Dinaïa is Turning Ancestral Arab Rituals Into Clean Beauty

Living in Dubai’s unforgiving sun and dry desert air, Dina Shaban, struggled with extreme dryness in her hair and skin. Each new product promised relief but delivered only short-term shine, masking deeper damage caused by harsh, chemical-laden formulas. Frustrated by the lack of clean, effective options made for her hair type and climate, Shaban decided to create her own solution. And so, Dinaïa was born, a self-care brand crafted by an Arab woman, for Arab women.

Born to Palestinian-Jordanian roots, Shaban carried with her a deep connection to regional beauty rituals and the women who inspired them. Though the beauty world was new to her, Shaban brought with her a sharp eye for aesthetics and storytelling from her years in fashion from working with Vivienne Westwood to her role as a fashion merchandiser at Noon.com. It was during that time that she noticed a growing demand for clean, conscious beauty, yet very few local brands were speaking directly to Arab women. The realization struck a personal chord. As a teenager, she had relied on a traditional Saudi red hair oil she loved for its results but disliked for its heavy scent, bulky packaging, and tendency to stain everything it touched. With Dinaïa, Shaban wanted to reimagine that ritual, to take something familiar and beloved from the past and elevate it through modern design, cleaner ingredients, and her deep understanding of what today’s Arab woman needs.

What was inspired by a nostalgic idea quickly became a journey of research and reinvention. Shaban dove into formulation studies, only to find that the beauty market was saturated with imported products and synthetic blends. Determined to take a different path, she turned to non-toxic, all-natural ingredients, drawing inspiration from the region’s rich heritage and natural resources. The result was Dinaïa’s two hero products: a hair oil and a skin oil, made from ingredients including watermelon seed oil, fig seed oil, and desert date oil. From three years in the making to its launch last year, Dinaïa has always been as much about community as it is about care. What began as a small, women-led operation – with Shaban and two others handling everything from product development to design and social media – grew not through conventional marketing, but through community-driven partnerships. Though she hadn’t planned to be the face of the brand, Shaban soon realized that people don’t just want to buy a product, they want to connect with the woman behind it. She understood her audience because she was her — an Arab woman creating what she could never find herself. That shared experience has made Dinaïa’s growth an ongoing dialogue with its community, from collaborations with movement classes like Synchro to local spa partnerships where the brand’s oils have become part of immersive self-care rituals.

Since its launch, Dinaïa has reached major milestones, including being stocked on Mumzworld to its presence in Dubai’s concept store Sauce Boutiques. In just a few weeks, the brand will officially launch in Egypt, with plans to expand to Europe and the U.S. soon after. As Dinaïa continues to grow, Shaban is intent on evolving alongside her community. “At first, I was really surprised by how honest customers can be,” she admits. “But that constructive criticism and those honest reviews have helped us improve, from fixing packaging issues to refining the products themselves.”

Shaban remains deeply engaged with her audience, regularly connecting with them through Instagram stories, polls, and events to understand their needs and experiences. It’s this direct dialogue that often shapes Dinaïa’s next steps. “When I asked my customers about their main concerns, almost everyone mentioned hair thinning and growth,” she says, inspiring the brand’s next product, a nourishing scalp oil.
Building a beauty brand from scratch hasn’t been without its challenges. Working with a UK-based consultancy opened doors to incredible collaborations and helped Shaban source high-quality, ethically produced ingredients, including argan oil from Morocco and marula oil from Egypt. Yet scaling remains one of her biggest hurdles. Competing with global conglomerates means navigating high minimum order quantities, production waste, and the constant pressure to grow without compromising values. Still, owning Dinaïa’s formulas and intellectual property gives her the freedom to take the brand in her own direction. Looking forward, “I want to have control of the whole process from A to Z,” Shaban shares, “with a long-term dream of incorporating olive oil from Palestine.”

Looking back, Shaban admits the journey has been anything but linear, filled with trial, error, and lessons learned along the way. Her biggest takeaway for aspiring entrepreneurs? Don’t wait for things to be perfect. “Perfectionism held me back at the beginning,” she says. “You don’t need the perfect website or the perfect launch, just start, engage with your customer, and learn as you go.” It’s this grounded, honest approach that shapes Dinaïa’s: a brand rooted in the voices and experiences of Arab women who continue to inspire it.