5 People On How Their Hair Shapes Their Identity

For a lot of people, hair is never just hair. Like our clothes, the music we listen to or the art we tape onto our bedroom walls, the strands on our heads can convey myriad elements of our personalities. We can use our hair to showcase the facets of our identities that we wish to share with the world. We can use it to relate to one another – sometimes, even to find community. We can use it to tell a story. That's why we’ve teamed up with Schwarzkopf LIVE and got2b – brands that celebrate self-expression and inclusivity through their unapologetically bold, beauty norm-defying hair colours and styling products.

The thing is, these stories aren’t always simple. The ways in which we are often taught to think about hair can affect how we relate to ourselves, to our bodies – to any aspect of our beings, for that matter, like our gender identity, culture, sexuality, body type or race. Beauty standards that tell us what our hair should look like if we want to be seen as 'sexy' or 'beautiful' or 'womanly' or 'fun' or 'gay' or 'hireable' can mess with anyone’s self-image.

Still, fighting through the noise to find hair colours or styles that feel affirming is usually a journey worth embarking upon. As the five people featured here can attest, it’s often through experimenting with cuts and clippers and colours that we discover the looks that feel most 'us', and which help us tell our stories on our own terms.

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