Last year, if someone had told me that by trimming my hair by the Moon I could increase my hair’s length, I would have laughed. After all, what does the Moon have to do with hair? Does lunar hair cutting really work?
I first came across lunar hair cutting about 6 months ago. I read accounts of women on the internet who had grown their hair to incredibly long lengths using this premise. There’s no way that this could be true, could it? Is it really possible to follow the Moon’s phases to enhance and encourage hair growth?
I had to find out if my 4c hair could reap the benefits of this lunar magic.
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What is Lunar Hair Cutting?
Why the Moon?
Many different cultures and traditions regard the Moon as a source of influence over natural occurrences and our day-to-day lives. The Moon influences the ocean tides, the migration of animals and birds, and it can even influence our biological systems. According to some belief systems, the Moon can be used as guidance for the best times for planting vegetables, harvesting crops, getting married, and even cutting your hair!
What is Lunar Hair Cutting?
Lunar hair cutting involves following the Moon’s cycle to determine the best days for cutting or trimming one’s hair. There are different methods for determining the optimal days for promote hair’s growth and thickness. The first, is to use the Moon’s lunar phase and the second, is to use the Moon sign. (The Moon can also be used to determine the best days to minimize hair growth as well. Going forward, I will only focus on using lunar hair cutting for growing long, luxurious hair.)
Lunar Phase
The belief behind lunar hair cutting is that hair growth is impacted by the growth of the moon during its lunar phase. Cutting hair during these times can impact hair’s grow by either increasing or decreasing its length and fullness.
What is a Lunar Phase?
The lunar cycle repeats every 29.5 days. During this cycle, the Moon changes its appearance. These changes are known as lunar phases. There are eight phases of the Moon’s lunar cycle: New Moon, Waxing Crescent, First Quarter, Waxing Gibbous, Full Moon, Waning Gibbous, Third Quarter and Waning Crescent. These phases are identified by the increase (waxing) or decrease(waning) of light reflected by the Moon over the course of its lunar cycle.
New and Full Moons
Two phases of the Moon play a particular role in determining the best days for cutting your hair for growth: The New Moon and the Full Moon.
New Moon: A new moon describes when the Moon lies between the Earth and the Sun. This creates a shadow over the Earth-facing side of the Moon, giving the illusion of no Moon in the night sky.
Full Moon: A Full Moon describes the position of the Earth between the Sun and the Moon. The entire Earth-facing side of the Moon is illuminated and is visible.
Moon Signs
What are Moon Signs?
Just as there are 12 signs of the Sun’s zodiac, astrology also follows the 12 signs of the Moon’s zodiac: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces.
While the Sun travels through the 12 constellations over the course of twelve months, the Moon travels through these constellations at a quicker speed. In astrology, the Sun takes one month to transit through a zodiac sign. The Moon, on the other hand, takes just under three days to transit through a zodiac sign. This is called a “Moon sign”.
Fertile and Infertile Moon signs
In astrology, signs are divided into the four classical elements: fire, earth, air, and water. These elements have various attributes that describe the energy that they embody. One such attribute describes the fertility (signs that create growth) or infertility (signs that foster stagnation) within the zodiac.
Fertile Moon Signs
+ Water signs: Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces
+ Earth signs: Taurus, Capricorn
Infertile Moon Signs
+ Fire signs: Aries, and Sagittarius
+ Air signs: Libra, Aquarius, and Gemini
Fertile Moon signs include the water and earth signs with the exception of Virgo, which tends to represent the harvest. The infertile Moon signs, on the other hand, include the fire and air signs with the exception of Leo, which, because of its thick, luscious mane embodies luscious, growth energy.
Micro- and Supermoons
In addition to these Moon signs, there are two astrological phases that describe lunar phenomenon: micromoon and supermoon.
Supermoon: Describes the event when the Moon is closest to the Earth (lunar perigee) during the time of a New or Full Moon.
Micromoon: Describes when the Moon is farthest to the Earth (lunar apogee) during the time of a New or Full Moon.
Cutting for Growth and Thickness
By following the Moon as it transitions through its phases and/or the 12 signs of the zodiac, we can capitalize on the energy of each sign brings to produce the best outcomes for thick, long, and luscious hair.
A simple method for determining the most advantageous days for cutting your hair, is to cut your hair as the Moon is waxing. This describes the period when the Moon is growing from New to Full. The belief is that as the Moon “grows”, so will your hair.
In addition to using the Moon phases, you can also incorporate the Moon sign, for added growing energy. Cutting your hair while the Moon is in Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces, Taurus, Capricorn, can help you to grow a thick and long head of hair. On the other hand, cutting your hair in Leo can help you to grow a thicker head of hair.
Benefits of Lunar Hair Cutting
I have to admit, when I first heard about lunar hair cutting I was skeptical. After all, hair grows from your scalp. What we do to our ends can’t doesn’t stimulate hair growth. However, having practised lunar hair cutting and trimming for the last six months, my hair appears to be thriving.
Regularly trimming your ends aids the maintenance of hair’s aesthetics, by removing damaged and split ends. This in turn can encourage length retention. If you do not regularly trim your ends or do not have a trim schedule, you may find a schedule based on the lunar calendar to be beneficial. You may also find that the lunar cycle can help you to refine an already existing hair care schedule.
So Does Lunar Hair Cutting Work?
For the most part, superstitions have no foundations in hair care. However, sometimes we can use them to inject a bit of fun into our daily hair care routine. After taking a closer look at lunar hair cutting, I concluded that there are indeed benefits to this practice. I used this system to update my previous trim schedule. I now have a better handle on managing my split ends and remove my split ends as they occur. This affords me better control over the overall look and feel of the ends of my hair.
Have you ever tried cutting your hair based on a lunar cycle? What was the outcome?
