Gaza Herald — Amid scorching summer heat and soaring prices, Gaza continues to cling to moments of joy. Wedding ululations still rise above the rubble, and families continue to celebrate marriages whenever they can, determined to show that life endures despite the devastation.
Behind those celebrations, however, brides, women, and salon workers are fighting a quiet daily battle against severe shortages of beauty products and basic supplies.
After cosmetics and personal care items were classified as “non-essential goods” and their entry into Gaza came to a complete halt, women and girls found themselves cut off from products they once relied on to care for their skin and hair while enduring the harsh conditions of displacement.
Gaza Herald examines how Gaza’s beauty industry has been transformed by the war, where the determination to celebrate life now collides with empty shelves, soaring prices, and a desperate search for alternatives.
Scarcity and soaring prices
Zina Shaheen, who works at a beauty salon in Gaza City, says even the most basic cosmetics and beauty tools have become extremely difficult to find.
“The few products that are still available are sold at astronomical prices that most families simply cannot afford,” she says. “People are struggling to buy food, so beauty products have become an impossible luxury.”
“Here in the salon, we find ourselves caught between people’s determination to celebrate life’s precious moments and a market paralyzed by restrictions that have turned even the simplest beauty supplies into something out of reach. Everyone in Gaza knows how devastating the economic situation has become.”
Another salon worker, Noha al-Yazji, says the war destroyed her salon and everything inside it.
“How can we help people celebrate weddings that reflect their resilience when even the simplest beauty products have become unaffordable?” she asks.
“We rebuilt our salon from the rubble with whatever materials we could find because we believe Gaza’s women still deserve moments of happiness,” she says. “But the suffering didn’t end with the bombing. Today we face another battle—skyrocketing prices for cosmetics and basic supplies, when they can be found at all.”
According to al-Yazji, those soaring costs have dramatically reduced the number of customers. Many brides and women now skip salon visits altogether, choosing instead to prepare themselves at home using the simplest methods possible to save money.
Improvised alternatives
Despite the shortages, salon workers refuse to stop serving their communities.
“When a product or a machine disappears, our work should stop completely,” al-Yazji says. “But we refused to surrender.”
“We replaced hairdryers and styling tools with fabric rollers and traditional techniques that don’t require electricity. Since hair dyes and commercial skincare products are no longer available, we’ve returned to natural ingredients, preparing facial scrubs and moisturizers from starch and whatever oils we can find. We replaced chemical dyes with henna and electric waxing equipment with handmade sugar wax.”
“Our goal is simply to give women a small moment of care and hope, even with the very limited resources we have.”
