For a lot of Muslim women in Massachusetts, a simple haircut used to come with a plan. Find a stylist willing to come to the house. Ask a salon to stay open after closing. Sit in a back room and hope no one walks in. Or just have a sister or cousin do it at the kitchen table.

Shamso Ahmed decided to fix that herself.

On the Roxbury and South End line, at 1807 Washington Street, Ahmed runs Shamso Hair Studio and Spa, a women-only salon built around the needs of women who wear hijab. When it opened in late February 2019, GBH News called it the first salon and spa in Massachusetts established specifically for Muslim women. More than seven years later, it is still taking appointments, and it is still one of the few places in the state where a woman can take off her scarf in a salon chair without thinking twice.

A dream drawn on paper

Ahmed's story starts in Somalia. As she told GBH News in 2019, she fled the civil war at age 10 and arrived in Boston with her family. Two years later she began wearing hijab, and that was when the salon idea took hold.

"I envisioned this huge, big salon that had all the services you could think of," she told GBH. She wanted a place where "women felt safe."

A March 2019 news report republished by Hiiraan Online added a detail many readers will recognize from their own childhoods. When young Shamso kept talking about her salon, her mother handed her a pen and paper and told her to "just draw it, get it out." She drew dozens of versions, adding more space or a new service every week.

The dream took a long road. According to that same report, Ahmed studied accounting and finance at Northeastern University, worked at a car dealership, and in 2011 founded the International Translation Company, which provides interpreters for immigrants and non-English speakers. She earned a cosmetology license on the side and worked weekends as a hairstylist, often going house to house. When she finally committed to the salon, she said the cost ran into "six figures" from her own savings.

She has also been open about where her drive comes from. Her mother ran small businesses in Somalia before the war. And her role model in faith is the Prophet's wife, Khadijah. "The prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, his wife, Khadijah, was a very powerful businesswoman, and she encouraged others to follow her footsteps," Ahmed told GBH.

Privacy built into the walls

What makes the salon different is not the chandeliers, though Ahmed admitted to GBH, "I am in love with chandeliers." It is who can come in.

The space was designed from the start to be female-only. Reporting from 2019 described a camera and a door code at the entrance, frosted front windows so passersby cannot see inside, and an all-female staff. The Hiiraan report said Ahmed got special permission from the city for the frosted glass and picked out the light gray wallpaper, plush blue chairs, and a waterfall by the front door.

The response was immediate. Ahmed told GBH that several hundred people came to the launch, some from Maine, Rhode Island, New York, New Hampshire, Ohio, Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. The Hiiraan report said she woke up the day after opening to about 1,700 Facebook messages. Boston University's Daily Free Press reported a woman driving in from Rhode Island the morning after a snowstorm just to keep her appointment.

What you can book

The salon's website lists hair, nails, makeup, facials, henna, hijab wrap styling, bridal packages and spa services. Its signature offering is a hammam: a traditional steam-room cleansing with natural black soap and a kessa exfoliating glove, finished with a glass of fresh juice. The site also says the salon offers halal services and products, and welcomes women of every complexion and culture, not only Muslim clients.

Recent online reviews, from 2025, describe a clean, private, hijab-friendly space, friendly stylists, and next-day bookings in some cases. One mother wrote that she brought her two daughters for haircuts and planned to come back monthly.

Why it still matters

It is easy to assume that hair hidden under a scarf does not need much care. Muslim women know better. Hair is styled for weddings, engagements, other family celebrations, and simply for feeling good at home. A space like Ahmed's means a woman does not have to choose between her faith and a little self-care.

As she put it to GBH in 2019, she was not only living her own dream, but her mother's too.

Planning a visit

Shamso Hair Studio and Spa is at 1807 Washington Street, Boston, MA 02118, on the Roxbury and South End line. The phone number is 617-445-9251, and the website is shamsohairstudioandspa.com. The salon books by contact, so call ahead to schedule and to confirm current hours and prices, since online hour listings vary. The space is for women only, so plan for a ride or drop-off if a male family member is driving.

Know a Muslim-owned business in Massachusetts with a story worth telling? Write to us at masshalaldirectory@gmail.com.