Growing up, I always liked playing with my hair. I still love messing with it, braiding it, cutting it, bleaching, and dying it. You name it; I’ve done it! But I especially enjoy thinking about what hair means to different people. With that in mind, I’ve decided to compile the most iconic hair quotes by fashion icons, authors, and musicians.
As I have mentioned, I’ve done pretty much everything a person could possibly do with their hair. Believe it or not, it’s actually holding up pretty well. But unlike many people, I’ve never really considered hair sacred.
In the quotes I’ve collected, you’ll see the full range of emotions people can have for their hair. To some, it means freedom and identity. To others, it’s a chore and a nuisance. But no matter where you fall on this interesting spectrum, you’ll find a quote that speaks to you below.
Does Your Mane Matter? Hair Quotes That Answer the Age-Old Question
#1. “Hair is a beautiful form of self-expression.” — Carolyn Aronson
#2. “Hair brings one’s self-image into focus; it is vanity’s proving ground. Hair is terribly personal, a tangle of mysterious prejudices.” — Shana Alexander
#3. “Anyone can be confident with a full head of hair. But a confident bald man — there’s your diamond in the rough.” — Larry David
#4. “Hairstyle is the final tip-off whether or not a woman really knows herself.” — Hubert De Givenchy
#5. “I do maintain that if your hair is wrong, your entire life is wrong.” — Morrissey
It’s a Love/Hate Relationship: Hair Quotes About Naturally Curly Hair
#6. “My curls defined me; even my personality was curly, bouncy, springy, and playfully twisted.” ― Elise Allen
#7. “Her hair is troublesome and curly… It falls in long, black strands, but each strand has a gentle, complicated undulation traveling through it, like a mild electric shock or a thrill that gives it a life of its own; it is visually analogous to a tremolo on a musical note.” ― Amit Chaudhuri
#8. “Naturally curly hair is a curse, and don’t ever let anyone tell you different.” ― Mary Ann Shaffer
#9. “Some of us are happy with our African hair; thank you very much. I don’t want some poor Indian girl’s hair. And I wish to God I could buy black hair products from black people for once. How are we going to make it in this country if we don’t make our own business?” ― Zadie Smith
#10. “Relaxing your hair is like being in prison — you’re caged in; your hair rules you; you didn’t go running with Curt today because you don’t want to sweat out this straightness; you’re always battling to make your hair do what it wasn’t meant to do.” ― Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
#11. “But I like my big Afro. I also liked when my hair was longer and relaxed. I’m happy to have choices. They’re mine to make.” ― Nicola Yoon
#12. “It doesn’t have to be dreads. You can wear an Afro or braids like you used to. There’s a lot you can do with natural hair.” ― Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Changing It Up: Hair Quotes About Finding a Good Stylist
#13. “I think that the most important thing a woman can have — next to talent, of course — is her hairdresser.” — Joan Crawford
#14. “Hairdressers are a wonderful breed. You work one-on-one with another human being, and the object is to make them feel so much better and to look at themselves with a twinkle in their eye.” — Vidal Sassoon
#15. “Even geniuses can get things wrong. Look at Einstein’s unfortunate choice of a hairdresser.” — Joss Stirling
#16. “Wind is the most skilled hairdresser! Find windy weather and let your hair be shaped creatively!” ― Mehmet Murat ildan
#17. “A woman who cuts her hair is about to change her life.” — Coco Chanel
Poetic and Insightful Literary Hair Quotes
#18. “Having a haircut is like cleaning the bedroom of your thoughts.” ― Alain Bremond-Torrent
#19. “Symbolic of life, hair bolts from our head[s]. Like the earth, it can be harvested, but it will rise again. We can change its color and texture when the mood strikes us, but in time, it will return to its original form, just as Nature will, in time, turn our precisely laid-out cities into a weed-way.” ― Diane Ackerman
#20. “It was an odd situation. For a century and a half, men got rid of their own hair, which was perfectly comfortable, and instead, covered their heads with something foreign and uncomfortable. Very often, it was actually their own hair made into a wig. People who couldn’t afford wigs tried to make their hair look like a wig.” ― Bill Bryson
#21. “Beware of her fair hair, for she excels
All women in the magic of her locks;
And when she winds them round a young man’s neck,
She will not ever set him free again.” ― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
#22. “She wears the braid every day, and always, by lunchtime, the curls and ringlets of her thick mane have managed to escape in rebellious little tendrils. But she refuses to surrender to that hair of hers, and every morning, it goes back into the braid.” ― Gayle Forman
Iconic Hair Quotes from Songs and Musicals
#23. “Loved you last fall
Right up to the summer
31st of February, you were never coming
But I love the way your hair feels, yeah I love the way your hair feels
I liked you in July
Loved you in September
Like the traffic in LA I thought this was forever
But I love the way your hair feels, I still love the way your hair feels” — H.A.I.R. by Humble the Poet
#24. “Gonna bleach him out, peroxide on him
Hair on the floor like a memory of him
Now I feel brand new
This chick is over you” — Hair by Little Mix
#25. “Why men great ‘til they gotta be great?
Don’t text me, tell it straight to my face
Best friend sat me down in the salon chair
Shampoo press, get you out of my hair” — Truth Hurts by Lizzo
#26. “Good hair means curls and waves, no
Bad hair means you look like a slave, no
At the turn of the century
It’s time for us to redefine who we be
You can shave it off like a South African beauty
Or get in on lock like Bob Marley
You can rock it straight like Oprah Winfrey
If it’s not what’s on your head, it’s what’s underneath, and say” — I Am Not My Hair by India Arie ft. Akon
To Conclude
Undoubtedly, hair represents different things to different people. Some, obviously, let their lives revolve around bad hair days and finding the right stylist for their mane. Moreover, while I am usually pretty cavalier about my hair, the fact that I love fussing with it so much would probably place me in that category. Meanwhile, others consider hair an outdated symbol of beauty, so they don’t bother doing it up often.
Personally, I can understand both standpoints. After all, hair as a symbol has been romanticized in poetry, literature, and music for centuries. After all, it has represented beauty and even history. Consequently, cutting it all off has come to represent the shedding of past identities and relationships.
So have you considered how you feel about your hair? If you’re unable to verbalize it just now, these hair quotes could help you figure out your feelings once and for all.
