(11 Jul 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Havana, Cuba - 27 June 2025
1. SpongeBob design on the nail
2. Various of Manicurist Marisel Dárias working
3. Nail polishing machine reflected on woman’s glasses
4. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Marisel Dárias, manicurist:
“Cuban women are extremely high maintenence, they may lack food but their nails, hair, eyelashes, and feet, they always have to be well groomed. I always have clients.”
5. Nail dryer
6. Dárias designing nails while looking at the design on the cellphone
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Havana, Cuba - 1 July 2025
7. Various of Roche doing a client’s nails
8. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Dayana Roche, Manicurist:
“Generating content on social media is a fundamental tool to attract clients. One has to create a lot of content.”
9. Manicurist Dayana Roche showing her social media postings on her cell phone
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Havana, Cuba - 5 July 2025
10. Sisters with long nails cooking
11. Yalema González peeling vegetables
12. Miralys Maura Cruz chopping an onion
13. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Miralys Maura Cruz, state company worker:
“Without my nails, I'm nobody; it feels like I’m not myself. It is a strain, but I try (to have them) even though I know they are not cheap, and nails are a luxury, it's my favourite luxury.”
14. Yalema González collecting clothes from the clothesline
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Havana, Cuba - 4 July 2025
15. Female bus inspector with long nails
16. Woman with long nails in a bicycle taxi
17. Woman with long nails on the cellphone
18. American classic cars parked in front of the Capitol, people walking
19. Woman with long nails texting on her cellphone
STORYLINE:
A deepening economic crisis makes almost every aspect of life in Cuba challenging for the population; long lines for buses, power outages and shortages are part of everyday life on the island.
But Cuban women will do everything they can to look their best no matter what, and the fashion of extremely long and highly decorated fingernails has become a must for those willing and able to spend the time and money.
While over-the-top nail designs have long been common elsewhere, in Cuba they stand out because most Cubans have little disposable income and procuring the embellishments isn’t easy.
And for those who have mastered the work, whether from online video tutorials or visiting manicurists from other countries, extravagant nails have become an important source of income in Cuba’s limited private economy.
Recently, Cuban manicurist Marisel Dárias Valdés spent nearly six hours applying and decorating the acrylic extensions for a client.
She set up a nail salon at her home in Havana, where she displays the specialized, imported products that are expensive and very difficult to obtain in the city.
The nails that Dárias decorated for her client, Mariam Camila Sosa, were at least an inch (2.5 cms) long. Sosa chose the cartoon character Sponge Bob because it is her daughter’s favorite. The ... [truncated]
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Video at Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOLmCuaAJ0U