00:00I do like looking androgynous.
00:02I like when people couldn't tell what gender I was.
00:04It was interesting.
00:08Hi, I'm Leslie.
00:09I use she, they pronouns,
00:11and today I'm getting a gender-neutral punk haircut.
00:13So the hairstyle I'm getting today
00:15is definitely inspired by scene culture.
00:19Right now, I'm bored to death with my hair,
00:21but I love punk and scene hair.
00:24It's just so different, so unique.
00:25You can do so many things,
00:27and when you're in the right setting,
00:29people are, like, complimenting you everywhere.
00:31People want to take pictures.
00:32Maybe I just like the attention,
00:34but I want cool hair, so.
00:35My mom is from Mexico,
00:37and my stepdad is Guatemalan,
00:38so their reactions are just curse words.
00:42They're cursing in Spanish.
00:44They're like, what's going on?
00:45But it's motivation to keep dressing crazier.
00:49What are you most excited about with this hairstyle?
00:53Maybe the attention.
00:56No, I love it.
00:57I love when people tell me they love my hair
00:58because then I could tell them Pelona did it.
01:00You know, I love supporting my friends.
01:02Like, I want everyone to know Pelona did this,
01:05you know, and you need to go get it done, too.
01:09I'm Pelona.
01:10I use they, them pronouns,
01:11and I'm a gender-neutral and punk hairstylist.
01:14So today, I'm going to be giving Leslie Ahime a haircut,
01:17and I'm going to be using a lot of color blocking
01:20and bringing back, like, scene roots
01:22and putting in a couple of raccoon tails in the back,
01:25and that's going to be really cute.
01:27I think that gender-neutral cuts can mean a variety of different things.
01:31The reason I started calling it that was just to let people know that it was a trans safe space,
01:37but it also lets people know that I do specialize in making haircuts androgynous.
01:41So I charge by the hour, which is different than what is usually done,
01:44which is either by length or by gender.
01:47What's up? How are you today?
01:49What's up? Good, good.
01:49Good.
01:50Hell yeah.
01:50All right, sick.
01:51I'm going to give you a little Ahime haircut.
01:53So I'm going to cut, like, right here at your cheekbones,
01:54and then we're going to shorten your bangs a bit.
01:56We're going to add, like, a little stripe here,
01:58and then at the end of it, and then we're going to give you some coon tails, too.
02:01All right, all right. I'm real excited. I'm real excited.
02:03Cool, cool, cool, cool.
02:05I'm going to be cutting right next to the bangs,
02:08kind of where a face-framing fringe would be.
02:10So traditionally, Ahime's are cut from in between the cheekbone or the lip line.
02:15I'm going to also be bringing in this trend that's really popular right now
02:19that's kind of, like, looks like a jellyfish or like an octopus,
02:23and it's kind of like a little bob on top disconnected
02:26with layers in between that are very internal, so they're hidden,
02:29but it gives, like, a little lift with a little bob on the outside
02:32and then has little, like, tentacles coming out from the bottom.
02:35So it looks really cute, and it's really easy to style.
02:40And then I'm going to be shortening up Leslie's bangs a bit
02:44right above the brow.
02:45So Leslie has kind of previously lightened hair.
02:49It's kind of like a light brown, almost entering blonde,
02:51so we're just going to roughly lighten it all over,
02:54not going really super thin sections or anything,
02:57just to get it a pretty nice, even light color to get this bright red.
03:04I think what I love most about being a hairstylist is just seeing
03:07how people feel way more comfortable with themselves.
03:09I think hair really defines a person a lot.
03:12Like, I see a lot of before and afters, and I think the person after,
03:15I'm like, wow, they look sick.
03:17And I think it's really sick giving people their first gender-affirming haircut.
03:21And it also is something that holds a lot of trauma and a lot of cultures,
03:25so I'm glad to be able to help people navigate that and move forward with it.
03:31And then we're going to go in and add little pieces of black and color blocking,
03:35using a lot of really thin sections on the top.
03:39And then just freehanding the little raccoon tails on the side,
03:42mostly focusing them on the front pieces,
03:44so they'll really show from the front
03:45while you're looking straight ahead at Leslie.
03:49Something that I want people to know about gender-neutral hair and hair styling
03:53is that it's just hair and people should be able to do whatever they want with it,
03:57regardless of how it makes you feel,
04:00and just let people be and be happy with themselves.
04:07Oh my god, I love it.
04:09You love it or what?
04:10I really do.
04:11I love it.
04:12Cute, cute.
04:18Definitely, I love the black accents, and I like these highlights.
04:21I like the black and the little coontails are so cute.
04:27And then my bleach eyebrows.
04:28Yes, bomb, bomb, bomb.
04:30Yes, work, work, work.
04:33Yeah, definitely my favorite part.
04:35Every weekend you'll see me looking like this,
04:39until it fades out and then it grows out and then I change it again.
04:42I feel really happy and satisfied with my hair.
04:45I think Bellona did a really good job.
04:48I'm excited for what my friends think,
04:50and like when I go to the raves and the shows,
04:53what everyone else thinks, you know?
04:55I think today went really well.
04:57We were able to collaborate on something really cute and really special and unique and personal,
05:03and it turned out great.
05:04I really wanted red for a long time, and I'm happy that I have red hair now.
05:09That's what I love the most about this hair, and definitely the raccoon tails.
05:14I love the raccoon tails. They're fun.
05:16I think the best way to maintain a style like this is just wash with color-safe shampoo and
05:22only cold water, wear shower caps, only wash it like once a week if you can.
05:26I think the side pieces are pretty easy to keep cutting a little bit.
05:30Bellona gave me a more feminine style this time.
05:33Last time we did a wolf cut and that was more masculine,
05:36but I wanted to keep it feminine because I was rocking that masculine hairstyle for like a year.
05:42So, you know, I want to be perceived a different way.
05:46So we kept like the length, you know, and the bob,
05:49which gives me a more feminine look, you know?
05:51But still androgynous, still androgynous.
05:53The changes I want to see in the hair industry regarding gender
05:56is for it to not even be a niche, to be a gender-neutral hairstylist, you know?
06:03I want everybody to feel comfortable going wherever they want,
06:07so I just want to push every hairstylist to learn about different genders,
06:12and make it known that your chair is safe for people, and you'll make a huge difference.
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