My mother’s advice saved me
When the bombings began in Ukraine, Inna Tekliuk and her child went to the Kyiv station almost without a plan – with only one thought: to survive.
“There was panic, people were crying, everyone was pushing to get out. We just got on the bus going to Vilnius,” she recalls.
The journey was not smooth – the vehicle that was supposed to save lives broke down, the night in the fields, the sounds of explosions, the fear that every minute could be the last.
Personal archive photo/Inna Tekliuk’s beauty salon
“There were huge queues of people waiting at the ATMs. Every few minutes, the price of the opportunity to leave the war increased. I got on the bus after paying with gold – my mother always advised me to have jewelry made of precious metals with me,” I.Tekliuk vividly recalls difficult moments.
Today Inna is already in Vilnius. Here, on Skroblų Street, she founded the Elegance beauty salon, a place that seems like it is from another time, but was born out of a very modern experience: war, loss and the need to start over.
Before the war, she lived near Kyiv, in Belohorodka, where she had a small salon. But constant power outages, weather warning sirens and insecurity have brought business to a standstill.
“Everything just stops there. In order for a person to work, you need a generator, and it is very expensive. You have to constantly run to hide. This is no longer life,” she says.
The beginning in Lithuania was difficult. Inna is raising a child alone, faced document problems, temporary financial difficulties, lost sources of income.
“I worked. At first at home. I took clients whenever it was convenient for them. I had to survive,” she says.
Furniture with history
She has been in the field of beauty since she was 17: she started with manicures, later she learned how to grow eyelashes, work with eyebrows and hair.
But the “Elegance” salon is not only about beauty. This is a world created by her hands, patience and intuition. For almost a year, Inna searched for, transported, and restored furniture and interior details herself.
Personal archive photo/Inna Tekliuk’s beauty salon
“I found the wardrobe in the waiting room completely by accident. It was a miracle that it arrived at all,” she smiles.
Every piece of furniture here has its own story: 19th-century mirrors, black marble surfaces, hand-polished pendants, repainted cabinets.
“We sanded, primed, painted, washed. I did everything myself,” says Inna.
She talks about furniture not as objects, but as living stories.
“Each piece has an energy that was passed down from its previous owners. Sometimes you would repaint an object, and overnight the paint would just disappear, as if the furniture didn’t accept it. Sometimes I had to repaint it ten times,” she says.
She remembers some objects with a shudder
“There was one detail that literally “ate” the paint. I think it used to belong to a very sophisticated person,” says Inna, adding that antique furniture, especially from rich houses, seems to preserve the character of the owners.
The interior combines different eras – 19th century classics, French accents, modern solutions. There are still some temporary mass-produced furniture left, but Inna does not hide them: “As soon as I can, I will change everything. I want everything to be one piece.”
Today, the salon offers various beauty services, from facial treatments to eyelash extensions. According to Inna, customers come here not only for the results, but also for the atmosphere – slower, more sensitive, created by hand.
“If you’re already doing it, do it to the end,” she says.
I.Tekliuk, who believed for some time that she would be able to return to Ukraine, recently decided to build her future in Lithuania. She began to learn the language, to delve into the country’s culture.
Inna is raising a child with autism spectrum disorder alone.
“We are taken care of here. It is true that it took some time for us to arrange the documents, but now everything is fine. I place my hopes on Lithuania,” says I.Tekliuk.
