Beauty Experts Reveal the Treatments They’d Never Do—And the Habits They Avoid Completely

There is a kind of beauty advice that never makes it into the brochure. The kind that circulates after hours, between colleagues who have seen too many rushed procedures and trend-chasing decisions end badly. The kind the professional sitting across from you knows — but rarely says aloud.

We decided to ask for that version instead.

Five of the UAE's most respected beauty professionals. One question: what would you personally never do? Not what they'd caution against in general terms — what they would flat-out refuse on their own hair, skin, nails, teeth, and body. The answers were candid, specific, and in more than one case, genuinely surprising.

SKIN

Haneen Odeh came to beauty through a different door. A former beauty editor turned entrepreneur, she founded SNOB — Dubai's one-stop hair, nails and spa destination — with the clear-eyed perspective of someone who has observed the industry from both sides of the table. That editorial background is precisely why she would never over-exfoliate her skin or layer too many actives at once.

"Once your skin barrier is compromised, it takes time to repair and everything becomes more reactive," she says. "Skin responds better to consistency than intensity."

In the UAE, the consequences of this mistake are amplified. The heat, humidity and relentless sun exposure make skin more sensitive than it appears — which means habits that might be mildly irritating elsewhere become genuinely damaging here. The mistake that concerns her most is the normalisation of aggressive at-home treatments: chemical peels, microneedling, layered actives applied without professional guidance.

"You don't always see the damage that comes after. Certain treatments should always be left to professionals."

She also pushes back firmly on the myth of the complicated routine. "You don't need a complicated routine to have good skin. Focus on a few key steps, done consistently, and your skin will respond. It's about understanding your skin — not constantly trying to change it."

HAIR

For Tara Rose — British-trained hair specialist, Founder, Tara Rose Salons — the habit she would never fall into is deceptively simple. She would never treat a single appointment as the answer.

"Great hair is not one appointment," she says. "It is a plan. And the plan evolves as you do."

Women arrive with a photograph from three years ago, expecting the same result from a body, a scalp, and a lifestyle that have all shifted since then. In the UAE, the stakes are higher than most clients realise. Desalinated tap water carries a heavy concentration of calcium and magnesium that deposits a film on the hair shaft with every wash — preventing moisture from penetrating, accelerating colour fading, and driving the brassiness that affects blonde hair in Dubai faster than almost anywhere else in the world.

"When a woman asks why her toner isn't lasting — nine times out of ten, the answer isn't the product. The mineral buildup means the toner can't attach properly. The canvas hasn't been prepared."

Her concerns extend to the viral routines currently circulating as aspirational — the multi-step scalp oils, the kitchen-ingredient scrubs, the stacked supplements. Coarse homemade scalp scrubs, she notes, can cause micro-tears in delicate scalp skin. Heavy daily oiling on a scalp that doesn't need it can compound the very mineral problem she's describing, blocking follicles already under pressure.

"Scalp is skin," she says. "It has its own microbiome, its own balance, its own needs specific to that woman, her environment, and what her body is doing that month. A 60-second viral video cannot give you what a proper consultation can. Hair is personal. What heals one woman's scalp damages another's."

NAILS

Ruby Barreau is not someone who takes shortcuts. The Paris-born entrepreneur launched her first business at 15, built her own spray tan formula from a home lab that eventually found its way backstage at Cannes, and when she created March14 Residence in Dubai, she built it as a sanctuary of nail art, hair, lashes, brows, and a private VIP floor. A standard, she says, not just a space.

When she says she would never get gel polish done outside a space she fully trusts, she has specific reasons.

"Most people do not realise how expensive healthy nail systems actually are. The cleanest gel formulas are extremely costly — and aren't even distributed in the UAE." The lamps matter as much as the formula: a professional LED curing system can cost more than $500 per unit. Salons keeping prices low are almost always compromising somewhere — on product quality, hygiene standards, or the equipment that determines how safely the gel bonds to the nail.

What worries her most on social media is the aesthetic of the aggressive manicure: excessive cuticle removal, over-filing, harsh e-file work that looks immaculate on camera and quietly destroys the nail's protective barrier over time.

"What looks clean on camera is not always healthy for the nail long term. A lot of trends prioritise speed and visual impact over nail integrity."

Her personal rule, the one she swears by: leave the cuticles alone. "The cuticle creates a protective seal between the skin and the nail plate. Repeatedly removing too much of that barrier increases sensitivity and vulnerability to irritation. People confuse perfectly exposed cuticles with nail health — but they are not the same thing."

And the one habit she would stop clients from doing between appointments? Using their nails as tools. "Opening cans, peeling labels, scratching surfaces. All of this creates micro-trauma throughout the day. Most people blame the manicure when a nail breaks. Very often, the issue is mechanical stress from daily habits."

AESTHETICS

Dr. Dragana Spica is a plastic surgeon with close to two decades of experience, European and UAE board-certified, and Medical Director of one of King’s College Hospital London Dubai, a most clinically rigorous aesthetic environment.

Her answer: Sculptra, and the broader trend of excessive filler.

"While both can have a place when used conservatively, they are often over-marketed as quick fixes — which can lead to long-term aesthetic issues." Sculptra stimulates collagen gradually, making results harder to predict and significantly harder to reverse than traditional fillers. Used in excess or placed imprecisely, it can produce unnatural firmness or nodules months after the original appointment, by which point correction is far more complex. Excessive filler, meanwhile, can distort natural facial proportions and — over time — paradoxically accelerate an appearance of unnatural aging.

" I strongly believe in subtle, anatomy-driven treatments that respect individual features. The goal should always be refinement — not transformation."

She is direct about the pressure the UAE beauty culture creates. "There is a definite trend toward overdoing treatments and expecting instant results." Her counter is always the same: a proper consultation before any procedure is discussed. "Not every face or body is the same. Not everyone is suitable for the same procedures.

"Beauty should enhance — not risk your health."

DENTAL

Dr. Mutaz Albeetar trained in the Advanced Aesthetic and Restorative Dentistry Program certified by the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry, ranking among its top three graduates. Raised in Dubai, he has spent his career working in, Apa Aesthetic Dubai with patients from across the globe.

The treatment he would personally never pursue: composite veneers and excessive composite bonding done for trends alone.

"There's a misconception that these treatments are completely reversible or harmless. In reality, they often require altering healthy tooth structure." Composite stains, chips, and loses its natural appearance over time — particularly when treatment is rushed. "Cosmetic dentistry should always prioritise longevity, refinement and harmony over temporary trends."

The current obsession with ultra-white smiles concerns him professionally. Social media has normalised the idea that brighter always means better, when the most sophisticated cosmetic dentistry is consistently subtle. Overbleaching — unsupervised whitening without professional guidance — leads to sensitivity and gradual enamel erosion that compounds quietly over time.

His most underestimated concern is grinding. Bruxism progresses silently — wearing down teeth, creating fractures, shifting alignment — until what started as a minor issue has become a complex restorative case. Most people never connect the jaw tension they wake up with to the damage accumulating overnight.

"Your smile is a long-term investment. " Choose quality and expertise over trends or promotions."

Different rooms. Different disciplines. Different expertise built across years of working with some of the most beauty-conscious clientele in the world. And yet every expert in this piece arrived at the same conclusion.

Slow down. Be specific. Stop chasing the transformation and start building the foundation.

The UAE — with its mineral-heavy water, relentless UV, culture of immediacy, and social media landscape that rewards dramatic before-and-afters — creates particular pressure on beauty decisions. The professionals working inside that environment every day can see exactly what that pressure produces: nails filed too thin, faces overfilled, scalps overburdened, enamel bleached past its natural tone.

The most expensive thing you can do in beauty, every one of them would agree, is reverse damage that didn't have to happen. The cheapest? A proper consultation. A considered plan. And the willingness to ask the person sitting across from you not what you want to hear — but what they would actually never do to themselves.