VANITY FAIR NOMINATES KABUL BEAUTY SCHOOL

HALL OF FAME

BECAUSE under the Taliban the women of Afghanistan risked beating and imprisonment by patronizing underground beauty parlors for the simple human reason that they needed color and light in their lives, BECAUSE Patricia O'Connor, a marketing and business developer, saw a program on CNN about these secret salons and got off the couch and onto the phone, BECAUSE, while working as a stylist on a magazine assignment, Terri Grauel met Mary MacMakin, founder of PARSA (Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation Support for Afghanistan), and was so moved by MacMakin's individual, grassroots approach to the problems befalling many widowed, uneducated, unskilled women that she decided to do more than curl Mary's hair, BECAUSE these three intrepid women approached Vogue editor in chief Anna Wintour, who instantly understood that before children can reclaim their lives their mothers have to be able to make a living, BECAUSE together they have persuaded Estee Lauder, MAC Cosmetics, Pivot Point, Revlon, Clairol, Procter & Gamble, L'Oreal, and others to jump on board as corporate sponsors, product donors, and educational consultants, BECAUSE their new Kabul beauty school and wellness center, geared toward local salon owners and haircutters, opens its doors this month, BECAUSE now that the center is in place, as O'Connor says, "relief workers in Afghanistan can finally get a chance to get their roots done."

HELEN SCHULMAN