Nonprofit Gives Three Women At Rikers Island Hair And Makeup Transformations

Beauty Beyond Bars partnered with a Manhattan salon to give soon-to-be-released women haircuts, color and makeup before they head home.

Beauty Beyond Bars, a nonprofit founded by 21-year-old criminal justice reform advocate Lea Nepomuceno, ran a pilot program inside the Rose M. Singer Center, the women's facility at Rikers Island known as Rosie's, pairing three soon-to-be-released women with hairstylist Julie Dastine of Manhattan salon Citryne Rose and makeup artist Maricela Saucedo. The group's stated mission is delivering beauty and hygiene products to incarcerated people, using Redken hair products brought in for the session.

Daesha Holloman, 31, who is set for release in November, had been maintaining her hair behind bars with only shampoo, grease and a thin comb; Dastine gave her a silk press and trim that resulted in a long bob. Adia Charles, 28, had her five-year-old locs, half dyed red and half blonde, refreshed with new color and a twist out. Lizette Lugo, 47, due for release the following Tuesday after six months at Rosie's, asked to go blonde to cover gray regrowth and requested false eyelashes.

According to data the story cited from the New York City Council, about 84% of people held at Rikers Island as of June 13, 2026 had not yet been convicted of a crime and were awaiting trial, while the women in the program were serving sentences of under a year following conviction.

Nonprofit Gives Three Women At Rikers Island Hair And Makeup Transformations

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