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The Pasadena Star-News | Sun 01/19 04:38pm PST | Victoria Ivie
Bundles of hair and rows of hair care products lined vanity stations as Beyoncé’s discography filled the air inside a cosmetology classroom at Pasadena City College’s Foothill Boulevard campus.
The braiding, washing and fades done Sunday, Jan. 19, weren’t students practicing their craft. They were part of an effort to reach out to communities hit hard by the Eaton fire.
More than 30 hairstylists and barbers came together to support fire victims who needed some self-care and a sense of normalcy. While the event was geared toward all those affected by the fire, many of the stylists and attendees were Black and hair supply kits specifically for Black hair care were given out. A similar session is set for Monday, Jan. 20.
Black barbers and hairstylists provide free haircuts, styles and hair kits at Pasadena City College on Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025, to those affected by the Eaton fire. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Kamerin Harrell offers her 2-year-old daughter, Kassidy, a kiss while they wait to have their hair done Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025, during a styling event for Eaton fire victims at Pasadena City College. Harrell lost her family’s home of 50 years that had been passed down from her grandfather to her mother and then to Harrell and her sister, she said. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
April Hernandez, a cosmetology student, gives David Ezieme a facial Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025, during a beauty event for Eaton fire victims at Pasadena City College. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
David Ezieme gets a facial Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025, during a beauty event for fire victims at Pasadena City College. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Hairstylist Davon Parker works Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025, on Angie Martin, who lost everything in the Eaton fire. They were at Pasadena City College, where Black barbers and hairstylists donated their skills for fire victims. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Hairstylist Davon Parker braids Angie Martin’s hair Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025, at Pasadena City College, where Black barbers and hairstylists donated their skills for fire victims. Parker lost everything in the Eaton fire. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Angie Martin shows a cellphone photo of her apartment going up in flames during the Eaton fire after she evacuated. Martin got her hair done Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025, at Pasadena City College, where Black barbers and hairstylists donated their skills for fire victims. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Black barbers and hairstylists provide free haircuts, styles and hair kits at Pasadena City College on Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025 for those affected by the Eaton fire. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Hairstylist Salema Clarke does cornrows Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025, on Sacha Shorter’s hair at Pasadena City College, where Black barbers and hairstylists donated their skills for fire victims. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Friends Karissa Masters, of Newport Beach, and Jayson Fernandez, of Altadena, whose home was lost in the Eaton fire, share a hug Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025, while volunteering their hair-cutting skills at Pasadena City College for those affected by the fire. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Paige Nolden, 6, is all smiles as she gets pampered Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025, during a hairstyling event for Eaton fire victims at Pasadena City College on Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025. Paige’s elementary school burned down in the blaze. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Black barbers and hairstylists provide free haircuts, styles and hair kits at Pasadena City College on Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025, to those affected by the Eaton fire. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
One person who put on the event was Darshell Hannah, an Ontario resident who grew up in Altadena. Hannah’s nonprofit group, Charlee’s Angels, is only a few months old but has the goal of supporting the community and uplifting women and girls.
“Black hair is more textured so it requires a certain type of product and a certain type of hair covering to keep it protected,” Hannah, 36, said. “I wanted to do this event to give back to everyone in the communities affected by the fire. They don’t have the same products or resources they had when they were home.”
Items such as bonnets, durags, edge control, hair gel, moisturizing products and curl creams are examples of the specialty products Black hair requires. Services provided Sunday included: dye touchups, sew ins, haircuts, facials, silk presses, blow outs, root touchups and protective styles.
Protective styles are braids such as box braids, cornrows, twists and locs, and are often used so one doesn’t have to style hair daily. That task can take hours for textured hair. These are considered protective styles because when Black people have them, they don’t have to use heat on their hair, which can be damaging and lead to breakage.
“Anything that someone comes in and needs, and we have a stylist or a barber on hand that can do it, we’re going to do it,” Hannah said. “We’re not turning anyone away.”
While a lot of donations and mutual aid from communities across Southern California have been made available, many Black residents at Sunday’s event said that finding products for their hair since the fires has been a struggle.
Altadena resident Kamerin Harrell lost her family’s generational home of 50 years and said it’s been “a little bit trickier” to get Black hair care products during this time.
“As a Black woman, when my hair doesn’t look good, I don’t feel good,” Harrell, 33, said.
“I usually get a lot of the products I need online because they’re not typically in stores,” she said. “So with us not having a home, I don’t have a place to order my products. I’m just at a deficit right now.”
Harrell received protective styles for herself and her 2-year-old daughter.
“The hairstyle will help me and my daughter because it’s something that’s low maintenance, so we don’t have to worry about constantly getting my hair done,” she said. “I’ve been so blessed with this opportunity to get our hair done, for free especially.”
Normally, Harrell has to pay a few hundred dollars to get her and her daughter’s hair done.
Harrell recently graduated from hair school, so she also lost all of her hair supplies for work in the fire as well.
Altadena resident Sheri Johnson is currently staying in Monterey Park, a majority-Asian neighborhood, since her apartment is in the evacuation zone.
“Where I am right now is a little bit challenging, because there’s less Black folks in that area, but thankfully, I’ve been able to find the basics of hair care things,” Johnson, 46, said. “But anything I can take with me would be helpful since I don’t have everything.”
Johnson came in for a simple haircut and said it felt good to be in a “familiar, safe space” while she waited to get her hair done.
“It means a lot seeing all these Black folks come in,” she said. “Where I’ve been, I haven’t seen a lot of Black people, so being back in familiar spaces, I feel like my central nervous system is being reset a little bit.”
David Ezieme, who received a facial and taper, said it meant a lot to him to see the community coming come together for the event.
“It helps to boost confidence that some people may have lost along with their house and all their belongings,” the Altadena resident said.
Free hair services for fire victims continue Monday, Jan. 20 at Borner’s Barber College in Pasadena, 1284 N. Lake Ave., from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.