It seems like a contradiction that Iranian women in compulsory veils are avid buyers of make-up, seek out cosmetic surgery and go to house parties to buy fashion. Thousands of Iranian women are even taking off their veils and publishing pictures of themselves on a Facebook page set up by a London-based Iranian journalist, triggering a debate about the freedom to wear or not wear the hijab. Only posted in May of this year, the site has attracted thousands of likes.
Iranian women are pushing boundaries, with long held memories of freedoms past. They are entering universities and professions in record numbers. Maybe lipstick is just the first bright spot in the fundamentalist culture.
Believe it or not, Iran is the second-largest cosmetics market in the Middle East in terms of revenue, behind Saudi Arabia, and the world’s seventh biggest. Women in Iran may wear more make-up than in some western countries.
In Iran, some believe the sight of an uncovered woman might provoke sexual desire, said Yavari.
"Every man to whom you could be legally married under Islamic law could be potentially aroused by your unveiled presence. Therefore when in the company of any man — a butcher down the street or a suitor or your cousins, if cousins come to house — you have to be veiled," she said.
The Islamic tradition in Iran does not prohibit perfumes or cosmetics. It is said that even Mohammed wore perfume. So, one’s face and make-up are their own form of personal expression in a world of covered heads and loose clothing.
with a female population of more than 38 million women, the cosmetics industry, despite the economy, is booming. Some estimate the market at several hundred million dollars, much of it in the grey market.
Recently the French luxury brand Lancome recently announced a return to Iran after decades away. It is the first time since the 1979 Islamic revolution that a major Western brand has had such a heralded comeback. No American brands have been sold in Iran since the US embargo of the 1980s.
