Being black and queer, hair is really sacred for me,
especially because like your hair is like your crown chakra
and you're used to like your mom or your grandma,
like braiding your hair.
Working on your hair is also just like a divine practice in itself.
Hi, my name is Mars. My pronouns, are they/them.
I’m a film photographer and visual artist living in Bushwick.
This year will be my first time attending Pride in New York.
Like touching my head. Like my scalp. It's a sacred spot.
Having autonomy over, like,
how I want my hair is really important to me.
And it's also like a deeply spiritual process as well.
The bleaching, dyeing, braiding process. And I like the labor.
Like, I think it's like affirming.
My hair is definitely an extension of me. Doing your hair,
having someone’s hands on your hair is an energy exchange,
which is why I tend to usually do my own hair.
When I was in high school,
I was like really obsessed with like wearing my natural hair out.
But like, I would always like bleach and color it. Like around,
Like when I graduated, I was like seeing this dude and he, like,
broke my heart. So that kind of like, initiated the shaved hair phase.
My inspiration for today’s look is fiery underwater siren.
Sorry, my voice is pretty monotone, but I'm excited.
Normally I do my own hair,
but I’m not nervous because I feel like just being black,
like with hair. There’s just, like, a lot of community. I know
I’m in good hands with Kahh.
Hey, Mars, so good to see you.
So, what are we looking to get into for today?
I’m looking for a red, middle part moment.
So we're looking to move out of the blue green vibe, taking it to,
like, a fire engine red and just give you a new cut, a new color.
We're going to wash your hair, blow you out, braid you down,
and then just transform you into exactly what you’re going for.
Are you ready? I’m ready.
Okay, let's get into it.
So I fell in love with OGX when I was about 13,
around the time when I first got introduced to hair with my mother
using all of OGX’s products all the time. Fast forward to 2017,
right after she had passed away,
I had gotten reached out to by OGX and the synergy was there
and it was aligned. I’m really excited to transform Mars’s hair
because I realize they have this beautiful cobalt blue hair
and I'm going to take them to a really fire engine red,
take them out of what they're normally doing and bring them into
an entirely new realm, and they'll be blessed by yours truly.
So now I'm going to go in with
the argan oil of Morocco penetrating oil, just to give you again,
some more moisture to the scalp, lock it in.
And I just love that it’s able to add that extra boost of va-va-voom into
the scalp. That’s going to be our word for today. Say it with me.
Va-va-voom.
Look at that. Look at that. Look We got it.
So now I'm going to put this wig cap on just to protect your hair.
While we have the wig on. I'm gonna ask you to hold this for me.
I told you, we’re besties in this process.
Okay, so here’s Lola.
So you’ve never worn a wig outside of the Shake-n-Gos
that that we used to wear back in the day.
What do we think of this color?
It looks good.
It looks good? Yeah.
Okay. Now, how does the red make you feel?
It’s giving me, like, ‘that bitch.’
It’s giving assertive.
Exactly.
To me, red symbolizes luck, prosperity and victory.
The past couple of months, I've just been, like, having blue hair,
and I’ve just been like, in this, like, blue phase. I don’t know.
And then also, like, ending this relationship with this girl.
And it’s like now, like doing red,
like, I feel like I’m jumping into, like, a new energy.
Summertime. The summer’s coming in.
The summer is coming in and we gotta be focused on us.
And we went in with a glueless wig today,
meaning I didn’t use anything to adhere the wig,
but it fits like a glove.
You want to definitely protect your hair
and make use of this protective style,
especially while maintaining your natural hair.
So I’d say hair transformations
and personal transformations do go hand in hand because
I feel like our emotions
sometimes can lead us to making impulsive decisions,
or sometimes we might just feel like we want this drastic life change.
I can’t wait to see your selfies on Instagram
because I'm definitely gonna be stalking.
I'm thinking we should keep it straight,
let the tresses shine and we really see the color.
So I’m doing the last touches and flat-ironing you out.
What does it mean for you to be going to pride for the first time?
It means a lot to share space with,
like the friends that I met here and like,
just be around a lot of queer folks.
When you were back at home,
did you have a bunch of people or
a bunch of folks that were queer that could relate to you
or you felt like you were missing that part?
Oh, no. I was definitely surrounded by queer folks.
There’s like a large queer art scene in Miami. The scene is different.
I feel like they all have their perks.
I just feel like queer people in Miami know how to party better.
Oh. That’s just it.
And you coming for New York?
I am.
Now I’m going to go in with the multi-benefit hairspray,
which is one of my all time faves. I keep this in my kit.
It's my trusty bad boy,
but I'm just going to tame these flyaways at
the top just to get it as neat and as clean as possible.
I wish you could see what that did there,
but it bought it from like here to here.
Expressing myself through my hair
and my art is just really important to me. Just me,
like being unapologetic and taking risks,
like with my work or just like with my hair, has to do
a lot of like my own personal boundaries and just like,
how I view myself.
Alright. You ready for this?
Yeah. Oh, wow. Okay.
What do you think?
I’m obsessed.
I’m loving this on you. I feel like it really complements your skin.
I really love the eyebrows.
Yeah. Even though this style might be temporary,
I feel like at the moment it’s really helping me express how I feel.
I guess what I would want people to take from this is to kind of just
step out of their comfort zone.
It’s Aries season.
If you want to shave your head, you should just do it.
Like if you want to bleach it, do it.
I'm going to wear this hair everywhere
because it's not coming off.