Deborah Rodriguez arrived in Afghanistan in 2002 with nothing but a desire to help and a beauty degree. In her first few weeks she learned that the once-proud tradition of Afghan beauty salons had been all but destroyed by the Taliban. With her knowledge of both beauty and enterprise, Rodriguez opened the first salon in Kabul that actually trained local women to become beauticians - one of the few ways in which a woman could support herself and her family, and gain some autonomy in a strictly patriarchal society. Many of the students had alarming stories to tell, and within the sisterhood of the Kabul Beauty School, together with Rodriguez herself, they learn the art of perms, friendship, and freedom.