Hailey Bieber is one of the biggest beauty influences in the business. She kick started an obsession with doughnut glazed nails and strawberry girl makeup and her Gen Z minded beauty brand Rhodecontinues to reel in rave reviews. While she's all for experimentation in the manicure and make-up department though, it turns out she's a little more conservative when it comes to hair. Nowadays, anyway.
In a TikTok video shared by influencer and new mum Melody Miles, the creator expressed the urge to copy Hailey’s boardroom bob. ‘Hailey Bieber makes me want to cut my hair,’ she said, cradling her newborn. ‘But I know if I cut it, I will not look how she looks with short hair. I will look awful.’
To everyone’s surprise, Hailey herself responded in the comments with some heartfelt advice. ‘You would look stunning, she wrote. ‘But let’s hold hands and agree to not make any big hair decisions postpartum. Personally giving myself at least a year.’
Hailey’s comment sparked a wave of agreement in the comments section. One creator @Zoe said, ‘I chopped my hair postpartum and instantly regretted and am still trying to grow it out. Something about that time makes you wanna do something different to your appearance lol.’
Image credit: @haileybieber
So, why does that postpartum period inspire the urge to change things up, especially when it comes to hair and make-up? After giving birth, women experience a significant hormonal shift, which can affect mood, self-esteem, and decision-making, but there's got to be more to it than that.
'I get the compulsion,' says Annie Vischer, Grazia's beauty director, 'maternity leave is such a privilege, being at home with this bundle of joy that you're utterly obsessed with is such a privilege, but cut to six weeks down the line of the same sets of loungewear, very little make-up - I love my make-up - and wearing either a greasy-hair-day bun or a scooped-up topknot day in and day out and you're suddenly craving a shake-up.' Would she have gone for the chop? 'I'm the wrong person to ask,' Annie laughs, 'I'm a long hair girl through and through, but I will say that by the time I was halfway through mat leave, my hair was so long it was grazing my bum and I practically bolted to the salon to have seven inches cut off - I wanted a bra-strap-length layered cut that looked polished. It wasn't a drastic hair makeover, I'd never have gone for the boardroom bob, but gosh it felt good.'
Renee Washington, Grazia's digital fashion and beauty writer, lives online. With a penchant for wispy lashes and streetwear, she writes about the worlds of fashion and beauty from the viewpoint of the modern fashion girlie..
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