The economy might have slowed and normal life come to a standstill, but in the world of hair, a follicle free-for-all unencumbered by the coronavirus has Americans asking one critical question: To cut or not to cut?
For Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, the answer was clear: “I thought I would do it myself, but I thought it would be a disaster.”
Lightfoot only admitted to having had her hair cut after being caught red-handed when her hairdresser posted on Facebook that giving the mayor a trim had been a pleasure.
Cue a chorus of public shaming.
In her defense, Lightfoot invoked her visibility and the fact that the hairdresser wore a mask, but the accusations of privilege and elitism poured in.
Stuck at home for several weeks, Americans are finding their normally carefully coiffed hairdos growing roots or even transforming into mullets.
Rather than despair, many are using their intriguing growth patterns and bird’s nest-like locks as an antidote to tragedy, posting jokes, memes, video montages and even helpful video tutorials online.
Even the New York Times has gotten in on the act with articles explaining “How to Take Care of Your Hair at Home” and “How to Touch Up Your Roots at Home.”
Not everyone, celebrities included, has seen success. Actor Riz Ahmed of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story seemed to have taken a razor to his head with a near buzz cut.
“Anyone else do a #StayAtHome haircut that got outta hand?” he wrote on Twitter, along with a photograph of his new look and a forlorn expression.
“Least now feels like there’s someone else here when I look in mirror,” he said.
Mary Lee Gannon, a 59-year-old Pittsburg resident, is not a celebrity, but said that her spouse was beginning to look like one.
“I offered to cut my husband’s hair two weeks ago because he looked like Mick Jagger — he turned me down,” she said.
When he finally took her up on her offer, she armed herself with an old pair of scissors previously used to cut their dog’s hair and took his tresses to task.
“He was very pleased, it worked out OK,” she said of the end result.
For child star Julia Butters from Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood cutting her father’s hair did not end in a happily-ever-after storybook finish, even if the experience — and extremely patchy looking hairdo — provided a bit of fun.
“This is one of the bravest fathers I have ever met,” she said as she went to town on his hair in a video posted online.
His response: “There is a thin line between bravery and stupidity.”
Most hairdressers live by the adage that it is better to wait for a cut than embark on experiments that later need to be fixed.
“Don’t cut your hair! You’re going to have more anxiety,” celebrity hairstylist Scotty Cunha, who has counted the Kardashians among his clients, said on the Page Six Style Web site.
This is even more true for chemically dyed hair.
“I worry that some of the individuals who put products on their head do not understand the impact of those chemicals,” said Leslie Young, vice president of communications for the Associated Bodywork and Massage Corp, an organization of workers in the field.
Some people are “so desperate” that they go to their hairdresser’s house or having the stylist come to their home, Young said.
With salons closed, some hairdressers might be tempted to accept, but Young strongly advises against the practice.
“It’s dangerous,” she said, adding that their insurance would not be valid in the event of any issues.
Some stylists are trying to make a little side money by giving their advice in online videos or directly to their clients by videoconferencing.
Even though Americans normally go every six to eight weeks to the hairdresser, Young said that most seem resigned to waiting longer — and too bad it if means revealing a few secrets in the meantime, particularly in the very blond world of television.
Faced with that very prospect, journalist Kayla Tausche of CNBC posted a picture of herself on Twitter as a child.
“You’re going to find out soon and it’s best you hear it from me directly. I’m a dark brunette,” she said.
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