When the time finally came for Daesha Holloman to “activate her bob,” jail staff watching from the hallway burst into Eve’s “Who’s That Girl?” Some had tears in their eyes. They’d gathered as the day went on to watch Holloman, 31, Adia Charles, 28, and Lizette Lugo, 47, enjoy a day of beauty and care just before the end of their short sentences at the Rose M. Singer Center on Rikers Island. The three women were selected for a one-day pilot program offering hair and makeup makeovers before heading home, and agreed to let Allure magazine and the nonprofit Beauty Beyond Bars document the experience, including on social media.

Founded by 21-year-old criminal justice reform advocate Lea Nepomuceno to get essential beauty and hygiene products to incarcerated people, Beauty Beyond Bars partnered with Julie Dastine, founder of Manhattan’s Citryne Rose salon, and makeup artist Maricela Saucedo for the program.

There is a real need for what Beauty Beyond Bars proposes. Hygiene and beauty products from the commissary are expensive and limited, leaving most incarcerated women with little more than shampoo, grease and a comb unfit to detangle thick curls, Holloman said. Still, that hasn’t stopped women from innovating ways to make themselves feel beautiful. “The Department of Corrections can (make) you lose yourself, for a lack of better words,” Holloman said. “You have to be strong enough to not fall into the dehumanizing situation…You have to look at the end of the tunnel. It’s hard. I have my days where I forget I am going home.”

But the small act of care reminded the women of who they were before they found themselves confined to Rikers, reigniting their hope in themselves. “We have real beauty. Like natural, actual beauty,” Holloman said. “You take programs like this, opportunities like this, and you run with them and you give the best version of yourself…I’m bigger than being incarcerated, and there’s people who actually believe in me,” she added.

Nadely Tavarez, who directs programming at the Singer center, concurred, adding there are practical reasons for such a program to support people nearing their exit from jail. “I try to teach my child that hygiene is everything, but it’s not just to look nice,” Tavarez said. “It’s because people will treat you a certain way. I feel that these women can gain confidence after going through such a traumatic time in their lives.”

That Beauty Beyond Bars got in the door at Rikers is a significant accomplishment. The complex is among the most infamous jails in the country for its long, documented record of violence and unsanitary and unsafe conditions, including sexual assault. The stylists and jail staff who took part in the pilot say that they’d like to see the program return, though no date had been set at press time. Nepomuceno hopes to expand beyond single-day events to start career training inside prisons and help salons hire graduates on the outside. 

Even so, one day of beauty and attention for three women is a good thing. “Providing this type of service on one day to just a few women, I don’t know if it’s going to make a dent in changing carceral policy,” said Duke University professor Lauren Brinkley-Rubinstein. “But we also know that individual differences can be made with the smallest adjustments or kindness.”

Holloman is holding onto the experience and has high hopes. “I really want to hit the ground running when I leave here,” she said.

The name “MindSite News” is used with the express permission of Mindsight Institute, an educational organization offering online learning and in-person workshops in the field of mental health and wellbeing. MindSite News and Mindsight Institute are separate, unaffiliated entities that are aligned in making science accessible and promoting mental health globally.

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The Salon Experience on Rikers Island That Some Hope Could Scale Across the Country

by Courtney Wise, MindSite News
October 16, 2026

<h1>The Salon Experience on Rikers Island That Some Hope Could Scale Across the Country</h1> <p class="byline">by Courtney Wise, MindSite News <br />October 16, 2026</p> <br /> <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img src="https://dl3wjxrn8qv3a.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/16065027/farhad-ibrahimzade-V2HDOQTJh3o-unsplash-scaled-e1792158702697-1024x768.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-18547" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Credit: Unsplash</figcaption></figure> <p>When the time finally came for Daesha Holloman to "activate her bob," jail staff watching from the hallway burst into Eve's "Who's That Girl?" Some had tears in their eyes. They'd gathered as the day went on to watch Holloman, 31, Adia Charles, 28, and Lizette Lugo, 47, enjoy a day of beauty and care just before the end of their short sentences at the Rose M. Singer Center on Rikers Island. The three women were selected for a one-day pilot program offering hair and makeup makeovers before heading home, and <a href="https://www.allure.com/story/rikers-island-makeovers-beauty-beyond-bars?utm_source=instagram&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_content=www.instagram.com/reel/DeZ1IX_ABWL/&amp;client_service_id=31195&amp;client_service_name=allure+magazine&amp;service_user_id=1.78e+16&amp;supported_service_name=instagram_publishing&amp;utm_brand=allure&amp;utm_social_type=owned&amp;utm_campaign=dhinstagram&amp;utm_date=121026&amp;utm_term=instagram-bio-link">agreed to let Allure magazine</a> and the nonprofit Beauty Beyond Bars document the experience, including on social media.</p> <p>Founded by 21-year-old criminal justice reform advocate Lea Nepomuceno to get essential beauty and hygiene products to incarcerated people, Beauty Beyond Bars partnered with Julie Dastine, founder of Manhattan's Citryne Rose salon, and makeup artist Maricela Saucedo for the program.</p> <p>There is a real need for what Beauty Beyond Bars proposes. Hygiene and beauty products from the commissary are expensive and limited, leaving most incarcerated women with little more than shampoo, grease and a comb unfit to detangle thick curls, Holloman said. Still, that hasn’t stopped women from innovating ways to make themselves feel beautiful. "The Department of Corrections can (make) you lose yourself, for a lack of better words," Holloman said. "You have to be strong enough to not fall into the dehumanizing situation…You have to look at the end of the tunnel. It's hard. I have my days where I forget I am going home."</p> <p>But the small act of care reminded the women of who they were before they found themselves confined to Rikers, reigniting their hope in themselves. "We have real beauty. Like natural, actual beauty," Holloman said. "You take programs like this, opportunities like this, and you run with them and you give the best version of yourself…I'm bigger than being incarcerated, and there's people who actually believe in me,” she added.</p> <p>Nadely Tavarez, who directs programming at the Singer center, concurred, adding there are practical reasons for such a program to support people nearing their exit from jail. "I try to teach my child that hygiene is everything, but it's not just to look nice," Tavarez said. "It's because people will treat you a certain way. I feel that these women can gain confidence after going through such a traumatic time in their lives."</p> <p>That Beauty Beyond Bars got in the door at Rikers is a significant accomplishment. The complex is among the most infamous jails in the country for its long, documented record of violence and unsanitary and unsafe conditions, including sexual assault. The stylists and jail staff who took part in the pilot say that they'd like to see the program return, though no date had been set at press time. Nepomuceno hopes to expand beyond single-day events to start career training inside prisons and help salons hire graduates on the outside.&nbsp;</p> <p>Even so, one day of beauty and attention for three women is a good thing. "Providing this type of service on one day to just a few women, I don't know if it's going to make a dent in changing carceral policy," said Duke University professor Lauren Brinkley-Rubinstein. "But we also know that individual differences can be made with the smallest adjustments or kindness."</p> <p>Holloman is holding onto the experience and has high hopes. "I really want to hit the ground running when I leave here," she said.</p> <p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://mindsitenews.org/2026/10/16/the-salon-experience-at-rikers-island/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://mindsitenews.org&quot;&gt;MindSite News&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.</p> &lt;img id=&quot;republication-tracker-tool-source&quot; src=&quot;https://mindsitenews.org/?republication-pixel=true&amp;post=18546&quot; style=&quot;width:1px;height:1px;&quot;&gt;

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