Paying attention to beauty may seem a trivial concern when the very fate of Ukraine is at stake, with Russia stepping up its bombardment of Ukraine’s cities and Moscow’s troops grinding forward on the eastern front. But for many women, it is an important ritual of daily life.

The act of keeping up appearances has also become a small way for Ukrainians to show Russia that this war has not broken them.

Even a simple act of pampering can be difficult to carry out. Power outages and air-raid sirens can make it difficult for women to have their nails done — yet many clearly make the effort. Cases in point: a surly bank teller with polished tan fingernails punctuated by glittery pale swirls, a friendly waitress with fingernails painted like blue crocodile skin, a government worker in a Kyiv suburb who once attended up to a dozen funerals a day and helped supervise the digging of mass graves but who still sports a perfect French manicure.

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