Hi, I’m Maritza Medina and today I'm on Beauty Evolution and will be transformed into
Selena Quintanilla.
Selena has been such a huge part of my identity and not just my identity, but for so many
Latinx Mujeres.
She continues to be a source of inspiration for so many people around the world now.
To see her legacy
blow up like this, it warms my heart.
It makes me emotional.
I think seeing Selena Quintanilla speaking both English and Spanish, it must have resonated
with me at some level, at that age.
But, you know, it's the years afterwards that I really realized, “Wow.
She kind of looks like me, or her hair, and she kind of looks like my mom, and she's speaking
both languages and navigating both these cultures, the Mexican culture and the American culture."
And it was just amazing to see that. And before we get to the transformation, don't forget
to subscribe below.
This first look is from a photoshoot at El Dorado Ranch in Houston.
Texas was the birthplace of Tejano, or Texan-Mexican, music.
It’s funny because growing up I listened to Tejano
music all the time and
danced to it, and I didn’t even realize it was called Tejano music.
I didn’t know it was a genre.
I just knew it was music that was played at home, in family parties, in the neighborhood.
This look, to me, is very much a combination of Mexican influence with ‘80s, late ‘80s
vibe of American pop culture.
Very much Chicana vibes here, and I love it.
To me, my Mexican-American heritage is such a huge part of my identity, especially because
I grew up in LA.
Everywhere you go you feel it in the city.
Now that I live in New York City, it’s something that I carry with me everywhere.
I don’t even think I realized how Mexican I was until I moved over here.
Okay.
Oh my god.
I kind of love it!
The next look is from the 1994 Grammy Awards show.
Selena won best Mexican-American album, which marked the first time a female Tejano artist
won the category.
I think Selena Quintanilla’s Grammy look is beyond
iconic.
Personally, I try to imitate the look throughout the years.
For my quinceañera, for my prom, just at any point I think about it as a future wedding look.
She spoke English and Spanish.
That was just a moment.
We all remember the photos of her kissing her Grammy and looking so happy, and her win
was the community’s win, 100% as well.
I can look?
Oh my god.
But I'm — the eyebrows, I'm really stuck on the eyebrows.
And the lips.
And just the '90s vibe.
I'm into it.
Finally, one of her more iconic looks is a bedazzled cap and a bustier.
The bustier is important and iconic because in a way it was a form of resistance, something
that’s not new to Latinas.
It wasn’t a sexualized thing.
It signified her independence, it marked a new phase of her career.
One where she was, I think, even more empowered.
I think something that people don’t realize is that yes, Selena Quintanilla was beautiful
and talented, and represented so much to so many people, but her life had such a huge
impact in
American culture after her death.
The coverage that it received made People magazine realize there was a bilingual audience,
and they created People en Español.
That’s huge.
When Selena passed away, I was young.
I was young, my sister was young, but we remember.
We remember the moment, I remember us being sad, I remember seeing it on the news, I remember
the reaction of the neighborhood, of my tías, of everyone.
We couldn’t believe it, we were shocked.
Oh my god.
I love it.
Oh my god, the cap is so perfect.
I swear to god, I feel so connected to her.
And there's so many people that feel so connected to her.
And I just think that she was such a special individual, and you can feel that through
her music, that stands the test of time.
You can feel that through any interviews, or anything in the way she moves, and the way
people speak of her still to this day.
I would just say thank you.
Thank you for starting that path, for continuing the path for Latinx Mujeres everywhere.
So, gracias, Selena.
Thank you and gracias for watching my transformation to Selena Quintanilla.
To watch more videos, click here and to subscribe, click here.