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Photos: Beauty behind bars

Inmate Alba Chavez stands in the beauty salon at the Century Regional Detention Facility, in Lynwood. The walls are painted in pink and gray stripes, and there is plenty of shampoo and hairspray to go around.

Inmate Alba Chavez stands in the beauty salon at the Century Regional Detention Facility, in Lynwood. The walls are painted in pink and gray stripes, and there is plenty of shampoo and hairspray to go around.   (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

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At the Century Regional Detention Facility, hairstylists serving time give their fellow inmates a bit of glamour.

Beauty behind bars

Alba Chavez washes inmate Mary Monique Ortiz’s hair. For the 2,200 women behind bars, who use communal showers and only have the most basic grooming tools, the beauty salon offers a way to boost morale.   (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

Beauty behind bars

Inmate Alba Chavez left, washes Mary Monique Ortiz’s hair as Capt. Maria Gutierrez watches. Ortiz got her hair styled after donating her long braid to a program for children with hair loss.   (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

Beauty behind bars

Elizabeth Brambila, left, cuts an inmate’s hair. Brambila is using a portable salon, offering services to women who are confined to their cells for security reasons.  (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

Beauty behind bars

Inmates, from left, Ginger Gonzalez, Lilite Vardunyan, Mary Monique Ortiz and Alba Chavez in the beauty salon.   (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

Beauty behind bars

Inmate Mary Monique Ortiz, left, admires her hairstyle as Capt. Maria Gutierrez watches.   (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

Beauty behind bars

Officer Bodhold, left, smiles as inmates Mary Monique Ortiz, middle, and Ginger Gonzalez hug as they react to their new hairstyles.   (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

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