"Gold, always believe in your soul. You've got the power to know, you're indestructible."
So crooned the well-coiffed act Spandau Ballet in the 1983 pop hit Gold. The lyrics are not the tagline for the gold facial treatment at the Mood Beauty Centre at the Park Rotana in Abu Dhabi, but they could be.
The spa is offering a 45-minute gold facial for Dh750 (US$204). Your face is completely pampered and the spa even throws in a free hand-massage, as well as a collagen skin mask if you want one.
You will end up feeling indestructible, which sounds like quite a good deal for Dh750.
But I know what you are thinking, because I was thinking the same before I called on my friend Google to help me: what exactly is a gold facial?
I thought it might be the gold standard in facial treatments. But it turns out the facial process involves products containing real gold.
Moreover, business is growing for companies selling gold cosmetics here in the UAE.
"Cosmetics containing gold are not widely sold in the UAE, yet, but the usage of such products by beauty parlours for facials and treatments is on the rise," said Sana Toukan, an analyst at Euromonitor International, a research specialist.
"Gold is said to have antioxidant and purifying features which benefits the skin and is widely used as an anti-ager," she said.
Facials and products containing gold are certainly being marketed more. Daily-deals websites such as Groupon and LivingSocial, which recently sold the Mood Beauty Centre facial for half price, have been regularly pushing spas and gold products this year.
"Offering treatments with products containing gold on these websites is serving to raise consumer awareness about these products," said Ms Toukan.
But are these gold products just a shiny marketing ploy to sell face cream at double the price?
Maybe.
The cost of these products reflects the cost of the ingredients, so treatments such as those from Oro Gold Cosmetics, from the United States, can cost more than Dh600 a bottle. Fortunately, the gold inside is 24K, and that is karat, not carrot. Just in case there was any confusion.
