Stories from the Beauty Parlor

Stories from the Beauty Parlor

A feminist podcast sharing culture, beauty & organizing tips, and discussing politics worldwide through the prism of our favorite third safe space, the beauty salon! Let hair, nails and make up tell a bigger story about what it means to be a woman* in today's world. Stories from the Beauty Parlor is an non-profit organization shedding light to the fact that only 2% of global funding goes towards women's causes. Learn more at https://beautyparlorstories.org/

Episodes

  1. Sep 9

    Ep. 7: Live Podcast with Prens Emrah at DOXUMENTALE

    This season finale episode, LIVE at the DOXUMENTALE, we were thrilled to chat with the talented, vibrant, multifaceted performer, visagist, community builder and creative, Prens Emrah. Prens Emrah is the House Mother and among others founder of QueerBerg– and Haus of Namus, Berlin an NRW based collectives by and for BiPOC LGBTQIA+ refugee performers. Prens Emrah is a prime example of how beauty, solidarity and activism can be weaved together to create not only belonging but an extended home in the form of an organic community. We discuss Prens Emrah's remarkable journey–from arriving in Berlin as a young refugee from Turkmenistan, a place heavily shaped by homophobia, to over a decade as a community builder and pro-perfomer–culture and arts funding cuts and the right-wing backlash affecting these organic community spaces, and how you can support and become a true ally to queer refugee communities!

    Ep. 7: Live Podcast with Prens Emrah at DOXUMENTALE

  2. Jun 3

    Ep 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.

    Ep 6: Turkey - Between Crisis, Aesthetic Citizenship, and the Lipstick Effect

  3. 11/12/2025

    Ep. 5: Live Podcast in Berlin with Charissa Chioccarelli

    In this special live episode recorded at Podfest Berlin, we had the honor of learning from and with Charissa Chioccarelli, the iconic founder of isla berlin. Charissa’s trailblazing 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.

    Ep. 5: Live Podcast in Berlin with Charissa Chioccarelli

  4. 10/15/2025

    Ep 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!" This special episode was produced with support from n-ost and funded by the Foundation Remembrance, Responsibility and Future (EVZ) and the Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF) as part of the Education Agenda on NS-Injustice.

    Ep 4: Ukraine - beauty through missiles, displacement and queer resilience

  5. 06/06/2025

    Ep 3: Morocco - Hammam, ramadan... and divorce

    Our Morocco episode takes us into the communal care world of hammams, a centuries old tradition. We get naked, bathed and scrubbed in the breath taking Atlas Mountains as well as the glitzy capital of Rabat. 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.

    Ep 3: Morocco - Hammam, ramadan... and divorce

  6. 04/08/2025

    Season 1 Trailer

    This is Stories from the Beauty Parlor, an intimate journey around the world, one beauty parlor at a time. Coming Spring 2025!

    Season 1 Trailer

  7. 03/29/2025

    Ep 2: Georgia - drag show, 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.

    Ep 2: Georgia - drag show, create beauty, protest, repeat

  8. 03/29/2025

    Ep 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.

    Ep 1: Kosovo - wedding rituals and nail therapy in Europe’s youngest country
  • 8 Episodes

About

A feminist podcast sharing culture, beauty & organizing tips, and discussing politics worldwide through the prism of our favorite third safe space, the beauty salon! Let hair, nails and make up tell a bigger story about what it means to be a woman* in today's world. Stories from the Beauty Parlor is an non-profit organization shedding light to the fact that only 2% of global funding goes towards women's causes. Learn more at https://beautyparlorstories.org/

Information

  • Creator
    Stories from the Beauty Parlor
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    8
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Stories from the Beauty Parlor
  • Show Website
    Stories from the Beauty Parlor