Skip to main content

Homemade beauty remedies mean ugly business in Gaza

Desperate for income, many Gaza women are selling homemade beauty products without letting obstacles like testing or permits get in their way.
Newlywed Tala, 14, brushes the hair of her 15-year-old husband Ahmed Soboh, at their home four days after their wedding in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Lahia, near the border with Israel on September 28, 2013. The young couple live in the family's three-room home, sharing it with nine other relatives. Ahmed works with his father as a road cleaner earning $5 (US dollars) per day. AFP PHOTO / MOHAMMED ABED        (Photo credit should read MOHAMMED ABED/AFP/Getty Images)
Read in 

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — In cash-strapped Gaza Strip, increasing numbers of female entrepreneurs are offering homemade personal care products to the market. For some buyers, these unlicensed products have turned out to be an unpleasant experience.

“I saw an advertisement for skin and hair products on Instagram and bought a face cream. But after several uses, I had red pimples all over my face and now I am seeing a skin doctor for treatment,” 21-year-old Lama Abdel Hadi told Al-Monitor. She said that she has not filed any complaints but made sure to warn her friends and family about the company and its products.

Access the Middle East news and analysis you can trust

Join our community of Middle East readers to experience all of Al-Monitor, including 24/7 news, analyses, memos, reports and newsletters.

Subscribe

Only $100 per year.