A Look Inside the History and Design of NŪR Skincare's Chicago Studio
Starburst pattern on the double doors of the salon
The challenge behind designing NŪR Skincare’s Chicago studio lie in combining both the Muslim and Western identities of founder, Anisa Noor. With the help of her husband and architect, Suhail Butt, they were able to incorporate cultural and traditional elements into their Chicago style loft.
Anisa Noor considers her studio to be her sanctuary. She wanted the loft to feel like a retreat — open, earthy, and beautiful — not only for her, but for her clients. Anisa shared this vision with Suhail, who turned this concept into reality. The first element to note when entering their studio is the large starburst pattern on their salon door. Noor, Anisa’s last name and her daughter’s middle name, means “Divine Light” in Arabic. Divine light is represented by this starburst logo, which also signifies radiance—what we are trying to achieve when talking about skincare. The second most noticeable feature about the space itself, is that it is a very Chicago style exposed brick and timber loft. Anisa felt this aspect was necessary, due to her roots growing up in the inner city. Coming back to Chicago from a temporary stay in Los Angeles felt like coming home, and the space needed to represent that sentiment. The lights are inspired by whirling dervishes of the meditative ceremonial tradition known as the sema that was founded by Jalaluddin Rumi, a famous Sufi Muslim mystic and poet, in Turkey in the 13th century. In these ceremonies, dancers wear long white robes and full skirts. As they dance, their robes gorgeously rise and fall in unison, resembling the lights pictured below.
Chicago style loft featuring lights inspired by ceremonial whirling dervishes.
There are various geometric patterns that can be found among the loft that are derived from Kufic script, an Arabic calligraphy that became one of the most important facets of Islamic art. Traditionally, the patterns represent verses of the Quran within geometric block designs. Anisa and Suhail created a pattern with their logo inspired by Kufic script, visible on their reception table.
NUR logo inspired by traditional Kufic art
One of Anisa’s favorite aspects of the space is a poem written across the main wall by Nayyirah Waheed:
“you
see your face.
you
see a flaw.
how. if you are the only one who has this face.”
Anisa feels that this poem truly represents her philosophy regarding skincare. Entering the beauty industry from a technical background, she recognized that companies thrive on preying on women’s insecurities, telling them they were never young enough or beautiful enough. And as a result, people as a whole have spent millions of dollars on products that either do nothing to heal skin or damage it further. She saw results with the technology she was using and the formulas she was creating, so she decided to enter the aesthetic side of skincare while changing the narrative to skin health and sustainable aging, rather than beauty. She genuinely feels that anti-aging advertising is harmful. We all age, and women should not be made to feel bad for the most universal aspect of the life cycle.
The final piece that ties the space together is a gorgeous tree that pays homage to Anisa and Suhail’s time in California. They spent five years living in Los Angeles, where they opened their first studio. At the time, their daughter had just been born and Anisa felt that owning her own business would allow her to spend more time with her. Their budget was tight, so they created the centerpiece of their LA studio using California grapewood and succulents. When moving here, they shipped several large pieces of grapewood from which Suhail constructed this gorgeous tree as a way to connect them back to their roots and remind them of the origins of NŪR.
If you would like to see more of the Chicago and Los Angelos locations, you can do so here.