Considering Cutting Your Hair? You May Want To Consult The Moon First

Where we once arrived at the salon clutching magazine tear-outs, today’s haircut inspiration tends to live on our phones: Instagram saves, Pinterest boards, the occasional celebrity screenshot. But as our relationship with beauty becomes slower, more intentional and increasingly holistic, there’s a growing sense that timing matters just as much as technique. And for some, that timing starts overhead.

The idea of looking to the moon before making changes to our appearance might sound unfamiliar, but it taps into something quietly intuitive. After all, the moon already governs many of the natural rhythms we accept without question — the tides, seasonal cycles, even our own bodies. Around 60 per cent of the human body is made up of water, the average menstrual cycle closely mirrors the moon’s 29.5-day lunar cycle, and there are numerous accounts of people’s mood shifting with the moon. After all, if the moon can shift oceans, it’s not unreasonable to wonder whether it might also influence us.

That’s the thinking behind lunar haircare — a practice rooted in ancient agricultural calendars and traditional cultures, which aligns haircuts, colouring and treatments with the phases of the moon. While it’s far from mainstream science, it has found a growing audience among stylists who see hair not as something separate from the body, but as part of a wider system.

“The moon’s energy affects us all, including our hair,” explains Sabrina Picot, senior stylist at HARI’s in London. “Its influence on our astrological chart and the energy it emits during different phases can significantly impact hair growth, strength, and overall health,” she adds.

At its core, lunar haircare is about working with cycles rather than against them. “Lunar haircare is the method of optimising your hair health and care routine according to the moon's energetic cycles,” says Armin Morbach, a hair expert working with Schwarzkopf. “Moon phases are a powerful force that rule the tides, the night’s sky and are even thought to influence human bodies, leading some to say the moon can even impact your hair with the lunar cycle, allowing it to grow stronger as well as haircare and styling products working better with certain phases.”

While scientific evidence remains limited, the logic behind the practice borrows from what we already understand about the body. Blood flow, hydration, hormone levels and cellular regeneration all fluctuate over time — and hair, which records what we consume and absorb as it grows, is not exempt from those changes. In many ways, lunar haircare reframes grooming as maintenance rather than transformation.

Esther Segura, co-founder of Spanish beauty and salon brand Secretos del Agua, has been working with lunar cycles in beauty treatments for more than two decades. She suggests that during a full moon, capillaries are more dilated, increasing blood flow to the scalp. Picot adds that treatments such as masks and conditioning rituals may be more effective during the ascending moon, when regeneration is thought to be faster.

Timing, according to Morbach, can also influence practical outcomes. “If you want your hair to grow quickly after a haircut, consider getting it cut between the new and full moon. On the other hand, if you wear your hair short and you want it to grow as slowly as possible, you get it cut during the waning phase of the moon,” he explains. Colouring, he notes, is often recommended during the waning phase too.

Of course, lunar haircare sits in a space between tradition, observation and belief. There is no robust scientific consensus to support its claims, and its principles have largely been passed down through cultural practice rather than clinical study. But for many, that doesn’t invalidate its value. Instead, it offers a framework for slowing down, paying attention and approaching beauty with intention.

Astrologer Susan Miller, founder of Astrology Zone, takes a more emotional view of the moon’s influence. “The moon doesn't rule beauty, it rules your emotions, your feelings, your memories,” she says. “We are more affected by the bodies [planets] that are close to us, and the moon is the closest to us.”

That proximity matters. Unlike distant planets, the moon’s gravitational pull physically interacts with Earth — shaping tides, subtly influencing fluid movement and marking time in a way our bodies instinctively recognise. From sleep patterns to menstrual cycles, many of our internal rhythms still follow its lead, whether consciously or not.

That said, Miller is quick to point out the limits of lunar scheduling. “We can't always wait two weeks or more to cut our hair. We have meetings, or we might have to take a business trip or something”. And, as she reminds us, “luckily, hair grows again”.

There are also moments, she notes, when restraint is wise. “You really have to make sure you don't make dramatic moves when Venus is retrograde.” So, consider it less a rulebook, more a gentle nudge towards reflection. Whether you see lunar haircare as energetic, symbolic or simply a mindful ritual, its appeal lies in what it asks of us: to pause, to notice, and to treat beauty as part of a wider conversation between body, environment and time. Sometimes, that shift in perspective is reason enough to look up — before you sit down in the chair.

The original version of this article appeared in Elle Magazine, and you can read it here.