'I love vanity'

Express Tribune

04-05-2025

In an interview with Ahmad Ali Butt, Nabila Maqsood shared how her upbringing influenced her career as a renowned beautician. Nabila, who has primarily lived in Karachi, began by speaking about her mixed descent. "My mother is from an Afghan-Persian background, and those people are very vain. They may not have money to eat, but they must have Yardley soap. That's the kind of background it was," she said.
Nabila grew up surrounded by up-do hair wigs, hooded hair dryers, and the smell of product mixed with the breeze of the air conditioner. She recalled that she frequented a Chinese beauty salon called Moon Palace in Karachi's Tariq Road during the 1970s. "As a kid, I remember going there on the weekends," she added. "I used to love the smell of hair spray. Even though the haircuts would be terrible, I'd still visit to take in the mixed aromas."
Making tough calls
The stylist was 11 years old when she got the chance to use a pair of scissors on someone else's hair. "The first haircut I did was for my mother's friend, though I had been cutting my own hair ever since I was a child," she shared, expressing surprise over the fact that the lady trusted a little girl with a task as delicate as a trim.
That led to a flourishing pursuit of haircutting, which Nabila did for friends, relatives, neighbours, and more. But it wasn't until she had become a mother of two that she realised she had a knack for the craft. Only 21 years old then, she invested her personal property to move to London and receive professional training at Vidal Sassoon's salon. Setting up shop sometime later, she began her business with a 75 rupees haircut in 1986.
But given social and cultural constraints, Nabila's journey wasn't easy. "I come from very humble and conservative backgrounds, so my family and in-laws both said that I had lost my mind," she said.
She shared that, naturally, her loved ones opposed her decision to sell off her jewellery and leave her kids behind for this new endeavour. "They all thought that this was a temporary hobby that I would soon lose interest in. But that hasn't happened yet, and it's been 40 years."
The stylist added that she went through phases of self-exploration before eventually finding her calling. "I knew that I wanted to do something. I dabbled in graphics, art, fashion and clothes, and then I realised hair is my métier because that's something I love. That's something I always had bad and had to fix it myself, and I thought I could do it better than others. So now there's no looking back."
Meeting the Queen of Melody
What began as a risky venture took Nabila and her styling business to great heights, earning her recognition from showbiz legends like Noor Jehan. "When she was in the hospital, I think Dilip Kumar was coming to Karachi. So at that time, she expressed her wish to her daughters that she wanted a haircut done from Nabila."
The beautician added that her close friend Hina linked the two up. "I don't do home visits, but you know, I was totally in awe. Out of respect, I went to Aga Khan Hospital at that age. And we hit it off so well because she was so vain, and I love vanity. I love people who are aware of hair, makeup, and fashion."
Nabila gushed over the actor-singer's passion for beauty, which helped make the visit an enjoyable experience for her. "She told me that she went to Paris, where someone bleached her hair before dyeing it again. Since she had very silky hair, that added volume to the texture. So they lightened it and brought it back to a darker shade."
Moving with the times
While Nabila can't speak for others in the game, she feels that she's still learning, and a part of that is keeping up with current business practices. "As we speak, I've hired someone who's going to groom me through AI because I feel that I should 100 per cent know what's happening in current times, whether it's developing products, trends, architecture, ingredients, or fabrics. I need to be up to date on what is happening."
This curiosity comes from the fact that the beautician doesn't believe in sticking to her forte. "Someone once asked me, 'You've done everything now, so what is left to do?' But I feel that I've just gotten started because now is when I'm bottling myself. Literally. Now with my 40 years of experience, you don't need to come to me. I'll be the one to send you my packages."
But Nabila's journey is proof that even the biggest success stories aren't free of past regrets. "Since my business was my priority, I think my kids didn't get the time and attention that they should've gotten then. When I realised this by the age of 35, they had already gone to boarding schools. Since then, I've been trying to mend what I lost in those years."
However, she's been putting her heart and soul into that part of her life as well. "I can happily say that for the past 15 years or so, my relationship with my family has been really good," she shared. "It's not easy to balance everything, so there's always a price to pay."