Stories from the Beauty Parlor
with Annamaria Olsson and Pamela Chomba
Transforming everyday beauty parlors into powerful lenses for documentary storytelling—where polish meets politics, self-care meets social change, and intimate conversations reveal shared struggles.
Each episode unfolds as an intimate portrait of a beauty parlor and the women* who work there. Through these stories, our listeners will gain insight into diverse cultures and customs, all centered around the universal theme of women* wanting to look and feel their best. Traveling around the world — from nail salons in Pristina and queer spaces in Tbilisi to hamams in Morocco and hairdressers in Ukraine — we uncover layered, human narratives around migration, gender, identity, queer life, resistance, belonging, and resilience. The most exciting part: our podcast is not only a story-telling platform, but also a vehicle for fundraising around these global issues.
Stories from the Beauty Parlor won the 2026 Best Podcast Award at Doxumentale’s Non-Fiction Festival in Berlin and received positive acclaim from Cee Cee, Kultur Austausch, and Refuge.
Latest
Episode 6: Turkey -Between Crisis, Aesthetic Citizenship, and the Lipstick Effect
In our sixth episode, we take a trip to Istanbul and explore how women navigate their “aesthetic citizenship” and escalating economic crisis in one of the fastest-growing metropolises in the world. As the beauty industry continues to feed the neoliberal Turkish economy, learn about how the country’s insanely profitable beauty sector needed to be reframed to fit the traditional Islamic values of Erdoğan’s authoritarian regime. Our guides, Isabel Zey and Vildan Ay, in beauty salons across Istanbul, share how they manage the tightening grip of the repressive government. Join us in a conversation about authoritarianism and its attacks on feminist and LGBTQ communities, and get perspectives on how beauty consumption and economic crisis are deeply intertwined through the so-called “lipstick effect”. All the while, hearing the stories of self-expression and survival under a rule that is attempting to alter the meaning of beauty.
Episode 5: Live Podcast with Charissa Chioccarelli, founder of isla berlin
In this special live episode recorded at Podfest Berlin, we had the honor of learning from and with Charissa Chioccarelli, the founder of isla Berlin. Charissa’s company not only revolutionized nail art but crafted a space where women could build, create, and connect in an alternative atmosphere outside of patriarchal restraints, beautifying Berlin in every sense of the word. We discussed how to navigate motherhood and creativity, raising feminist sons, why therapy is the gold standard of leadership, taking the risk to be a small fish in a big pond, and the experiences of being a female founder building an international brand in an increasingly uninnovative German economy.
Episode 4: Ukraine – Beauty through missiles, displacement and queer resilience
In this special podcast episode we take you on a journey to Kyiv and Bucharest, exploring what commitment to beauty means when your country is at war. The young journalists Mariia Krychevska and Ina Constantin from Ukraine and Romania invite us into hair salons that also act as bomb shelters and queer home salons in exile where mohawks and colourful nails are a way of fighting for freedom while carving out identity and belonging. These are places where freedom and (self) expression are both creating normality in an abnormal situation and pushing gender boundaries. Places that say, "To hell with you, we're alive and we look good!"
Episode 3: Morocco – Hammam, ramadan... and divorce
Our Morocco episode takes us into the communal care world of hammams, a centuries old tradition. We explore topics like intergenerational care, female financial empowerment, Moroccan beauty secrets, and divorce. With insightful interviews from Meryem Naji and owner Fatima Zahra Faskhi of Rabat’s Hammam Marassa as well as Ghizlane el Aouni, our third episode proves that caring for the self is about more than solitary retreats and solo face-masks, but rather a complex effort to connect ourselves to the women* in our lives who make our sense of community stronger.
Episode 2: Georgia – drag shows, create beauty, protest, repeat
In this episode the team travels to Georgia, weaving local creatives’ narratives with the complex history of the country. We first meet Not-So-Virgin-Mari, one of Tbilisi’s drag artists, resisting the country’s escalating homophobia. In their classy, high-demand tattoo parlor, we then talk to Pito Seturi, an internationally known Georgian artist, who reflects on Russia’s interference in their democratic elections that gave power to the conservative Georgian Dream Party. As Tbilisi enters 115+ days of continuous protesting via art, activism, and a lot of mocking, we get a poignant picture of Georgia’s Soviet history, the authoritarian playbook, and how queer-led community organizing fights for power through beauty.
Episode 1: Kosovo – wedding rituals and nail therapy in Europe’s youngest country
In our debut episode, we visit Linda at Serpent Claws Salon in the Kosovo capital of Pristina, and Elvira at Beauty Line, located in a Bosnian village on the border of North Macedonia. In their respective salons, we learn more about the tension of and opportunities for advocating for change while retaining important cultural traditions. Our episode questions how migration plays a role in Kosovo, and what we can learn about being a woman* and becoming a wife through a 6-hour long make-up ritual.
Introducing the First Transatlantic Feminist Podcast
Why revolve a feminist podcast around beauty parlors? Wouldn’t that be counterproductive in a world already obsessed with women*’s appearances? We’re here to change your mind. Meet our co-hosts Annamaria Olsson (she/her) and Pamela Chomba (she/her), both award winning migrant-justice organizers (and beauty junkies) based in Berlin and Washington, DC, respectively, as they discuss the birth of Stories from the Beauty Parlor and their tactics to fight authoritarian governments with a feminist vision and lots of community care.
Season 1 Trailer
This is Stories from the Beauty Parlor, an intimate journey around the world, one beauty parlor at a time. Coming March 29, 2025.