In London, Jaclyn Smith, also known as Chand, offers Hair Ceremonies under the name The Hair Priestess. The Release and Refresh Ceremony is an energy-cleansing haircut that spotlights intention setting, a head massage, and crystal healing alongside hairstyling, while the Brushing Ritual involves brushing and sage smudging to “remove energetic buildup.”

Smith, who has worked in hairdressing for more than 20 years and offers the ceremonies from the Errol Douglas salon, states that she has infused her own recent experiences in ancient spiritual medicines into her hairdressing treatments, to offer “a healing and wholesome hair service.” Speaking to UK Glamour, Smith noted that “the idea of the Hair Ceremony is to incorporate a more cleansing sort of ritual into a haircut. It’s more intention-focused and nurturing.” Smith adds that hair is significant when it comes to the body’s energy as “each hair is like antennae that picks up energy around us… By brushing with intention, we can release and move energy that’s been absorbed by the hair, and we use the sage to transmute whatever is freed up.”

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Freija Collective salon

In Los Angeles, Jo Marie Riedl, a hairstylist and reiki master, offers a Reiki Ceremonial Haircut at the city’s Freija Collective salon. She describes the haircut as ideal for issues spanning from “hair anxiety” to “emotional distress.” The process involves reiki healing with a scalp massage; a gua sha treatment to release tension; a cut, with Riedl noting that “getting rid of dead ends assists in releasing and cutting stagnant energies”; and an oracle card reading, with these cards holding uplifting motivational messages.

Facials, too, are getting an energy-enhancing boost. At the Glasshouse salon in London’s Hackney, the salon’s founder and director, Olivia Crighton, who is a systematic kinesiologist – a practice that involves muscle testing to evaluate various functions of the body - and a reiki practitioner, offers an Energy Medicine Facial. This treatment channels “restorative, healing energies to leave you and your skin feeling bright, balanced, and restored,” the salon says. And the Palm of Feronia Crystal Infused Facial draws on “ancient principles of aromatherapy and crystal healing, tailored to your skin and chosen ritual…to cleanse and stimulate the [third eye].”

WEB Leila Sadeghee Ritual
Leila Sadeghee ritual

And while not literally a haircut, London energy worker Leila Sadeghee undertakes what she terms a “karmic haircut,” as part of the energy-healing practices she offers. While the term refers to cutting away negative energy rather than hair, Sadeghee tells VML Intelligence that it’s a helpful metaphor as “people understand… because they know how a haircut can give you a feeling of lightening the load.” As Sadeghee told Vogue, this method of energy cleansing allows one to “trim away” the negative, and “even a tiny trim can be helpful to feel lighter and less encumbered.” Sadeghee will incorporate the karmic haircut into her Autumn Equinox Timeline Jump & Goal Clarification Ritual, taking place on September 21 at east London wellbeing studio She’s Lost Control.

Embracing non-traditional spirituality in all aspects of life—including hair styling—chimes with the New spiritual rebels trend identified in our 2023 report “The Age of Re-Enchantment”. This movement pointed out that as “younger generations come of age in an uncertain world, they are seeking meaning and control in practices like tarot, crystals, and manifesting, reinventing spirituality for the TikTok era.” According to our data, 51% of generation Z report an interest in non-traditional spirituality, compared to 34% of the total population. As the global outlook is ever more tumultuous, weaving spiritual and healing moments into the everyday is likely to continue to hold appeal, especially among younger generations.

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