But while access to products is important, for Aliyah, it was the opportunity to work in Drake Hall’s in-house beauty and hair salon that really turned things around. The salon provides a place for women to work and gain qualifications for the outside world, and caters to members of the public as well as prison staff and inmates.

Along with prisoners and staff, the public booked in, too.“That gave me such confidence knowing that people were actually paying for our skills,” Aliyah says. Despite going into prison aged 18 with no qualifications, she was able to find a job as a nail technician immediately after her release – something she doesn’t think she could have achieved without working in the salon at Drake Hall.

For those still unconvinced of the benefits, it’s worth considering that instilling women with confidence can help them reacclimatise to the outside world – which, in turn, may reduce the chances of them returning to prison.

“The freedom of leaving was difficult to handle,” explains Ang. “I was terrified of everything, but especially roads – we’d been locked up for so long that on my first day out, I walked straight out in front of traffic. Not having to ask permission to do everything was confusing and being alone felt very surreal. It was terrifying, and I understand why so many women find themselves back there.”

Happily, Aliyah told me she left prison a different person, both physically and mentally. “I came out three stone lighter than I went in,” she says. “I threw myself into the gym and Zumba classes on a daily basis, using it as a way of physically channelling all my anger. That, and the skills I learned in the salon, meant that when I was released I was much stronger than when I went in.

“I was still paranoid of talking to strangers and found it a really difficult transition, but I know I’d have been much, much worse otherwise. I honestly don’t think I’d have had a chance in the real world, actually.”

*names have been changed

Images: Getty

How beauty products help women in prison retain their identities