Vera Satina is 30. She has spent the past 25 years cutting people's hair, 17 of which she has worked as a professional stylist. In response to statements that hers is not a serious vocation, she says, "What can I do if I enjoy cutting people's hair? It is like becoming an artist when you create something beautiful. And it is not something abstract, it is a person you work on."

Vera's passion for styling began at an early age; ever since she was a child, Vera dreamed of becoming a hairdresser. At first, she just cut her own hair, keeping it secret from her parents, but gradually she took to experimenting on her neighborhood friends. She would sit them down in an armchair, comb and style their hair and even clip off some locks. Her volunteers found the experience amusing and enjoyed the free services, but their parents were less appreciative. Vera's parents also disapproved of her hobby, disregarding hairdressing as a worthwhile profession. They hoped that she would eventually graduate from high school and study law or economics. But they calmed themselves with the thought that it was just a hobby and that she would outgrow her interest in hair.

But her passion did not fade. When Vera learned that if she left high school to attend a hairdressing college for two years, she would be qualified as a broad specialist (a hairdresser for both male and female clients), she did so despite her parents' protests. And now that she works in one of Moscow's most fashionable salons, the Axle, located on Leninskii Prospect, Vera's parents are content.

"They know that as long as I have a pair of scissors, I'll have money," Vera says.

Today's western-style salons are a far cry from what Moscow's salons used to be. A decade ago, a hairdresser's in Moscow consisted of a shabby room smelling of cheap shampoo or hairspray, where for only 5 rubles one could have one's hair trimmed, and for 25 rubles one could subject one's hair to a range of damaging and unpredictable services. Typically, the hairdresser would have been a woman with a slightly below-average salary, making it through her days gossiping about clients or colleagues and watching mundane daytime television.

Some of these old-style hairdressing and barber shops remain, but since the early 1990s, new ones have appeared, proudly calling themselves "hairdressing salons." Unlike their dated counterparts, these salons are equipped with everything that today's popular concept of "European quality service" implies. They employ men's and women's stylists and make-up artists skilled in the most up-to-date cosmetology techniques.

Vera did not find work at a prestigious salon right away. "I graduated during the time of the Soviet system, and job-allocation was still in practice. I was lucky to get into a good salon where I worked for quite a long time."

After Vera married, she left the salon and was temporarily unemployed. Her husband, who works in the logistics department of a liquor factory, holds an opinion shared by many Russian men: "It is the man who is to earn money in the family. Of course, if a woman is bored sitting at home, she may get a job, but it should not be her concern to support the family financially."

Her husband may have preferred that she not work, but Vera could not tolerate being at home for long and soon found a new job. But she says, "They did not value me high enough. The salary was indecently low."

And then she found Axle, where she has worked for the past year. There her salary is considerably higher and she feels much appreciated by her clients.

Some stylists are popular only with either female or male clients, but Vera is popular with everyone. The salon has a relaxed and friendly atmosphere, and it is typical for the regular customers to become good friends with their stylists.

Though Vera enjoys working at Axle, she has set her sights on more. "I'm happy with everything here, but I want some new prospects," she says. "I want to make a good career and start a business of my own."

Though it is usually recommended that a stylist stay with one salon for long enough to build up a large clientele, Vera is not worried and already has plans to open her own salon. Ideally, she would like to open it somewhere in the city center and she wants it to look attractive but not pretentious or too expensive. She envisions a staff of four stylists and plans to target the middle class. She worries that a "deluxe" business would be too risky in today's unstable market.

Last year, Vera's dream almost became reality: she managed to find some sponsors and even got her husband to agree to the venture. Though he had initially disapproved of his wife having a full time career, he relented. "Alright," he said, "do as you please, as long as we don't have children."

Even without a background in business, Vera was pretty confident that her venture would succeed. "If you have got money, you don't need to be an economist. With money, you can just hire one, along with an accountant and a lawyer," she believes.

But her plans were foiled when the sponsors pulled out after the economic crisis hit last August. Vera was completely disheartened and said she had not imagined outside circumstances would deliver her such a stab in the back.

But it is not in her nature to give up. Vera is confident that everything will be fine, that the economic situation will change in the country, and that her sponsors will once again agree to help her. In the meantime, to make a name for herself, she participates in styling contests. "I am not ready for an international contest, but I have taken prizes at several city and regional tournaments already," she says.

"One day, I will have my own business under my own name. Oh yes," she says. "I am not planning to get old still clicking my scissors."