, 200g Dhs295 Acqua Di Parma; Eau d'Égée No.3 scented candle, 350g Dhs359 L'OBJET; Apocalyptic scented candle Dhs381 Byredo available at NET-A-PORTER

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WORDS: AMY SESSIONS

Culture Club The Arts Club is an inspiring haven for entrepreneurs and creatives alike

The Arts Club was founded in London in 1863 by men of vision to be a haven for a community of people all connected by their love for the Arts. In 2011, the club was relaunched and today it is a vibrant hub for creative and entrepreneurial members, providing an environment where they can come together to entertain, exchange ideas, dine and participate in a rich cultural programme of events. The Arts Club Dubai shares this same vision, giving Dubai a unique concept for its extraordinary new membership. The club is the first of its kind in the Middle East and endeavours to support the rich artistic landscape of the region. Relax, dine, work or unwind in the outstanding interior, designed by a Milan-based studio, and enjoy both the permanent contemporary art collection, alongside changing exhibitions. theartsclub.ae

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C O M P I L E D BY: O L I V I A M O R R I S

The Wanderlust An exceptional edit of the best spiritual retreats around the world LIFESTYLE

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COMO Uma Paro, Bhutan

Located in the Kingdom of Bhutan amongst the country’s mountains, COMO Uma Paro is a luxurious retreat where you’ll be able to reconnect with yourself incorporating a wide range of Ayurvedic treatments and yoga sessions throughout your stay. With just 29 rooms available at this exclusive retreat, their wellness experts are there to be hands-on with guests to help them rejuvenate the mind, body and soul.

THE HIGHLIGHT

COMO Uma Paro’s ‘Himalayan Wellness Discovery’ programme offers a sixnight itinerary for guests to be immersed in the full COMO Shambhala Experience. Yoga and meditation is led by the resort’s resident expert and a daily massage therapy is also included in the stay.

Ananda in the Himalayas, India

IMAGES: GETTY AND SUPPLIED

Restore peace and balance in both mind and body at this five-star refuge located in the heart of the Himalayas in Northern India. The luxury escape uses the power of the ancient Indian sciences of Ayurveda, Yoga, Meditation & Vedanta to help guests reconnect their mind and body to its optimum health and capacity.

THE HIGHLIGHT

Ananda’s ‘Dhyana Meditation’ programme helps guests to harmonize their minds and tap into their potential of higher consciousness. It guides guests through Pratyahara which is the with-

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Left page: Amanoi, Vietnam; This page: (top) COMO Uma Paro, Bhutan; (below) Kamalaya Holitistic Spa Resort, Thailand

drawal of the sense from the mind, to focus on their mental awareness which will enable them to continue meditative awareness long after the programme ends.

Silver Island Yoga, Greece

As the only private island yoga retreat in the world, Silver Island Yoga is a truly unique experience. The exclusive retreat accommodates a maximum of 10 guests giving the chance for true reflection. Furthermore, the resort is entirely off-grid using only solar power energy to run it.

THE HIGHLIGHT

The week-long retreats on offer ensure you totally get away to transform your mind. It’s meant to create an experience that inspires peace, abundance, serenity and mindful living. Being off the grid also allows guests the opportunity to have an authentic digital detox.

The OSHO Meditation Resort, India

Encompassing the underlying spirit of Zorba the Buddha – a place for someone whose feet are firmly on the ground, like Zorba the Greek, and yet whose hands can touch the stars, like Gautam the Buddha – the OSHO Meditation Resort in India is a place where the mind, body and soul can play and heal harmoniously together.

eco-sustainability gardens, soak in the hot springs and participate in Balinese cultural activities.

Amanoi, Vietnam

A restorative wilderness by the sea, this Aman resort offers a tranquil seclusion for its guests. With its duo of Wellness Villas, you are invited to experience their immersive holistic retreats amid the natural wonders of Vietnam.

THE HIGHLIGHT

Their ‘Mindfulness & Stress’ programme uses specialist movement classes including yoga, Qi Gong and Tai Chi to help participants physically relax. Alongside, expert-led meditation and spa treatments that soothe the central nervous system work to release tension and cultivate lasting harmony between body and mind.

Kamalaya Holitistic Spa Resort, Thailand

Located in the luxury setting of Koh Samui, Thailand, this getaway combines authentic ancient healing traditions with contemporary therapies to ensure all guests nurture their wellbeing in all aspects of life.

THE HIGHLIGHT

The ‘Embracing Change’ programme helps guests to enrich their emotional wellbeing and life fulfilment, addressing emotional habits and life situations to restore emotional balance within life.

THE HIGHLIGHT

Set in the idyllic setting of Pune, India, around 120km southeast of Mumbai, this resort is one of the largest centres in the world focusing on personal growth and mediation, making it the ideal place to rejuvenate your sense of self.

Bali Silent Retreat, Indonesia

This retreat aims to nourish the body and soul of its guests to reconnect with their true selves and find their inner voices in their own way through the power of meditation and yoga.

THE HIGHLIGHT

It’s all about reconnecting with yourself in silence through daily yoga and meditation, as well as exploring the

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The Beauty of Heritage Saif Al Tunaiji, General Manager of ‘Experience Sharjah’ – the tourism division under Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq), shares his insight into the region’s ancient Bedouin culture at the outstanding Mleiha Archaeological Centre

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Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq), I lead a team of experienced professionals and ensure the best exposure for the destination to create a memorable and exciting experience for the visitors. The surprising and energizing element about the role is its adventurous nature. Working at one of the most picturesque destinations in the UAE, where history, tradition and exhilarating experiences comes together is truly unique.

With Mleiha being nominated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, how does it continue to preserve its heritage? Mleiha is retracing the history of the earliest settlers of the region. Graves of humans and animals that have been excavated in and around these archaeological sites make for a surreal moment where one feels deeply connected with people of the past through sociocultural norms that have lived on for countless generations. At Mleiha, we have enlightening lessons on some of the greatest migrations in Mleiha is known for its experiences. What gives it archaeologihistory and archaeological evidence to support it. Visitors cal uniqueness? This UNESCO nominated World Heritage can go through carefully-crafted chapters of history, and Site is one the UAE’s most important archaeological areas in the end, understand how the human settlement of the which offers plenty opportunities to explore the nation’s region began. We take our visitors on memorable journeys civilizational past, including its key cultural elements along on which they will learn, make spectacular discoveries and with flora and fauna. It offers an insightful world into the preunravel secrets that Mleiha and adjoining regions have historic world of our ancestors. While being one of the most been safekeeping for an incredible 130,000 years. Through ancient incubators in the region’s civilizations with archaeothis, we aim to give our guests a truly authentic taste of logical treasures, a visit to Mleiha allows the visitor to step our forefathers’ traditions, values and history, to enhance back in time and learn a whole host of information about the people’s knowledge and understanding of the Arab region’s settlers in the region during the Paleolithic, Neolithic, Bronze, history – shaped through the ages.

Iron, pre-islamic, Islamic and modern ages while discovering this time through their history, social order, rituals, paHow does the venue contribute towards environment protecthologies, trade and commerce, art and jewellery and much tion and sustainability? Mleiha is a lot more than just archaemore. The well-curated exhibitions, interactive displays and ology and experiences. The region has a plethora of flora and artefacts at Mleiha Archaeological and Eco-Tourism Project fauna including some rare plants and animals that are not provide a detailed introduction to the past which allows the easily found elsewhere. One of the major reason why these visitor to travel back thousands of years to see the UAE in its diverse elements have survived and flourished in the area is nascent stages of existence. due to the foresight of the Mleiha Archaeological and Ecotourism Project. Along with protecting the natural elements What inspired the development of Mleiha Archaeological cenof the site, we also ensure that awareness is passed to the tre as part of a wider eco-tourism project? Mleiha used to be visitors. The Flora and Fauna Workshop organised by the known as a small village which is located around 20 kilometres centre is one fine example. It helps the visitors to increase south of the Al Dhaid region and 50 kilometres east of Shartheir understanding of the region’s plants, trees, and wildjah city. After more that 30 years of thorough excavation and extensive research by the Sharjah Archaeological Authority, life. While being educated about the region’s diversity, they its historic aspects have been discovered revealing the secrets also discover plant species indigenous to the region and perof life in that region. The Mleiha Archaeological and Ecohaps see some of the local fauna as well. tourism Project was developed by Shurooq as one of Sharjah’s What are the other major experiences and activities of premiere archaeological tourism and outdoor adventure desMleiha? While providing an educative platform to explore tinations, due to its natural beauty, diversity of wildlife and UAE’s ancient history, Mleiha is also known for offering a its archaeological discoveries. Nominated by UNESCO as a lifetime experience to the visitors that not only gives them World Heritage Site itself reflects the region’s rich cultural and an adrenaline rush, but also invigorates their senses with archaeological heritage. The details of designing the project breathtaking activities in the picturesque landscape. From were also inspired by the story of the Umm an-Nar tomb and experiencing the beauty of Mleiha’s landscape on horsethe archaeological discoveries which date back to over 130,000 back to overnight camping under the stars along with exyears ago – In short, it was the rich heritage and knowledge of hilarating Mleiha Landscapes adventure to a sunset lounge the past, that inspired us to design a futuristic project. experience, there is a lot to discover at Mleiha.The Sunset Lounge package is one of the popular visitor’s choice – It What values from history in the region can we carry forth toincludes an off-road drive to catch the sunset in the desert; day? All our achievements and success stories are deeply barbeque dinner in the desert and stargazing assisted by rooted in our tradition and history. What we learned from astronomy experts. Buggy Self-Drive Adventure, another our forefathers has enabled us to be more sensible, aware favourite allows visitors to feel the adrenaline rushes as and open to diversity. The historical importance and unique they pass through landmarks like Fossil Rock and Camel discoveries of Mleiha also shares insightful thoughts and Rock, exploring dunescapes and landscapes in their buggy. values. The trade-related artefacts excavated from the reArchaeo-MOG tour, Jebel Buhais trek, Mleiha adventure gion points towards diversity that we had in the region in the package, Archaeological tour and star gazing are some past and the strong connections that we maintained around other experiences that Mleiha offers. the globe. It is something that proves the value of tolerance and openness that the region always upheld as knowledge This is ‘The Gratitude Issue’ – what are you grateful for? I’m about our past makes us more humble and respect the deepgrateful for being part of the rich history and tradition of rooted values and seek to sustain them. this place – I truly consider it as a blessing to be part of a place which connects the past with present in a perfect What is your role at Mleiha and what has been the most surharmony. Thanks to the visionary leadership of the auprising thing about the role? As the General Manager of ‘Experience Sharjah’, which is the tourism division of Sharjah thority and Sharjah for making this possible.

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WORDS: SARAH JOSEPH

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The Conscious Edit

Founder of The Goodness Company, Geeta Pahlajani has built a brand based on everyday essentials. We discuss her gratitude for the positive impact this is carving out for future generations WORDS: SARAH JOSEPH

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What do the first 30 mins of the day look like, your morning routine? I start my morning at 5am with an Ayurvedic tea blend followed by an hour of yoga in our garden. Some days I may alternate this with a mindful breathwork meditation practice. A key rule I have been strictly following for the last few years is to have the first 2 hours of my morning tech free.

What inspired you to launch The Goodness Company? The Goodness Company started from a personal need. I was diagnosed with celiac disease in 2008; and this required a complete overhaul in my lifestyle. It is believed that celiac disease first started with the introduction of GMO technology. At this stage I had little knowledge about natural ecosystems and its impact on the human body as a lot of the information we are exposed to is obfuscated by clever marketing tactics. Whilst looking for good quality, clean label conscious products there was nothing available in the local UAE market, and it was getting increasingly frustrating having to import everyday essentials. I was working with a large global FMCG at this point but knew something had to be done to fill the gap as I had many friends experi-

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encing similar challenges. This is how The Goodness Company journey started.

The brand is focused on sustainability. Has this been the case from the start? Sustainability has always been at the heart of The Goodness Company since conceptualization in 2017 far before being sustainable became trendy. Our core values are aligned with The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, especially number 12 which is – responsible production and consumption.

How has The Goodness Company evolved as a brand? In today’s climate, evolution is ongoing, and this is no different for us. We started as a small niche firm to test the market with a focus on a few products in 2018.

After having increased our product range and distribution reach over the last 2 years

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and in 2021, it has since then continued its momentum. With sustainability and conscious consumption becoming mainstream, we foresee rapid growth moving forward.

What key lessons are you grateful for from your mentors? Being a perfectionist by nature; I learnt that this is not the best trait in a small medium enterprise environment. The best advice I have received is to start small, fail fast, fail often and pivot quickly. We need to learn from our mistakes and look back at them as experiences rather than failure.

What lies at the core of the brand’s DNA? Positive Social Impact. Everything we do has a larger lever in positively impacting individuals, society, and the world at large.

What have been the hurdles you have experienced in your career and how did you over-

come them? Starting a business ground up comes with its own set of hurdles daily. ∙ HR: Building a team that has the same values to see the brand flourish has been a large challenge. However, over the years we have identified a mechanism to hire for mindset rather than just skills. ∙ Unethical Practices: It is common practice for an innovative brand like ours to be copied and launched by a large player as their own idea. This has happened to us several times; now we just view this as a form of flattery and remain undeterred. ∙ Market Acceptance: The Goodness Company was launched when the market was still very nascent and conscious consumption practices were not mainstream.

Our flagship vegan chocolate range has

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taken 2 years to reach FMCG potential and acceptance by retail players to be launched into major supermarket chains in the UAE. Consistently educating consumers through various channels whether social media, events, popups, partnerships has been integral to overcome this hurdle. Creating demand and brand value is a long journey and takes time; this is where I have seen a lot of businesses lose patience and give up.

Could you tell us about your CSR initiatives?

We are partners with One Tree Planted, a nonprofit environmental tree planting charity. We support them on reforestation efforts to reduce the severity of global climate change and restore natural balance of plant life on the planet.

How does the brand offer a holistic approach to sustainable living? Sustainable living is a journey and with busy modern lifestyles, a very difficult one. Therefore, a large part of our efforts goes into educating the consumer to make conscious decisions and use their purchasing power wisely. Our products are designed to make easy switches without any compromise: ∙ Chocolate: our plant-based chocolate and spreads range is indulgent yet nutritionally dense, all natural and does not compromise on taste in any way. ∙ Copper Collective: this vertical supports an artisan community of copper craftsmen in Moradabad, North India to preserve their craft. Copper is self-sterilizing and eco-friendly; with this collection we have interpreted ancient traditions for modern needs. Our copper bottles are very popular with expats and Emiratis as they are aesthetically pleasing and offer healing benefits (as believed in Ayurveda). ∙ Conscious Ware: This range was designed to provide sustainable alternatives to household staples offering the perfect balance of creativity and elevated functionality.

Our reusable glass and steel straws are designed for the modern consumer whilst our bamboo toothbrushes come in a minimalistic design with no compromise in efficacy vs regular plastic toothbrushes.

At The Goodness Company, we believe that rather than trying to be perfect; small positive changes can make a large collective difference.

This is ‘The Gratitude Issue’ – what are you grateful for? Survival of The Goodness Company through the pandemic we are currently living in; hopefully with the worst behind us. I have seen many close friends lose flourishing businesses overnight but having The Goodness Company survive this difficult period and come through stronger with a positive forecast makes me very grateful to everyone who has believed in my vision and in the brand – especially our employees, customers, and partners.

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The Contemporary Nomad

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What do the first 30 mins of the day look like, your morning routine? EH: I usually check my phone when I’m up. I’m not sure this is the best thing to do but I like to feel connected as soon as I wake up. I usually have breakfast and work for a little from home, answer emails and organise the day ahead. I try to inculcate fitness into my morning routine, as I live close to beach, hence, I enjoy starting my day by running there.

What inspired you to launch the brand and what is at the heart of the DNA? EH: The project started around five years ago as a lot of people around me were inspired by the concept of being a nomad through their love for travelling. At MONTROI, we see nomadism as a cultural bridge which is an educational tool – to connect, to grow, to learn through dialogue and shared experiences. Being a nomad is ultimately leaving behind a more enlightened world for future generations. We were all nomads at one point, regardless of where we came from and going back to our roots is often essential. A nomad goes back to the essence of having less things in life, while only appreciating things that can be carried, which age well and tell stories of where they have been. Our leather goods are manufactured in Italy and Spain, our pashminas are handmade in Kashmir and our fragrances in Grasse, France.

How has your focus on artisanal excellence helped to support building such a strong brand identity? EH: We work closely with our artisans, as we don’t manufacture in large factories, rather in places where we know the people create with pride and care, which ultimately translates into good quality products. For instance, the production timing of one backpack is four months from preparation of the leather, production of zippers which are made to measure, the double antihumidity treatment, sewing and other steps which require around twenty-one experts to participate in during the manufacturing process. If we only consider the work in the workshop to manufacture the backpack it is the equivalent of two full days per bag.

What elements has the brand taken inspiration from? EH: We take inspiration from nomads. People who lived nomad such as Paul Bowles, Alfred Thesiger and Le Corbusier but also nomads of today. We have a pool of contributors who live like nomads and who inspire us daily. The more we travel, the more we learn from other cultures and ulti-

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mately, we make this world a better place.

The world needs more nomads, more dialogue and more learning from each other.

What key lessons are you grateful for from any mentors you have had? EH: When we started this project, we had a pool of mentors who helped us shape it. We learnt how to make a beautiful project financially sustainable, long term. We are grateful for those who helped us build both a passion project and a business at the same time. Be true to what you are – is another great advice we received from one of our mentors which I will always remember.

What have been the hurdles you have experienced in your career and how did you overcome them? EH: Some years ago, I was trapped at a job in a big luxury company, which had stability but I felt the need to do something more creative, entrepreneurial and more dynamic. We live once and I believed I still had time to create a beautiful project myself and combine my love for travelling. The transition time was challenging.

Which location has been the most inspiring in terms of travel and where is next on the list?

EH: Every year we spend time in the places where we manufacture, which include Marrakech, Jaipur, Jabal Akhdar, Bergamo, Spain and the French Riviera. It’s been more challenging this year but usually I really enjoy hopping from one place to the next. We are now working on a fantastic project in Jaipur so that’s my next trip.

“Sustainability has many dimensions. For us, sustainability is not a destination but a journey.”

What do you always pack when traveling?

EH: My iPhone, my sports equipment and my camera.

What’s the perfect gift for a host from MONTROI? EH: We have many gifts. Now I am obsessed with the new candles and incense sticks that we just launched which I like to offer when going to someone’s place as we usually burn it and it sets the mood.

How does the brand offer a holistic approach to sustainable living? Sustainability has many dimensions. For us, sustainability is not a destination but a journey. We may not

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be perfect but we work hard toward being it.

We start by making products that last long and age beautifully. We encourage conscious investment in products that last as opposed to quick consumption. Also, we work in partnership with workshops and communities; we know their names, their families and their stories. We feel that it’s easier to work on these topics compared to working with big factories.

This is ‘The Gratitude Issue’ – what are you grateful for? I am extremely grateful for the life I have and the people around me. Just by having food and water on a daily basis we already belong to the 60% lot of privileged people on earth. In addition, I’m in good health, comfort, while being surrounded by family and friends who I love and I love my work too, which I’m so grateful about.

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THE DIRECTORY

All Brandon Maxwell SS21

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B Banana Republic (04) 3398462 Balenciaga (04) 3951769 Bally (04) 3231643 Balmain (056) 1883796 Bambah (055) 224 1538 Baruni (050) 4579249 Ba&sh (04) 3854557 BCBG Max Azria (04) 4340627 Benefit Cosmetics (04) 3951978 Blaze Milano (800) 044 5703 Bloomingdale’s Dubai (04) 3505333 Bottega Veneta (04) 3951201 Boucheron (04) 3410039 Boutique1.com (04) 3951200 Burberry (04) 3998243 Bulgari (04) 3308834 Byredo (800) 74676277 BySymphony (04) 3106900

C Cartier (04) 3951000 Carolina Herrera (04) 3398132 Catherine Malandrino (04) 3398102 Céline (04) 3410585 Chanel (04) 3818400 Chantecaille (04) 4098888 Charles & Keith (04) 3398713 Charlotte Olympia (04) 3994122 Charlotte Tilbury (04) 4190100 Chaumet (04) 3398758 Chloé (04) 3300700 Chopard (04) 3414545 Christian Dior (04) 3235322 Christian Louboutin (04) 3990998 Church’s (800) 5383573 City Walk 800 637227 Claudie Pierlot (04) 3253798 Coach (04) 3398670 Cos (04) 4190858 CVC Stones (800) 044 5703 D Damas (04) 4459468 De Beers (04) 3412121 Deira City Centre (04) 2093105 Diesel (04) 3398615 Dermalogica (04) 3398250 Diane von Furstenberg (04) 3232257 Dior (04) 3308739 Diane Cordas (800) 74676277 Dione Lee Online at Farfetch, Ounass DKNY (04) 3414343 Dolce & Gabbana (04) 3308566 Dune (055) 2136194 Dubai Mall (800) 382246255 Dr Sebagh Online at noon E Elie Saab (04) 3951600 Ellery (800) 74676277 Emilia Wickstead (04) 3106900 Emilio Pucci (04) 3398525 Emporio Armani (04) 3951373 Escada (04) 3279191 Estee Lauder (04) 2995600 Etoile ‘La boutique’ (04) 3414166 Etro (04) 3411014 Eugenia Kim (800) 74676277

THE DIRECTORY

3/28/21 2:22 PM

AP

PL

E

MEGRANATE PO

CH

ERRY

EUROPEAN ORGANIC JUICES

www.euorganicjuices.eu

drink organic super juices

“The content of this this promotion campaign represents the views of the author only and is his/her sole responsibility.

The European Commission and the Consumers, Health, Agriculture and Food Executive Agency (CHAFEA) do not accept any responsibility for any use that may be made of the information it contains.”

CAMPAIGN FINANCED WITH AID FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION

THE EUROPEAN UNION SUPPORTS CAMPAIGNS THAT PROMOTE A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE

F Fendi (04) 3399782 Farfetch (800) 0320327 Forever 21 (04) 3277488 Fornasetti (800) 74676277 Francesco Russo (800) 5383573 French Connection (04) 2273848 Furla (04) 3410285 G Galeries Lafayette (04) 3399933 Galleria Mall (04) 3444434 Gap (04) 3850988 Gérard Darel (04) 3399780 Giambattista Valli +44 (0) 2039848044 Gianvitto Rossi (800) 5383573 Giorgio Armani (04) 3951373 Giuseppe Zanotti (04) 3413117 Givenchy (04) 4227073 Globe Trotter Online at matchesfashion Golden Goose (04) 3355218 Gucci (04) 3398576 H H&M (04) 4190346 Harry Winston (04) 3398972 Harvey Nichols – Dubai (04) 4098888 Hermès (04) 8181390 Hervé Léger 800 382246255 Holland & Barrett (04) 3882401 I&J Ibn Battuta Mall (04) 3621900 Inglot (04) 2228344 Jacquemus (04) 3951200 Jaeger (04) 2840840 Jaeger-LeCoultre (04) 3398769 JetSet (04) 3995005 Jimmy Choo (04) 3398925 Jo Malone (04) 4190287 Joseph (04) 8803433 Juicy Couture (04) 3475591 K Karen Millen (04) 3398608 Kate Spade (058) 1030866 Kenneth Cole (04) 3555872 Kenzo (04) 3308455

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Khalil Al Sayegh (04) 2276555 Kiehl’s (04) 2886376 Kristina Fidelskaya (04) 3627500 Kurt Geiger (04) 3413883 L Lacoste (04) 3410575 Lanvin (04) 3555310 Le Labo (04) 4190953 Level Shoes (800) 5383573 Loewe (04) 3253754 Loquet Online at thelabelhunter Louis Vuitton (04) 3950431 Lucas Hugh+44 (0) 2039622362 M MAC Cosmetics (04) 4190856 Maje (04) 8815988 Maison Des Fleurs (04) 2765886 Maison Michel +44 (0) 2039622362 Mall of the Emirates (04) 4099000 Mango (04) 3414663 Manolo Blahnik (04) 3398122 Marc Jacobs (04) 3951281 Mark Cross +1 8885509675 Marks & Spencer (800) 62637 Maria Tash (04) 8817885 Marni (04) 3549417 Marysia (04) 3951200 Massimo Dutti (04) 3399070 Max Mara (04) 3882070 Messika (04) 4255575 Michael Kors (04) 3253491 Missoni (04) 3951400 Miss Selfridge (04) 3398016 Miu Miu (04) 3249276 All Things Mochi (04) 4433451 Moncler (04) 3300280 Moschino (04) 3398079 Montblanc (04) 3304810 Monica Vinader (04) 3951700 N Namshi.com (800) 626744 NARS (04) 4227531 Natura Bisse (04) 2993090 New Look (04) 4340740 Next (04) 4190522

Nike (04) 4342683 Nina Ricci (04) 3308789 Nine West (04) 3410244 O O Concept (04) 3455557 Off White (054) 4541546 Oscar de la Renta (04) 3399005 Ounass 800 686277 P Paris Gallery (04) 3308289 Pandora (04) 3235607 Pastels Salon (04) 3883534 Parfois (04) 4343167 Paul Smith (04) 3951742 Paule Ka (04) 3882384 PE Nation (04) 3951200 Piaget (04) 3398222 Pomellato (04) 3882036 Prada (04) 3049700 Proenza Schouler (04) 448344 R Ralph & Russo (04) 874 8593 Ralph Lauren (04) 3308347 Rami Al Ali (04) 3945607 Reiss (04) 3410515 Rene Caovilla (04) 3253677 Repossi (04) 2771392 River Island (04) 3399415 Rivoli (04) 3413121 Roger Vivier (04) 3475695 Roland Mouret (04) 5519356 Rolex (04) 3627500 S Saint Laurent (04) 3410113 Salvatore Ferragamo (04) 3411022 Sandro (04) 3951281 Samsonite (04) 3398690 See by Chloé (04) 3951880 Sephora (04) 3951978 Sergio Rossi (04) 3324829 111 Skin (04) 4068800 Smythson (800) 589 Sonia Rykiel (04) 3308464 S*uce (055) 3447270 Stella McCartney (04) 3399179 Sunglass Hut (04) 3995824 Swarovski (04) 3685573

T Tabitha Simmons Online at Farfetch Tata Harper (04) 5245555 Ted Baker (04) 3997377 Temperley (04) 3398169 Temperley London (04) 3339943 The Attico (04) 4483444 The Body Shop (04) 3410551 The Nail Pavillion (04) 4229791 The Nail Spa (600) 544001 The Dubai Mall (800) 382246255 The Outlet (04) 4264900 The Row (04) 3951200 Tiffany & Co. (04) 3398350 Tips & Toes (04) 3412020 Tod’s (04) 3413033 Tommy Hilfiger (04) 3410260 Toni&Guy (04) 3303345 Topshop (04) 3399802 Tom Ford (04) 3400347 Tory Burch (04) 3253670 V Vacheron Constantin (04) 2406323 Valentino (04) 3471890 Van Cleef & Arpels (04) 3398001 Valextra (04) 3308030 Veja (800) 74676277 Versace (04) 3398285 Versace Jewellery (04) 4341570 Victoria Beckham (04) 3951200 W Wafi Mall (04) 3244555 Whistles (04) 3410951 Wolford (04) 4232832 X, Y & Z Yves Salomon (04) 5245555 Zadig & Voltaire (04) 3399186 Zara (04) 3308567 Zayan The Label (04) 3440104 Zimmermann (800) 74676277

THE DIRECTORY

3/28/21 2:22 PM

N E W B O R N

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1 6

Y E A R S

WORDS: AMY SESSIONS

ABSTRACT ELEGANCE

Floating flashes of diamonds cast a strong presence Brevis four-stone ring POA REPOSSI

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MOST WANTED

3/28/21 2:23 PM

IFTAR AT CRESCENDO From Arabic favourites to international dishes full of flavour, find something for every palate at our iftar. Take a seat on our terrace to enjoy the gentle breeze off the water or indoors in our bright dining room.

Price: AED 215 per person AED 100 per child aged 6 – 11 years old Timing: Sunset until 9.00 pm Book in advance for special savings.

Hoteliers receive 30% off above rates.

Terms and Conditions Apply.

Prices are inclusive of all taxes.

This offer cannot be combined with any other promotion or discounts.

Bookings are subject to availability.

For reservations, call +971 (0) 4 567 8304, email restaurants.dubai@anantara.com or WhatsApp +971 56 189 7000