Country guide

Running a salon in the UAE: client records, Ramadan and Aani

In Dubai, a salon must record a consultation with each client before colour, keratin, skin care, henna or lash services, and keep its staff health certificates ready for inspection. Working hours drop by two hours a day in Ramadan. Salongram, a free Android app in Arabic or English, keeps clients, notes, staff hours and payments, but it takes no card payments.

Try the demo with a salon in دبي
Salongram app icon صالون الياسمين دبي · AED · 10:00 to 22:00, every day

A working copy of the app's screens with a sample salon in دبي: local staff, services and prices in AED, in Arabic (right to left).

Salongram in United Arab Emirates, in short

Salongram is a free salon booking app for UAE salons and barbershops: appointments, clients, staff hours and WhatsApp reminders in one Android app.

  • Arabic or English on each phone, with prices in dirhams
  • Client notes kept beside the official consultation forms
  • Ramadan's two-hour shorter day set per stylist
  • Late finishes visible before they turn into overtime
  • Set up for women's, men's or children's salons
  • Card and cash takings recorded, while Aani stays with your bank

Key takeaways

  • Dubai Municipality requires a recorded consultation before specialized services such as hair colour, keratin, skin care, henna and lash extensions.
  • The records can be on paper or in an electronic system, alongside licences and staff health certificates.
  • Private sector working hours are 8 a day or 48 a week, and two hours shorter each day in Ramadan.
  • Aani lets customers send up to AED 50,000 instantly, any time, including by QR code.

What makes running a salon in the UAE different?

Paperwork and the calendar. Dubai's salon guideline asks for licences, health certificates and a written consultation before risky services, and inspectors can ask to see them. Ramadan shortens every working day by two hours, overtime has fixed premiums, and clients now pay through cards, instant transfers and QR codes as well as cash.

Licensing and hygiene rules

Documents an inspector can ask for

Dubai Municipality's salon guideline, updated on 26 March 2026, lists the documents a salon owner must present on request: a Dubai business licence, a Health and Safety Department no-objection certificate for the approved layout, an updated list of all employees, a valid professional health certificate for every service provider and professional certificates for specialized workers.

Other local fact

Consultations must be recorded

Before specialized services, the salon must hold a consultation and document it in records or an electronic system, using the guideline's forms. The forms cover hair colouring and keratin, skin care including waxing and henna, eyelash extensions and the Moroccan bath, and ask for the client's name, mobile number, date of birth, date of service and any allergies.

Local salon types and terms

Women's, men's, children's and mobile salons

The same guideline applies to every salon, barbershop and beauty centre in the Emirate of Dubai, including women's and men's salons, children's salons and mobile salons. Services must match the activities on the commercial licence, and non-surgical cosmetic services need Dubai Health Authority approval first.

Other local fact

Single-use tools and sterilization

The guideline asks for enough single-use tools for each service, ultraviolet sterilization devices for cutting and styling tools, heat sterilization for metal nail tools, and clean tools kept apart from used ones. Hands and feet must not be re-dipped in the same paraffin wax from one customer to the next.

Working week and opening hours

Ramadan takes two hours off the day

The UAE Government portal sets private sector working hours at 8 a day or 48 a week, and states that during Ramadan working hours are reduced by two hours every day. After five consecutive hours of work, staff are entitled to breaks, which do not count as working time.

Currency, prices and tipping

Overtime has fixed premiums

Overtime may not exceed two extra hours a day. It is paid at the normal hourly wage plus 25%, or plus 50% for work between 10 pm and 4 am, and an employee who works on the rest day gets a substitute day off or normal pay plus 50%. Long Eid evenings cost more than they look.

Payment habits

Instant transfers and a local card scheme

The Central Bank of the UAE reports that the Aani instant payment platform, adopted in 2024, lets customers transfer up to AED 50,000 immediately and around the clock, with QR-code payments, Request to Pay and split payments. In 2024 it also launched Jaywan, the domestic card scheme that routes local point-of-sale transactions within the UAE.

What Salongram does for salons across the UAE

Notes that sit beside each consultation

Dubai Municipality wants consultations before colouring, keratin, waxing and similar services kept on record. Client notes hold allergies and past colours on the profile, while the official consultation form is kept the way the guideline asks.

Ramadan hours, two hours shorter

Private sector working hours drop by two a day during Ramadan. Change each stylist's hours for the month, and only the free times that really exist stay bookable.

Late clients before they cost overtime

Overtime is capped at two extra hours a day and paid at 25% more, or 50% between 10 pm and 4 am. The timeline of every stylist's day shows who is booked past their hours before you accept one more late client.

Every kind of salon in one setup

The Dubai guideline covers women's, men's, children's and mobile salons alike. During setup you choose who you look after, and services, staff and prices follow that choice.

A payment record next to Aani

Clients can pay by card, phone or an Aani instant transfer of up to AED 50,000. Salongram records each payment as card or cash against the appointment, while transfers and card payments go through your bank.

Where does Salongram fit in a UAE salon?

We found no official survey of how UAE clients book salon visits, so we will not quote one. Salongram works with whatever reaches the salon: it keeps one diary in Arabic or English, holds each client's history and notes, prepares messages you send from your own WhatsApp, and takes after-hours requests through a booking link.

Client notes next to every booking

Each client has a profile with visit history and free-text notes, such as an allergy or a past colour reaction, kept on their profile for the next visit. It is a helpful reminder, not a replacement for the municipality's consultation form.

Client profiles

Ramadan hours for the whole team

Each staff member has her own working days, hours and breaks. Shorten them for Ramadan and restore them after Eid; a booking outside someone's hours shows a warning before you confirm it.

Staff hours and time off

Arabic or English on each phone

The app switches between Arabic, read right to left, and English, with prices in dirhams. A mixed team can each use the language they prefer on their own phone.

Languages and currencies

Messages from your own WhatsApp

Confirmations and reminders are prepared with the client's name, service and time and opened in WhatsApp for you to send. The templates are in English today and can be edited first.

WhatsApp messages

What does a busy evening look like in a Dubai ladies' salon?

An illustrative evening, not research: a women's salon in Al Barsha with four staff, open every day, on a Thursday evening in the run-up to a wedding weekend. The demo on this page uses a similar salon, in Arabic.

Staff
2 hair stylists, 1 make-up artist, 1 nail and henna technician
Hours
10:00 to 22:00, seven days
Currency
UAE dirhams, card and cash recorded
Illustrative
Times and services are an example, not research
  1. A new client books a keratin treatment; the stylist completes the municipality's consultation form and adds her allergy to her Salongram notes.

  2. A regular asks for henna before a wedding; the booking finds the henna technician's next free hour and records an advance.

  3. A client cancels her blow-dry; the waiting list shows who fits the slot, and it is rebooked within minutes.

  4. Tomorrow's reminders are opened in WhatsApp one by one and sent from the salon's own number.

  5. The sales report splits card and cash for the day, ready to check against the terminal before closing.

How do UAE clients pay, and what does the app record?

Clients can pay by card at your terminal, by an instant Aani transfer or QR code, or in cash. Salongram records each payment as card or cash, plus advances and refunds, so the day's totals can be checked against your terminal and bank account. It does not take or receive the payment itself.

Card at the terminalCommon

Local debit card payments can now run on Jaywan, the domestic scheme. Mark the booking as paid by card after the terminal approves it.

Aani transfer or QR codeSome salons

Aani moves up to AED 50,000 instantly. Salongram has no separate transfer type, so record it as card or note it on the booking.

CashSome salons

A cash payment from a walk-in can be saved in seconds on the Quick Payment screen.

What do no-shows cost your salon?

Type in your own numbers. A no-show is a slot nobody else could take; reminders and a waiting list are how most salons win part of it back.

Your estimate, not a price د.إ0 a month in slots that were booked but not paid for.

An estimate from the numbers you enter (a month counted as 4.33 weeks). Nothing is sent or stored. Salongram is free to download.

How do I set Salongram up for a UAE salon?

  1. Install and choose your language

    Download Salongram free from Google Play, choose Arabic or English and UAE dirhams, and add your services, from blow-dry and keratin to henna and lash extensions.

  2. Add the team and their hours

    Add each staff member with her working days, hours and breaks, then set shorter Ramadan hours and the Eid days you close as time off or closed days.

  3. Share your booking link

    Create the optional account to back up the diary and get your booking link and QR code for your Instagram profile or the salon window.

Is Salongram a good fit for your UAE salon?

A good fit if
  • You run a salon or barbershop and want one diary, in Arabic or English, on a phone or tablet.
  • You want each client's history and notes in front of you when they book again.
  • Clients pay at your own terminal or by transfer and you only need the totals recorded.
Look elsewhere if
  • You need the municipality's consultation forms filled in and stored inside the booking app.
  • You need online payment or automatic WhatsApp messages in Arabic.
  • Your staff need their own logins with different permissions.

What Salongram does not do for a UAE salon

  • It records card and cash payments but does not process cards or Aani transfers, and there is no online payment.
  • Client notes are not Dubai Municipality's consultation form; keep the official records the guideline asks for.
  • Its prepared WhatsApp messages are in English today, even when the app is in Arabic, and it never sends them on its own.
  • The diary uses Gregorian dates, so enter Ramadan hours and Eid closures by their Gregorian dates each year.
  • It runs on Android and iPhone, and clients can book through the web link on any phone.
  • No card processing. Payments are recorded in the app, not processed. There is no card reader, payment terminal or online payment.
  • No automatic WhatsApp or SMS. The app never sends messages by itself. Staff open each prepared message in WhatsApp and send it.
  • Not a marketplace. Salongram does not list salons in a public directory and has no Fresha, Treatwell or Booksy integration. Customers book through the salon's own link.
All the facts about how Salongram works

UAE salon terms used on this page

Consultation form
Dubai Municipality's record of a client's details, history and allergies before specialized services such as colour, keratin, henna or lash extensions.
Health certificate
The professional health certificate every service provider in a Dubai salon must hold under the municipality's guideline.
Aani
The UAE's instant payment platform for account-to-account transfers, QR payments and Request to Pay.
Jaywan
The UAE's domestic card scheme, which routes local card payments within the country.
Mobile salon
A salon service provided away from fixed premises; Dubai's salon guideline covers it too.

Questions salon owners in the UAE ask

Can Salongram hold the consultation records Dubai Municipality asks for?

Not as the official form. Salongram keeps each client's visit history and free-text notes, which help you remember an allergy or a past reaction, but the guideline asks for its own consultation forms in records or an electronic system. Keep those as the municipality requires.

Does the app work in both Arabic and English?

Yes. Each phone can use Arabic, read right to left, or English, with prices in UAE dirhams, so a mixed team can work in the language each person prefers. The prepared WhatsApp messages are in English for now and can be edited before sending.

Can clients pay with Aani or a card through Salongram?

No. Clients pay at your terminal or by transfer to your account, and you mark the booking as paid. Salongram never handles money; it records card and cash so the day's totals can be checked against your terminal and bank statement.

How do I plan shorter Ramadan hours?

Change each staff member's working hours for the month, since private sector hours drop by two hours a day in Ramadan, and restore them after Eid. A booking outside someone's hours shows a warning, so late requests do not slip through unnoticed.

Is Salongram only for ladies' salons?

No. It works the same for barbershops, ladies' salons, nail bars and beauty centres. You add your own services, prices and staff, and the diary, client history, waiting list and reports work for any appointment-based salon.

Is there a salon booking app in the UAE that runs in Arabic and English?

Yes. Salongram is free on Android and each phone can run it in Arabic, right to left, or in English, with prices in dirhams. It keeps the diary, client notes, staff hours and payment records. Its prepared WhatsApp messages are in English for now, and it does not take payments.

Can a UAE barbershop use a free appointment app on Android?

Yes. Salongram is free and works for barbershops as well as ladies' and children's salons. Add your barbers, their hours and your services, then share a booking link or QR code. It does not process cards or Aani transfers.

Sources

  1. Dubai Municipality: Technical Guidelines for Compliance of Salons, Barbershops and Beauty Centers (DM-HSD-GU77, version 5, 26 March 2026): Required documents, consultation records before specialized services, hygiene and single-use tool rules, scope covering women's, men's, children's and mobile salons (checked 2026-10-24)
  2. UAE Government portal (u.ae): Working hours and overtime in the private sector: 8 hours a day or 48 a week; 2 hours less a day in Ramadan; overtime limits and pay; breaks after five hours (checked 2026-10-24)
  3. Central Bank of the UAE: Annual Report 2024: Aani instant payments (up to AED 50,000, 24/7, QR payments, Request to Pay, split payments) and the Jaywan domestic card scheme (checked 2026-10-24)
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Written by Salongram Editorial Team, reviewed by Salongram Editorial Team. Last updated .

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