From Alia Bhatt to Ananya Panday: Why is everyone cutting their own hair in quarantine?

Should I cut my hair? Sure, it’s quarantine, what else are we going to do. 

I always wanted bangs. Let’s try, it’s quarantine, what else are we going to do. 

Should I colour my hair or bleach it?  Sure, it’s quarantine, what else are we going to do. 

If you’ve had at least one or all of these conversations with yourself in the mirror or with a bestie over facetime, this article is for you. While I write this, please don’t think I am writing this from some high horse where I feel greater than thou in any way. I am at this point too. The only difference being, that just before the lockdown I went for a haircut and the hairstylist said 2 inches and cut off 4. So I already had short hair, to begin with. Did that stop me from constantly trimming my hair through these 2 months, NOPE!  Currently, I am contemplating turning my hair burgundy and the only thing stopping me from cutting bangs are the pictures of me in my goth phase from way back in college. 

But this desperate need to change up our look THIS much has something to do with our brains for sure. There needs to be a deeper reason as to why Alia Bhatt, Ananya Panday, Radhika Apte, and Pooja Hegde in ONE WEEK gave themselves a lockdown bob. Not just that, but we saw the men taking on the quarantine do too. Sonam and Anushka turned hairstylists for their husbands. Vicky and Sunny Kaushal cut each other’s hair. So the question begs to be answered. Why does cutting hair feel SO good? We decided to speak to a professional psychologist and hairstylist to understand the whys and hows of this conundrum. 

Here’s what I think, it feels like this is a way to regain control over something while everything else is spiralling out of control. We don’t know when this situation will end, and we don’t know once it ends what our life is going to be like or look like. So hai transformations could be a way to regain that control we have lost. It is the same logic behind why so many people have taken up baking, cooking, sewing and other activities.

We asked Priyanka Shah, M.A. Psychology (Clinical) to weigh in on this prognosis. She said “Self-care and grooming is something that has taken a hit since the lockdown started. With the growing uncertainty and helplessness, people don't have time to take care of themselves or care if they look presentable. The recent rise of ‘in-house’ haircuts seems to have become a trend for some novelty, and fun in this mindless routine as well getting some amount of handle or control in these helpless times.”

Well, that’s definitely something, but how are our hairstylists feeling about people cutting their own hair at home? We asked celebrity hairstylist Hiral Bhatia to weigh in. Here’s what she had to say: “It’s more about maintenance than anything else. A lot of male clients and women with a shorter do require a trim every 3 weeks, and because that isn’t happening they are using their kitchen scissors to cut their own hair.  I think for the men who are shaving their hair giving themselves a buzz cut, it’s more like a break. They don’t have to go out, don’t have any commitments so just chopping all of their hair rids them of all the treatments and also ensures the growth of healthier hair. While we are trying to advise clients against doing this, we are also putting up tutorials and some do’s and don’ts of giving yourself a haircut. We can show them the correct techniques so they can do it right. We can’t stop them from doing it, and somewhere we understand, but we wish they didn’t cut their hair with regular household scissors.” Hiral also emphasises that women with long hair are refraining from going super short because they know if they goof up, they might have to cut off a lot more of the length to get their shape back. 

So basically, you could look at this time just like a bad breakup which requires a tremendous transformation. Cause when we leave this lockdown, we are definitely not going to be the same people who went into isolation and your hair personifies that change. So cut your hair (we have some handy tips) or colour your hair.

Go for it!