We often talk about haircuts from a purely visual perspective — your hairstylist asks, “What are we doing today?” Your answer: “Just a trim,” or “I’m thinking about a bob…” — but when we focus on the strict aesthetics of the cut, we often discount the energy shift happening at the appointment.
Like everything else, hair holds energy, and it’s common to experience a flood of emotions before a haircut or a sense of release afterwards. Maybe you’re blocked energetically and can’t figure out what you want to do with your hair. Luckily, many hairstylists are intuitively sensitive to energies and take extra time to talk their clients through their cut using a mindfulness approach — if they’re open to it. The result? A better, more personalised haircut in the short term and a healthier relationship with your hair when you leave the salon.
To delve deeper into the energy component of my pre-autumn haircut, I got on the phone with NYC-based hairstylist Andrean Noir. While Noir doesn’t call herself an “intuitive” or “energy-focused” hairstylist, many of her clients and co-workers do. She admits that her salon chair (at Bumble and bumble salon) has a metaphorical ottoman for her “sessions” where clients can get comfortable before going in for a big haircut, like chopping their long hair into a chin-length bob (which has been “super popular lately,” she says). With Noir and other energy-aligned stylists, the approach does not invite all your problems (like the trouble you’re having with your boss, or in dating) into the hair appointment; that’s a slippery slope to trauma dumping on your hairdresser. Instead, it’s about unpacking and verbalising your current relationship with your hair and how you want it to evolve.
Ahead, Noir speaks to the six ways we can improve the energy we bring into the hair salon and the way we talk about our hair in general, which will make a big difference at your next appointment.
Ask yourself, am I seeking advice or validation?
One of the prevailing patterns across Noir’s clientele (she keeps her client list private but works with many influencers confidentially) is self-doubt and a desire for validation. “I don’t know if it’s a trend, but I’m seeing that people are ready to cut their hair off, but they doubt themselves,” says Noir. The doubt manifests as thinking about a haircut and then “asking everyone around them if they should do it them 10 times” before going through with it, says Noir.
“I’m seeing that people are ready to cut their hair off, but they doubt themselves.”
While feedback can be helpful in some cases, in regards to honing your sense, it can often create confusion. “If you’re asking someone with long hair if you should cut your hair short, they’re going to have their own perspective,” explains Noir. Instead, if you want to ask for advice before a haircut, consider who you talk to. “Ask people with the haircut you like,” she says. People will bring their own opinions based on their experiences, but you are the only one who knows your hair and lives with it every day, so trust your instincts.
Reframe your language
We could all stand to be more mindful of how we speak about our hair. You may be subconsciously adding negativity to a neutral or healthy hair experience. It’s not your fault — beauty marketing has caused a lot of cultural shame around “frizz” and “greys” — but you can shift your perspective to a more positive one.
“It’s one of the saddest things when I hear someone who has any type of texture — whether it’s grey hair that’s a little more textured, curly hair, or even someone with really fine hair — that talks about their hair being ‘frizzy,’” says Noir. “They associate that with negativity.” But the reality is that we lose up to 150 hairs a day, and that ‘frizz’ is often brand-new hair coming back, explains Noir: “Your hair is healthy, it’s growing — those are baby hairs!”
“Your hair is healthy, it’s growing — those are baby hairs!”
Of course, if you want to control those baby hairs, certain hot tools and products can help, and your stylist can work with you to find the right one for your hair type. However, taking an energy audit and reframing your language can save you a lot of frustration and help you get to a place of greater compassion.
Remember, your face shape has no bearing on your hair
Those ‘90s magazines didn’t age well. Noir still hears a lot of women putting limitations on their haircut due to their “face shape” — which almost always is attached to negative energy. “I hear, ‘I could never wear that [haircut] because my face is too long and skinny,’ or ‘my nose is too big.’ I hate hearing that,” says Noir. What a haircut can do is accentuate the facial features that you like. For example, if you love your eyes, you can add a long bang that curves around them. But it’s 2024, and there are no rules or prescriptions to what you “can’t” or “shouldn’t” do with your haircut.
Your inspiration photos are probably professional
Before a haircut, many of us go to Instagram or Pinterest to pull visual references, which is great because it helps a hairstylist better understand the look you’re going for. The trouble is that many of us forget that Instagram is a highlight reel. As for the celeb or influencer you’re referencing? They’ve probably had a blowdry.
“Everyone sees a hairstyle that they like without understanding that the hair has been styled professionally,” explains Noir. That sense of awareness can be helpful when it comes to the energy you bring to your haircut, which is all of a sudden more realistic. “There is no way to cut someone’s hair so that you wake up and have volume,” adds Noir, “but there is a way to cut the hair to enhance volume by the way you style it.”
Consider the way you’re touching your hair
If you wake up in the morning and you’re immediately annoyed with your hair and pull it back, it’s probably time for a haircut. Noir calls this “morning frustration,” and says it’s a “breaking point” that happens when your hair is not falling as it once did or how you want it to because it has grown out. One response is to pull your hair back and up and deal with it. But this plays back into the language piece: If you’re handling your hair like it’s heavy or a burden, you’re in a negative energy space. Instead, shift to a proactive energy and book a haircut.
“Appreciate that you are going to a professional and this is where that frustrated feeling is going to end.”
Get excited about your haircut!
If you’re feeling frustrated about your hair, it’s natural to bring that stress and anxiety into your appointment. But remember, you’re doing something about it. “Appreciate that you are going to a professional and this is where that frustrated feeling is going to end,” offers Noir. Give yourself some credit for just making an appointment. “You’ve got yourself here and now someone is going to help you,” says Noir.
Now, your hair will always be your hair and there’s only so much you can do with cut and color to change it. What is fully in your control is your perspective, and Noir has changed mine to a more positive place. I’m no scientist, but since being nicer to myself and my hair and channelling positivity ahead of my haircut, I’ve gotta say, it’s been looking a lot better.
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