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In Ukraine, even a visit for a manicure, which often involves navigating power outages and air-raid sirens, can turn into an act of defiance.
Sept. 10, 2024Updated 4:22 a.m. ET
Viktoria Gulieva sat in a hot-pink armchair wearing a denim tube dress over her pregnant belly and her dark hair slicked back in a tight bun. Her white Pomeranian dog perched on her lap. A salon worker delicately painted pale pink polish onto her toenails, which were spread apart by heart-shaped foam separators.
“We do our nails because this is like emotional support for us,” said Ms. Gulieva, 30, herself a beautician. “We do something to feel better. Because of everything going on, because of the war, we are on an emotional edge. If we get our nails done, we can at least look at our hands, and say, ‘Those look good.’”
Paying attention to beauty may seem a trivial concern when the very fate of Ukraine is at stake, with Russia stepping up its bombardment of Ukraine’s cities and Moscow’s troops grinding forward on the eastern front. But for many women, it is an important ritual of daily life.
The act of keeping up appearances has also become a small way for Ukrainians to show Russia that this war has not broken them.
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Even a simple act of pampering can be difficult to carry out. Power outages and air-raid sirens can make it difficult for women to have their nails done — yet many clearly make the effort. Cases in point: a surly bank teller with polished tan fingernails punctuated by glittery pale swirls, a friendly waitress with fingernails painted like blue crocodile skin, a government worker in a Kyiv suburb who once attended up to a dozen funerals a day and helped supervise the digging of mass graves but who still sports a perfect French manicure.
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