Beautiful hair, gentle hands, a quiet hour for yourself.

A small room. A long line of regulars.

Shahnaaz Beauty Salon is the kind of place a neighbour brings her sister to, then her daughter, then her mother-in-law.

We sit on Tampines Street 43 — a quiet shopfront with a green wall, a row of mirrors, and a kettle that's almost always on. Our work is hair and threading, done patiently and without fuss. Nothing rushed, nothing sold to you.

For some clients we've been the salon since they were teenagers. For others, this is their first time. Both feel the same to us — sit down, breathe out, leave looking like yourself.