- Title: IRAQ-BEAUTY CLINIC Baghdad beauty business gets a lift despite attacks
- Date: 25th June 2015
- Summary: VARIOUS OF SPECIALIST IN BODY-SCULPTING TECHNIQUES, DALAL, DURING A LIPOSUCTION TREATMENT
- Embargoed: 10th July 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Iraq
- Country: Iraq
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVADOMU6XMTFDFCCOM315KDWRAYG
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Bright neon lights adorn the pink facade of The Barbie Clinic, a specialized beauty spa in the the affluent Jadiriya district of Iraqi capital, Baghdad.
Opened last year, the clinic offers a wide range of treatments from minor procedures like injecting lip fillers, collagen implants, botox injections to plastic surgery operations like facelifts and liposuction.
For the founder of the lavish beauty clinic, Rafeef al-Yassiri, she says more Iraqi women are looking to do beauty enhancement procedures.
"For a long time, I had the idea of opening a clinic, I wanted to bring something new and special to our Iraqi society. Definitely, I expected to face objections at the beginning as it is something strange. But during my travels to Arab countries that have many beauty clinics, I noticed that most of the customers and clients are Iraqis, therefore, I thought that I can do something similar in Baghdad, which will also cut the travel costs for them," said 29-year old Yassiri.
Bombings and attacks have dropped sharply more than twelve years after the invasion that toppled Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein, and the country is slowly rebuilding its economy with revenues generated by its recovering oil industry.
But, attacks by Sunni Islamist insurgents and radical Shi'ite militias still occur daily, and Iraqis also struggle with massive power shortages, dilapidated infrastructure, and a frustrating lack of basic services.
Despite the threat of attacks in the city Yassiri said the security situation isn't getting in the way of her customers coming to the clinic.
"Recent austerity measures, budget, and things like that might have had a little bit of impact on the number of the outpatients but any other circumstances didn't. I mean IS (Islamic State) entry, bombings, and many things that happened, it all didn't have an impact. When an explosion took place in the vicinity of the clinic, I thought 'tomorrow no one will come.' And to my surprise, the next day I see many people coming in. And thank God that people have this spirit to go on with their lives despite all the circumstances," Yassiri added.
The clinic, which is set up over three floors has a team of doctors who specialise in plastic surgery as well as hair removal treatments using laser.
Among the popular treatments at the clinic are liposuction and body sculpting. But it isn't only women who are seeking out the services here.
"A very large number of women come for these sessions (liposuction). At the beginning the number of men was small because the idea of a man entering a beauty clinic in Iraq was somehow hard to accept in the beginning. But now the idea has become more acceptable after the increase in the number of beauty centres. Most of the cases that I get is that the wife comes first, tries and then the husband comes in the day assigned for men only," said Dalal, one of the technicians who specialises in body-sculpting techniques.
Starved of entertainment in their violence-racked city, many Baghdad residents are turning to food as one of their few remaining pleasures, and paying the price as they pile on the pounds.
Anecdotal evidence suggests many are eating out of boredom or stress, but Iraqis, not traditionally a nation of calorie counters, have an unhealthy, oil-soaked diet that combined with a lack of exercise makes gaining weight all too easy.
Many women are coming to this clinic for hair removal treatments and skin rejuvenation techniques.
Basmah, is one of the customers at the clinic, who has been undergoing botox face injections to improve her skin condition.
"I used to suffer from many skin problems and I had wrinkles and my face was pale and tired. This technique is good for women in their thirties or over. I can say that my experience with Barbie was very good and successful," she said.
It isn't only beauty and cosmetic treatments that are on offer here, customers can workout at the gym, have their hair done, or relax in the spa facilities or the coffee shop.
Iraq is generally a less conservative Muslim society than many of its neighbours, mainly because of the religious, ethnic and sectarian mix in its society, compared with mostly Sunni Saudi Arabia or predominantly Shi'ite Iran next door.
In Baghdad, women often go without the hijab or traditional headdress, especially in private clubs or areas of the city considered less religiously strict. At gyms, they were shorts and t-shirts, with some covering their heads again when leaving salons. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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