It all started with a DM – where else do good stories start these days?
ICYMI, RBD, the beloved Mexican pop group, decided to bless the world with a reunion tour, sending shockwaves of nostalgia and sparking a surge in online admiration for the band. RBD first became popular almost two decades ago with their cult-classic telenovela “Rebelde.” Fast forward to now, they’re back, and their die-hard fans couldn’t be happier to fill up stadiums across the world to see the band perform live.
As the Social Media Editor for The Tease, I couldn’t help but notice how RBD’S early 2000s glam is so on-trend with today’s Y2K revival in beauty, hair, and fashion. When it comes to hair, chunky, high-contrast, pop-punk looks are the epitome of this nostalgic aesthetic.
Enter Belen Gomez a Los Angeles-based hairstylist and a major Rebelde fan. IAs I was doing my daily social media scrolling, I saw Belen shared one of Dulce María’s most iconic hair looks: Roberta Pardo from Season 1 to her Instagram stories, writing something like “someone let me do this look on you!” Although I live in Miami, being a huge fan of Belen’s work, I slid into her DMs, and the rest was history. We scheduled my appointment to be a couple of months out during the next time I was planning to visit California. The day finally arrived, and I made the trip to HAIR Los Angeles, where Belen and her co-worker, friend, and assistant for the day, Jocelyn, worked their magic to create the coolest RBD-inspired hair transformation. They were so excited to recreate such an iconic look from their childhood and especially high on the RBD nostalgia because they had upcoming plans to go to RBD’s final LA show in just a few days. The whole process was so fun and we were able to get loads of cool hair content. I ended up posting a step-by-step reel of the entire #hairtransformation on @readthetease’s Instagram, and it quickly gained some internet buzz as RBD was already trending with four consecutive sold-out LA concerts slated that week. The reel eventually caught the attention of Dulce María’s hairstylist, Eduardo @elpanqueee, and… he showed my video to the muse herself!
Major shout out to Belen and Jocelyn for their talent, skill, and creativity when it came to tailoring the look to fit me while undeniably nailing the inspo. Being who she is, Dulce has definitely inspired a good amount of hair transformations amongst her fans, but this particular look was a bold choice, and the way we modified it and recreated it, even bolder. The hair literally screamed “Soy Rebelde.” Dulce loved the hair so much that she asked Eduardo to invite me to their concert in LA, but by the time he reached out to me, I was already home in Miami. With that being said, there was no way I could say no to Dulce’s invite! I quickly booked a flight back to LA and made it back in time for the morning of their last US show. Before I knew it, I was in Belen’s apartment, and she was helping me style my hair for the concert.
For full transparency, the original plan was to interview Eduardo backstage before the show, talking about Dulce María’s hair and styling for the tour, but let’s just say there were some complications. Eventually met up with Eduardo behind the BMO Stadium to get the tickets and caught a glimpse of Dulce rolling into the venue in a black Escalade. In true pop star style, she rolled down the window to say hi to us and shouted out my hair. My night was pretty much made at that point, but little did I know, the tickets Eduardo handed me were second-row floor seats! As you can imagine, the show from this POV was surreal. This vlog pretty much sums it up.
This whole experience really goes to show that the internet is an extremely powerful tool for connection and anything can happen. I’m so extremely grateful to Eduardo and Dulce for inviting me – muchísimas gracias por todo! And of course, thank you to Belen and Jocelyn for absolutely killing the hair!
