< Previous Grin Like A Grooming Master Taking care of your mouth can and should be as luxurious as taking care of your skin. An alcohol-free mouthwash like the one from Aesop ($22) uses natural ingredients including clove, anise and spearmint to freshen your breath, without the harsh sensation. Meanwhile, dentist- about-town, Dr Apa, has expanded his oral mastery into take-home offerings. Apa’s tooth gloss ($28) not only gives a handsome finishing sheen to your smile, it also fights bacteria, treats your gums, and helps to prevent cavities. Glasses, $510, shirt, $1170, Gucci W ORDS AD AM B AID A WI PHO T OGRAPHY D ANNY L O WE S TYLING KEANOUSH ZARGHAM To deal with life on lockdown you need to treat yourself. Step one: it’s time to take your grooming to galactic heights Face Value GQME_017_30-35_NOW_Grooming_11282150.indd 3030/04/2020 15:11:29LOCKS THAT POP + The heroes your hair has been waiting for The quickest way to take your hair from brittle to silky. Leave-in conditioner, $26, SACHAJUAN at Mr Porter It has a cult-following for a reason: amazing hold, natural sheen. Claymation, $22, Hanz De Fuko at Mr Porter You know what’s good for your hair: Silicon-free. Phthalate-free. This, friends, is both. Basil Conditioner, $26, Le Labo at Mr Porter Lean Into The Natural Curl The key to leading-man-level curls has – and always will be – moisture. Curly hair tends to be drier, and dryness is a shortcut to frizz, split-ends, and general shapelessness. While an A-plus (and strictly paraben-free conditioner) is a good first step, our advice is to take that moisture out of the shower and into the real world. A leave-in conditioner will act as a perfect primer for shape-defining styling product, and ensure you’re locking-in the hydration, all day long. GROOMING Style @GQMIDDLEEA S T SUMMER 2020 31 GQME_017_30-35_NOW_Grooming_11282150.indd 3130/04/2020 15:11:42 Put Your Nails On A Schedule Getting your nail grooming on autopilot is a revelation your self-care routine should really embrace. While a twice-monthly manicure will ensure you’re presentable from Zoom meeting to Zoom party, it’s important to keep helpful tools close to hand. Aesop makes the excellent Resurrection hand balm ($27), which, thanks to coconut oil and shea butter, is a shortcut to baby-soft mitts. Style GROOMING 32 SUMMER 2020 @ G Q M I D D L E E A S T GQME_017_30-35_NOW_Grooming_11282150.indd 3230/04/2020 15:11:57 Keep The Hedges Handsome Tom Ford once described eyebrows as the one piece of facial architecture that you can adjust non- surgically. And, as per usual, he’s right: a tweak of the eyebrows can have as big an impact as a haircut. So, it’s little wonder that Mr Ford is responsible for perhaps the most helpful product a bushy-browed man can carry: some brow gel ($47). Let’s be clear. Thicker eyebrows are totally permissible in 2020. All they need is an occasional trim (brush ‘em up and scissor-off the growth above your brow), and, with the help of Mr Ford, a little assistance to lie in place. Blazer, price on request, Dior Men GQME_017_30-35_NOW_Grooming_11282150.indd 3303/05/2020 14:45:20Water The Field Regularly The real secret of the vampire-like non-aging of grooming masters like Pharrell Williams (46) and Jared Leto (48)? Skincare. And while you’re more than likely aware of the old cleanse-tone-moisturise-occasionally-exfoliate routine, we’d like to draw your attention to hyaluronic acid. This ingredient du jour is a moisturising miracle, helping to reduce or avoid fine lines, crow’s feet and dark circles. Basically, it boosts, plumps and moisturises, all at once. You’ll find hyaluronic acid – AKA HA – in plenty of moisturisers, but the masters at SkinCeuticals make one of the best. SAV E YOUR SKIN + You only get one mug – so make it count It hasn’t got a scent to write home about, but the results will make that memory fade, fast. H.A. Intensifier, $92, SkinCeuticals Your eyes are the most important skincare upgrade you can make. Sisley helps make puffiness extinct. Supremÿa Eyes at Night, $245, Sisley at Mr Porter Oils aren’t for moisture – they’re a protective barrier. This speeds repair and boosts collagen production. The Renewal Oil, $260, La Mer at Mr Porter Style GROOMING HAIR S TYLIS T: AND Y SMITH USING INDOLA NAIL TE CHNICIAN: S TA CEY BUSHA Y MAKE -UP AR TIS T: MARCO ANT ONIO USING MA C COSMETICS C A STING DIRE CT OR: NICK F ORBES W AT SON F A SHION ASSIS TANT : SHANNEI RAE BROWN 34 SUMMER 2020 @ G Q M I D D L E E A S T GQME_017_30-35_NOW_Grooming_11282150.indd 3430/04/2020 15:21:56 Banish The Bumps Whether you rock perma-stubble, a full beard, or a clean shave, there has never been a greater time to grow (or manage) facial hair. Forget the arms race of adding blades and moisturising strips: Gilette’s Skinguard (from $17) is a genuinely innovative shaver that banishes razor bumps to another dimension. If you’re sporting something longer, be sure to treat your beard like royalty. Tom Ford’s Oud Wood beard oil ($57) smells as good as it hydrates, and will help soften the scruff. And if all of this sounds a little too pedestrian, make like a millennial heartthrob and reach for a temporary colour dye – a sure-fire way to stand out from the follicular masses. Shirt, $735, Valentino GQME_017_30-35_NOW_Grooming_11282150.indd 3530/04/2020 15:23:41A city on lockdown has meant that Dubai’s fine-dining industry has had to re-think its strategy. The result is luxe delivery and a chance to break the fast in style Kings of the Road W ORDS ANDREW NA G Y Culture LUXE DELIVERY 36 SUMMER 2020 @ G Q M I D D L E E A S T GQME_017_36_37_NOW_Culture Luxe Delivery_11278105.indd 3630/04/2020 16:38:01able boxes and a feast of French food, all delivered to the door by a man in a bow-tie and face mask. What can I say? The heart wants what the heart wants. It made sense of course. In a communi- ty on lockdown, food delivery is king. But while that’s all good with a burger from Five Guys, it’s a little at odds with the ethos of fine dining. In this city, usually, it’s all about the experience. It’s about the sights, sounds and smells, the seeing and being seen. But an empty restaurant counts for naught. So, with no customers for the foreseeable future, the big-names have embraced the role of fourth emergency service. Yes, you I was aware of how it looked. The world in the midst of a global pandemic, cities on lockdown, and me having a load of five-star food delivered. There’s a poten- tial for trouble in that, for moral tumult. But then these are unprecedented times, and as John Lennon quite rightly said, “Whatever gets you through the night,” right? For some people, solace has been found by making fun videos with the family to share on social media. For others, a cultur- al revolution of sorts: a time to read books they never quite finished, or to tick-off classic movies from a long-forgotten bucket list. My own salvation came via biodegrad- 1 LPM La Petite Maison has included all the greats – burrata with tomato and basil, baby roast chicken, vanilla cheesecake – and presents them beautifully. From the olive oil bottle, to hand-painted tote bags, to the Spotify playlist to enjoy while eating. That it’s then delivered by a man in a bow-tie is enough to tip even the fussiest of eat- ers over the edge. 2 COYA While you can still head to Coya for a takeaway, our advice is to go all-in decadent and have it brought to you. Make the tiger prawns, spicy beef fillet, and churros an essential part of any order, and take the opportunity to whip up your own guacamole and stick it on In- stagram for public acclaim. Keep an eye out for their iftar offering, too. 3 ZUMA One of the major success stories of the UAE food scene – no mean feat when you consider the competition. In classic Zuma style, there’s no big fanfare here, it’s a ‘deliver it and they will come’ ethos – which you know will work just fine. The delivery is available both in Dubai and Abu Dhabi and you know that top quality will come as standard. 4 NOBU It’s hard to argue with the merits of a restaurant owned by Robert De Niro and helmed by a chef with Miche- lin-Starred blood running through his veins. There are genuinely good deals, too, with some dishes starting from $8. The chance to enjoy the classic black cod at home is too great to miss. A single drawback? They only deliver to Palm Jumeriah. 5 AVLI BY TASHAS While not quite a decadent as the others, Avli offers two different menu options that include the likes of sizzling lamb, creamy pasta, delicious pita breads with tapenade and fresh Greek salad. This one is all about minimum fuss and maximum quality. Best used as a tasty lunchtime treat as opposed to all-out- excess dinner. cook. Or way more likely, you were burning through your Deliveroo app with even more gusto than usual. But how do you elevate it? How do you maintain the integrity of the brand? How do you keep it all warm in traffic on Sheikh Zayed Road? With that in mind, I stepped up. Ready to evaluate where we all stood. I felt I could speak for the people via my unique perspec- tive. Growing up, food delivery was never really a thing in my house. It was an extrav- agance to be viewed with suspicion, much like having regular holidays abroad or being a two-car family. In fact, never mind deliv- ery, a takeout was a something of a red-letter day at home, and the occasional fish and chips or MSG-soaked Chinese meal felt like the height of luxury. So, who better than me to see if this was worth it or not – or if we all needed to take a good look at ourselves, pour some hot water over a Pot Noodle and appreciate what’s really important. First rule of luxe delivery club? Do not speak about luxe delivery club. Se- riously. At least not to my family – they still wouldn’t understand. Second rule: include the classics. Few would be interested if they couldn’t get the spicy beef fillet from Coya, or the baby roast chicken from LPM. But here’s the crucial part, they need to taste as good as they do in the restaurant. And by and large, they do. And when you’re done with it all it’s actually pretty neat that, in the main, boxes are biodegradable and the feast environmentally friendly. Other than that, it’s all about the detail. Just like when you buy some Grenson shoes and find a beautiful shoe brush in the box to take care of them with, here, experience was taken into consideration. Coya offered tasty vitamin drinks, LPM came with hand-painted tote bags and a Spotify play- list to transport you to the South of France. And so, for a few glorious nights I ate like a king. Stopping only to consider which handcrafted morsel to go for next. Whether luxe deliveries continue post-lockdown is anybody’s guess. While the level of quality and attention to detail is clearly impressive, you could never see it replacing the in-house experience. But that’s ok. Nobody really wants it to. It’s just nice to have as an option, not just for global pandemics, but special occasions, too. In fact, now we’re moving into Ramadan, well, what a chance to break the fast with gusto. As for me, well I have some concerns. Don’t get me wrong, the food was great, but if I can afford to get this delivered regularly I may never leave the house again – look at me, the fanciest recluse in town. ■ might be stuck at home, but does that mean your life needs to fall into ruinous chaos? Not a bit of it. Grilled lamb cutlets with smoked aubergine from LPM were just a phone call away. Together, we could get through this. I suppose the biggest mystery of all is why the luxury industry hadn’t done this sooner. After all, the global delivery app market is in rude health – predicted for a worth of $16.6 billion by 2023. The lockdown had taken things one of two ways. Either you had gone nuclear and (gulp) actually learned how to NE W ORDER... Hold your smartphone camera over the codes below for luxe iftar options GQME_017_36_37_NOW_Culture Luxe Delivery_11278105.indd 3730/04/2020 16:38:13THE PO WER CO AT When going high-low, putting quality pieces front and centre just makes sense – and if you need a coat to throw over, Berluti is a handsome place to start. Kris Van Assche has given the brand a steady diet of understated but characterful hero pieces…the kind that can carry an outfit on their own. THE ANYTHING- BUT-S TAND ARD TROUSER As men liberate them- selves from the banality of slim-cut everything, a new player has come to the fore: the non-stand- ard trouser. They’re the easiest way to achieve what we call, a Whole New Fit. And you don’t need to spend a boatload to take advantage of the new silhouette possibilities. COS are the masters of interest-add- ing seasonal trouser updates, and they can usually be snapped up for around $100. THE ANYWHERE A CCESSOR Y Manbags – or as they’re also known, bags – are reigning supreme at the minute. It’s a totally new era of carrying stuff around, like your phone, passport and sunglasses. And utilitarianism isn’t where it stops. A but- tery-smooth leather bag like this Loewe number is a splurge piece that will just keep giving. Coat, $9530, Berluti. Shirt, $75, Mango. T-shirt, $90, trousers, $135, COS. Crossbody bag, $750, Loewe at Matches Fashion. Sneakers, $1020, Fendi The secr et to style that doesn ’t br eak the bank is all in the ar t of the high-low equation PHO T OGRAPHY EFRAIM EVIDOR S TYLING RUS TY BEUKES H un ting Hig h and L o w GQME_017_38_39_NOW_STYLE_High-Low_11282158.indd 3830/04/2020 15:30:28THE UNDERCO VER LAYER Down at the GQ offices, the most common response to a fit that doesn’t feel quite polished enough is the humble, handsome turtleneck. Here, it offsets a look-at-me sweater with just the right amount of sophis- tication. Pound-for- pound, you won’t find a better layering piece, and thrifty options like H&M and its ilk will do the job just fine. Sweater, $1675, Loewe at Matches Fashion. Turtleneck, $25, H&M. Necklace, price on request, Fendi. Excalibur automatic skeleton carbon, $65,620, Roger Dubuis. Trousers, $48, Topman. Sneakers, 120, Asics THE WRIS T GU ARD One place you don’t want to go too low: your hands. A drip-worthy watch will add flash that an Apple Watch or FitBit can’t hope to. Plus, they have a tendency to make everything else around them feel a little more luxe – like the wear-all-season trousers you picked up from, say, Topman. THE BIG KICK S The sneaker democra- cy is thriving, and that means sweet kicks at literally every price range. We know this is a personal decision, but we’re repping the Asics and Reeboks of the world as hard as the Balenciagas and Guccis. So, whatever your budget, there’s zero excuse for not giv- ing your feet a moment to steal the show. MONEY MIGHT GIVE you access to the finer things, it definitely can’t buy you swag. That’s ok, though. You don’t need to break the bank to look your best. The key to dressing well is all in the mix. Away from the red carpets, the most stylish men in the galaxy make a habit of mixing luxury statement pieces with whole- some high street basics – need we draw your attention back to the very, very #menswear Instagram sensations that are @shiasoutfits and @jonahfits? Nailing a high-low look is all about ruthlessly curating investment pieces that can dominate any space from the boardroom to the cabin of an A380. This could be say, a vintage Valentino overcoat, or a brash Balenciaga sneaker; add a bag, wallet, jewellery and lock ‘em on rotation. These will be your big-spend items, so make sure that they’re high quality, durable and erring on the side of classic – you want them to be wearable for like, five years. You already know this, but it bears repeating: many big tag items can be had at a fraction of their original price in end-of-season sales or on sites like Grailed. When you go low, keep it simple. Keep a small band of high-street stores in mind and cherry-pick based on fabrication and fit. While COS will serve up angular, minimalist styling, its materials are amongst the finest you’ll find outside the top tier brands. Asics bridges sportswear and fashion with a little edge – and it’s great to avoid the usual suspects when it comes to sneakers. Topman is a crazy simple way to play with fashion-forward pieces that have runway-ish silhouettes, while mainstays like Uniqlo punch above their prices for basics that hold everything together. Really, just like good old trig, you can sum it up in a simple mathematical equation. Take one part luxury and add two parts High Street. And that’s it. Utilise your big price items as accents to the overall look – say, a luxury Moncler puffer jacket over a well-cut Zara suit. You’ll soon realise that a little dash of ‘high’ goes a long way. We have only one rule: seriously, habibi, no knock-offs. HIGH-LOW Style MODEL : C YRO C ARDOSO GROOMING: LAL OGE SAL ON F A SHION ASSIS TANT : ELHAM SAFIEDDINE JUNIOR PRODUCER: MALAIKA NAIK @GQMIDDLEEA S T SUMMER 2020 39 GQME_017_38_39_NOW_STYLE_High-Low_11282158.indd 3930/04/2020 15:30:49Next >