Women defy Taliban's strict beauty laws at secret salons

It is 9am in a suburb of Kabul when two women in powderpink burqas ring the doorbell of a drab building.

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The exterior is a silent reminder of the gloomy atmosphere that prevails in the capital. "Can you let us in?" they whisper.

A woman called Sonia* opens the door. Before the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan in 2021, this 56-year-old hairstylist and beauty salon owner never imagined that one day she would have to work in secret.

After letting her clients in, Sonia unpacks her beauty paraphernalia: makeup palettes, hairdryers, flat irons, waxes, mascara, nail polish, false nails, kohl and brushes. Running the secret salon could cost her a fine, several months in prison or worse. But Sonia cannot afford to let fear overwhelm her. If she does not concentrate, the eyeliner will not be applied properly and her customers won't come back.

"What can I do for you?" Sonia asks her clients, who are both in their 20s. In the world's most repressive country for women, such courtesies have become dangerous.

The Taliban announced the closure of beauty salons in July 2023, claiming a number of the services they offered were violating Islamic law.