Herat (Afghanistan) (AFP)

Bananas, Iroquois and other hair extravagances copied from Western footballers were not uncommon in Herat, the capital of western Afghanistan ... until the Taliban came to power a month ago, synonymous with a halt. for local hairdressers.

"Before, people came and asked for different hairstyles. But it's not like that at all," laments Nader Shah, 24, whose walls of the hairdressing salon are covered with mirrors.

"Now they are heartbroken."

In Afghanistan, a very conservative Muslim country where meetings between people of the opposite sex are often confined to large cities, gender segregation being absolute in rural areas, men spend time polishing their look.

Countless weight rooms have opened over the past two decades, full-bodied bodies have become popular, as has a haircut or beard worked ... by a barber for men.

Strict gender separation is also in effect at the hair level - women frequent their own beauty salons.

But Afghan urban fashion seems light years away from the realities of the Taliban, which during their first stint in power, between 1996 and 2001, prohibited men from shaving, and many of whose fighters still wear shaggy fleeces and beards today.

And their return has put an end to all sophistication.

"Now people come here and they ask for simple cuts," observes Nader Shah.

“They don't shave their beards anymore, which is a problem,” he continues, when presenting a hairless face for the past twenty years has meant belonging to a new Afghanistan.

A hairdresser taking care of his client, in Herat in Afghanistan on September 19, 2021 Hoshang Hashimi AFP

Nader Shah thus saw his profits plummet.

After fifteen years in the business, he who earned about 13 euros per day only earns six to eight.

Because in addition to hair austerity, hairdressers and barbers have had to deal with another corollary of the Taliban's seizure of power: the collapse of the economy, international aid only coming in in small quantities and The economy is partly at a standstill.

- Sharia compatible -

"Because of the (economic, editor's note) situation with the Taliban, customers have less money and they pay us less," he observes.

Mohammad Yousefi, 32, has divided his prices by six, from six to one dollar a cup (from 5.10 euros to 85 cents) to be able to continue to run his shop.

The fear factor is no stranger to the downturn in business.

"Suddenly people wanted to look like the Taliban," Mohammad Yousefi remarks.

A hairdresser awaits the client at the threshold of his salon, in Herat in Afghanistan on September 19, 2021 Hoshang Hashimi AFP

"It's not that the Taliban are in fashion, but people don't shave their beards because that way, they won't ask them about it," he continues.

"They say it's not in Sharia law, and men have to wear beards and long hair."

In a nearby neighborhood, pink spotlights illuminate Ali Reza's customers.

Its shelves are full of hairspray, gels, mousses, colognes and facials.

The 36-year-old barber deftly runs his scissors over a client's beard while the following discuss Afghan politics.

His two apprentices - Sobhan, his 11-year-old nephew, and Mohsan, 14 - watch his every move, putting away brushes, combs and electric clippers.

Ali Reza finishes his work by massaging the client's head, his temples, his eyebrows and his ears for a long time, as many hairdressers in South Asia do.

"Before, young people came every one or two weeks to have their hair or beard cut. They were happy," he recalls.

But many fled from Herat when the city fell to the Taliban.

Nader Shah in his hairdressing salon, in Herat, Afghanistan on September 19, 2021 Hoshang Hashimi AFP

And to lament: "before, my income was excellent. Now it's over".

© 2021 AFP