Feng Shui Hair revisited

Part 7 in a series by Karen A. Stevenson, President, Studio K Salon

There has been quite a response from the May 'Take 5 for Yourself' article regarding Feng Shui hair.   As hilarious as it may sound, there are a lot of people that struggle with their hair, and feng shui surely fits.  For those that didn’t read May’s article, Feng Shui hair was a play off of the order, or positioning of rooms, or other things, in a ‘flowing manner’.  So goes with hair.  Fighting your curl, or forcing your straight hair into a cut that was not meant for your shaped face is a mere example of hair not flowing.  Having harmony is having an appropriate hair cut for your facial shape, style, texture, thickness of your hair as well as lifestyle, practicality, intent of maintaining, etc. 

Since that time, we have identified a number of people that believe their hair ‘should’ have a razor cut, merely because it is a fad.  Or, they request a hairdresser that is ‘familiar’ with cutting curly hair.  Some people wonder if you can cut ‘with the curl’ of the hair.  Men may request scissors merely because they are unfamiliar with a good clipper cut on the sides, and blended up to the top with scissors.  Apparently there are a lot of ideas out there that come from newspaper articles, the latest stars’ hair-style or the styling products that Teen Magazine is promoting.  There are so many choices, so many things to consider, so many ideas and so many so-called experts telling you what to do all the time, it is hard to know who to believe.

Haircutting has made tremendous change over the past couple of years.  No longer is a precision cut the popular cut.  Now hair is softer, no more sharp edges.  Point cutting is much more the technique, rather than defined lines.  Razor cutting in order to sculpt off bulk in custom areas is a possibility.  Consistency has become the not-so-norm and random has become much more the norm.  As beautiful as it sounds for hairdressers, it has allowed much more freedom to take the client’s hair into consideration in a highly creative manner.  

If you think about it, when you hire a painter to paint your house, knowing he’s the expert, don’t you think it is wisest to ask him his opinion of the brand of paint to use?  Whether you should use gloss, or flat paint?  He may have a suggestion or two about the color you have chosen.  You may not know that the dark blue for the 3’ x 5’ bathroom will make it seem smaller. Or, if you were to get work done on your teeth, don’t you leave it up to the dentist to ascertain what needs to be done?  If you are getting a room added on to your house, you certainly leave it in the hands of the expert carpenter, don’t you?  The reason I bring this up is because there are a lot of people that come into a hair salon and have a determined style they wish to achieve.  Bringing in pictures is always a lovely way to begin communication, because the hairstylist can then determine what styles, what ultimate look you desire, but those exact pictures may not at all work on your own hair texture, or your face.  Many people bring in pictures of straight hair, yet they have curly hair.  Or pictures of a smooth fine hair look, yet they have course extremely dense hair.  Sometimes the truth is…that style simply cannot be done on your hair. 

When you wish to change your look, your hair, the best thing to do is communicate to the hairstylist, and then let them analyze your request.  You can tell a good hairstylist by their knowledge of what does and doesn’t look good on your face.  You can also tell a good hairstylist by the ability to analyze your hair and suggest what it would and wouldn’t do. 

 Bottom line is, hair changes.  Hair styles change, hair on your head changes, texture changes, color changes, trends change, your own lifestyle changes.  Let your hair change with it all. 

Movement is very important in hair these days.  If you are a woman that chooses to get her hair shampooed and set once a week, how about thinking of a hairstyle that will liberate you from that routine and allow you to feel your hair again?  Understandably, there are circumstances where women’s lifestyle or health make it more practical to do the once a week style, but the thought of doing it yourself, using appropriate styling products, allows for a beautiful, easy to maintain style that will give you a new look, and set you free from the same ol’ hairstyle you have lost interest in. 

Time to make changes.  Time to update your look.  Time to consider the freedom of allowing your hair to naturally look it’s best.  We all have personality.  Allow your hair to have personality as well.  Let it be what it is supposed to be!