Watching Hair Consultation TikToks Is the Only Thing Soothing My Election Anxiety | Allure

Nov 02, 2024

It’s past my bedtime on a weeknight, and I’m wide awake after yet another day of being inundated with news about the 2024 presidential election. Every day of this cycle has felt like a screaming match to convince society at large that I deserve to have a say in what happens to my own body.

So yeah, I’m numbing out with a TikTok binge. It’s not helping very much; I’m usually just blasted by more political content—there are just some influencer thirst traps, celebrity gossip, and discourse for the chronically online happening in-between. But there’s one type of TikTok video that never fails to bring me joy despite my anticipation of impending doom: the hairstylist consultation.

I know it doesn’t sound like much to some, watching a stylist ask their client what they want done to their hair. Many of these videos don’t even show the process of the haircut itself; it’s a pleasant surprise when you actually get to see the resulting transformation without waiting for a part two or three or four. Why watch, then? Well, it’s like witnessing a safe space being created for someone in real time—which winds up feeling like a safe space all my own.

Some of the stylists I follow do this by simply opening a calm and respectful dialogue about the haircuts themselves. Liza Slocks, a hairstylist in Toronto, initially caught my attention with the insightful questions she asks clients about their reference photos and her honest feedback about how much everyday styling a certain cut may require.

This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.

Stylist Dusty Schlabach in Los Angeles, who specializes in curly and coily hair textures, is often faced with the task of fixing haircuts done elsewhere that weren’t up to par with standard curl-cutting techniques. He’s gentle yet brutally honest when he tells a client they might need to cut off a lot of hair to even out their length or revive their curl pattern, and he explains these things in such a detailed and practical way that his clients are almost always excited by his proposed vision for a haircut.

This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.

Other stylists do this by making a point to provide an LGBTQ-friendly experience, sometimes in politically conservative regions. Clients who sit in Portland stylist Jules Heron’s chair often bring specific references and a lot of times intimate stories about their hair—it's a protective shield against anxiety or it's helping them explore their gender or it's becoming a sensory issue—which Heron is always able to translate into a fitting haircut that leaves them looking totally refreshed.

This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.

Omaha-based hairstylist JPalm starts every video by asking their client if they’d like to share their pronouns. But my favorite part is when they ask, “Is it OK if I touch you?” How many times have you wished someone asked you that in real life?

This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.

The harsh reality is that humans aren’t always the best listeners, whether intentionally or not. People don’t always listen when you correct their misgendering of you. They don’t always listen when you tell them not to touch you. Hell, some hairstylists don’t even listen when you tell them you only want a trim. But in their consultation videos, these hairstylists create an environment where people are always listened to, and unconditionally so. It doesn’t matter what their identity is or what type of hair they have or what their aesthetic is like.

Whether a stylist does something as major as help someone affirm their gender for the first time or something as simple as giving a client “the usual,” an in-depth consultation gives power and autonomy to the client. By documenting them on TikTok, stylists give viewers that same warm and cozy feeling of trust and an example of how people should be treated at the salon and, more importantly, beyond. My favorite hairstylists on TikTok are doing this intentionally.

As Slocks tells Allure, “[Consultations are] an opportunity for clients to focus on themselves without any rush and for viewers to consider how they might approach their own haircut if given the freedom to express their needs openly.” Schlabach says wants people to feel “found, heard, and understood,” whether they’re sitting in his chair or watching from their phone.

At JPalm’s salon, they emphasize freedom of identity, expression, and safety—they make their consultation videos as a means of extending that environment to anyone who needs it. “We want viewers to feel the same sense of belonging and empowerment online as they do in our salon, encouraging them to express their individuality confidently.”

Right now, we can’t be sure if everyone in this country will have legally enshrined bodily autonomy weeks, months, or even years from now—and it causes a very special kind of existential exhaustion to have to shout from the rooftops that you deserve to be treated like a human and never feel heard. Those safe spaces that stylists are creating in their salons and allowing us to see from home are certainly not accurate reflections of our nation’s politics at this current moment in history. They probably won’t be for a very long time regardless of Tuesday’s result. But imagining myself in place of these clients, having their voices heard and their individuality rejoiced in the safety of their stylist’s chair will keep me holding on in the meantime.

More in the news:

Now, Brooke Shields breaks down her 10-minute hair routine:

Don't forget to follow Allure on Instagram and TikTok.