Beauty magazines, as a genre, tend toward the aspirational and the airbrushed — flawless skin, perfect lighting, products that promise transformation. Altered States has no interest in any of that. This is a magazine about hair and beauty that is driven by cultural innovation and authenticity, assembled as a haphazard collection of journalism, photo essays, and historical images that reveals a deep respect for the unique nooks and crannies of an industry most publications treat as a surface-level affair.
The title itself — Altered States — suggests transformation, but not the kind sold in salon advertisements. The alteration here is cultural: the way a haircut can signal identity, rebellion, belonging, or rupture. The way beauty standards shift across time and geography. The way the people who work with hair — the barbers, the stylists, the colourists, the braiders — are artists and cultural historians whether they know it or not. Altered States treats them as such, documenting their work with the seriousness it deserves and the irreverence it demands.
The magazine's haphazard quality is not accidental — it is a deliberate editorial choice that mirrors the messy, personal, endlessly inventive nature of beauty culture itself. There is no formula, no template, no predictable structure from one page to the next. Historical images sit next to contemporary photography. A profile of a neighbourhood barber shares space with a visual essay on avant-garde hair sculpture. The effect is of a publication that has been assembled by someone who genuinely loves the subject and refuses to organise that love into something tidy.
What there is, consistently, is a genuine curiosity about the people and the practices that make the beauty industry far more interesting than it is usually given credit for. In a media landscape where beauty coverage means product reviews and influencer partnerships, Altered States remembers that hair has always been political, personal, and profoundly human — and that the best way to honour that is not with a twelve-step routine but with a really good story.