‘When life is ugly, make women feel beautiful’

AP – Gulfnews.com – Monday, 19 March 2012 (originally published 9 Mar as: “Self-esteem make-overs for women in need”)

The parlour has helped many disadvantaged women regain their self-esteem and confidence to be able to ‘move forward’ with their lives. Photo: AP

The Josephine beauty parlour in northern Paris is celebrating its first birthday today and the success of a simple idea: When life is ugly, make women feel beautiful.

Some 1,200 disadvantaged women – abuse victims, former convicts or addicts, disabled women, single unemployed mothers – have come for a professional haircut and makeup, or to borrow clothes for a job interview, since it opened on International Women’s Day a year ago.

Thanks to volunteer workers and private sponsors, it’s just €3 (NZ$4.80) for a haircut including colour or highlights, less than the cost of a cafe au lait in a Parisian bistro. But the salon’s real attraction is the boost to morale, confidence and even job prospects that it provides . . .

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