A beautician arranges products for sale at an aestethic clinic in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul on October 30, 2018.For three years, Mosul’s women were covered in black from head to toe and its men had to keep their beards long. Salons were shut, and plastic surgery considered a crime.

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The photos in the window promise much: languorous, kohl-rimmed eyes and bright, bold nails — but once you enter the beauty parlours of Kabul, it becomes clear the images outside are a pale reflection of the vibrant reality inside.

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Hair helps to pay the rent for Za Za Lin, whose eyes filled with tears as her long black mane was combed, cut, and untangled by practised hands at a roadside market stall in Myanmar’s commercial hub of Yangon.

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Thanaka, a paste that has been used for centuries to protect skin from the sun, is traditionally applied in swirls to the cheeks of Rohingya Muslim women. Itʹs a custom female refugees in Bangladesh are keen to preserve.

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First, you notice more hair on your hairbrush and on your bathroom floor. Then, more of your scalp seems to be showing along your part line.

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I grew up in Apartheid South Africa, but I also experienced it change into a democracy.

It’s really crazy how the system of apartheid didn’t just oppress people based on the color of their skin, but also turned ethnic groups against another. White supremacy also fueled the way we perceived beauty. I remember, year after year, watching Miss South Africa beauty pageants and being in awe as tall, white and blonde women almost always became the prized queens of the pageant. And I remember how ugly it made me feel that I would never be considered ‘beautiful’ if beauty pageants, Barbie dolls and models on the covers of magazines were anything to go by.

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For their project “Eyes As Big As Plates,” Norwegian photographer Karoline Hjorth and Finnish artist Riitta Ikonen have photographed people from ten countries, dressed in plants from where they live.

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