Inspiration
OPI Celebrates Pride 2020: Sasha Colby
In honor of Pride Month, we spoke with Sasha Colby from Los Angeles, and she shared with us what she has learned from the past 20 years of being a queen.
From how she decided on her name and how she celebrated Pride in quarantine to which OPI shade she would be, here’s the inside scoop on Sasha.
OPI: How long have you been doing drag?
Sasha: 20 years
OPI: Due to social distancing, this pride month is different than one’s before. What are you doing to celebrate?
Sasha: For drag performers, Pride festivities are our busiest time of the year, and with social distancing, it’s no different! Even in a digital world, we have found ways to celebrate! From Miami to Chicago to Milan, I get to perform in their digital pride events! This is awesome because we can reach a wide audience of all ages online.
OPI: How has the LGBTQ community empowered you?
Sasha: The LGBTQIA+ community has given me a voice! So often do we queer folks feel I like we don’t have a place to speak our thoughts into existence. But connecting with one another helps bond us and helps us better understand each other’s points of view. Diversity!
OPI: Tell us about your earliest influence with a drag queen.
Sasha: My earliest influences in drag were I guess movies, To Wong Foo, Mrs Doubtfire, The Birdcage. Seeing those images of Drag was super influential to me.
OPI: Can you tell us what the word “drag” means to you?
Sasha: The word drag to me means a gender-fluid artist. To do drag all you need is a passion to perform and a lot of creativity! I’ve seen drag in every form cisgender men and women do drag, gay men and women do drag, trans artist do drag. It’s ALL INCLUSIVE!
OPI: How did you come up with your drag name?
Sasha: My last name is from my drag mother. Colby is a drag family originally based in Hawaii where I’m from but has now reached all over the world! I came up with Sasha, before Sasha Fierce, because it’s exotic and gender-neutral on paper you wouldn’t know what you’re gonna get.
OPI: How important is your manicure for your overall look? Why or why not?
Sasha: Omg, nails are half the look! As drag performers we lip-sync songs but a lot of us use our hands while performing and the hands frame your mouth the frame your face so they need to be banging! I well-manicured hand is something I noticed immediately.
OPI: If you were an OPI shade, which one would you be? Why?
Sasha: I love anything orange or coral. So I’m actually living for OPI Coral Chroma? I love the coral color with hints of iridescent shimmer that makes it look out of this world!
OPI: In light of recent events with the Black Lives Matter movement, what does Black Lives Matter and Pride mean to you?
Sasha: Black lives matter simply means to me, that Black lives do not matter in this broken system. As soon as we actively work on making constant positive changes in equality and social justice then black lives will matter just the same as other lives. Because recognizing, honoring, and loving each other as human beings is something that I can be PROUD of!
Celebrate Pride by finding the shade that expresses who you are.
