This desire to appease emanated from an intense fear of the ruthless implementation of Islam by the terrorist group as anything not agreeing with it means torture or even worse, execution.

This also means the end of the beauty and fashion industry in Afghanistan as the Taliban do not want women to attract attention.

Taliban invasion has ruined the hopes of Afghan women, who were mostly raised in a Taliban-free Afghanistan, who worked hard to learn and advance, to bring gender equality, most of all who lived the life of a modern woman.

BBC reported that the Taliban's entry into Kabul dealt a blow on women working in the beauty industry such as makeup artists and salon owners.

The day, the Islamist group entered the city, a 26-year-old makeup artist told BBC, "Women in the beauty industry, especially people like me who were visible and public with our work are targets."

For Afsoon (name changed), Kabul's fall to the Taliban was "takaan khordum" - a Dari phrase - "which means a rare life event that shakes you to your core, after which you will have changed forever - like the death of someone you love, someone central to your life," the report said.

She told BBC she experienced "takaan" on August 15 as a torrent of dread washed over her, making her feel freezing cold and sick.

Through dozens of texts from friends and family and then hundreds of social media posts she learned the Taliban had entered Kabul and within 16 days Western troops and their diplomats were gone from the country.

"Don't come in today," Afsoon's co-worker told her when she rang, BBC reported. "We are closing up. It's over."

Reality hit her hard when she realised it was the end and it was time for her to hide.

Afsoon heard that any poster that represented female beauty was being painted over by scared Kabul residents, the BBC report said.

A male friend of Afsoon, painted over some posters of models himself, in an attempt to appease the Taliban and distract their attention from his female friends with beauty business, the report said.

"There is no way they would approve of seeing unveiled faces, or the necks of women on display," she told BBC. "They have always been very clear on their belief that a woman must not attract attention."

"It is the end of the beauty industry in Afghanistan," she said.

Women in the beauty business, who do not have a way out, cannot talk about the future, she said.

She hasn't thought about how she will dress now, or even when she will venture outside, the report said.

The parlour is closed and Afsson and her colleagues all accepted that they will not return to work.

Right now, the colour of a future she imagined has been painted over in thick black paint, and she is in the midst of a shock that has no time limit to recovery, BBC reports.

"Every second I feel like the Taliban will come for me," Afsoon told BBC over the phone.

She considers herself a modern Afghan woman, who loves social media,  movies, knows to drive and possesses career ambitions.

Born in the 90s, she doesn't have memories of the previous Taliban regime, when they first banned beauty salons in her country.

Beauty parlours had been a regular part of women's life in Afghanistan as it is in most parts of the world.

In the two decades since the US-led invasion that ousted the Taliban in 2001, more than 200 beauty parlours opened in Kabul alone, with hundreds more in other parts of the country, the BBC report stated.

During her teens, Afsoon visited beauty parlours with the women of her family and follow social media and magazines for glamorous looks.

Everything about the world of beauty and glamour fascinated her - the multi-coloured nail painting, smoky kohl eyeliners, thick brushed eyelashes, dewy sparkling made-up faces, and the glossy blow-dries and swishy long hairstyles, said the BBC report.

She noticed how the makeup artists would bend over and work on their clients to turn them into glamorous divas. She wanted to be one of them.

Eventually, Afsoon realised her dream of working in one of the beauty salons as a successful make-up artist.

The salon where she worked, like all beauty parlours in Kabul, had large windows covered with posters of glamorous women, doubling as advertisements and a shield from the outside world.

Her salon - a tranquil and multi-generational female space - had more than a dozen women inside at any given time. They could be or the clientele - who varied from doctors to journalists, from singers and TV stars to brides prepping for their big day and teenage girls giggling with their mothers on a special bonding day out, reported BBC.

It served a variety of grooming and beauty needs of the women, from festivals and weddings to simple pampering. This meant good business and full slots, especially during festivals like Eid it would take days to book an appointment.

"I love women. I wanted to work and build spaces where women could be free and shine," Afsoon told BBC. "We could relax in a place away from men."

But on Sunday 15 August, the day the Taliban took control of Kabul's presidential palace, her dreams had a silent demise and her years of hard work ended in a day.

Images: Unsplash / Pixabay /UNI-Xinhua /Screengrabs