On Hair & Self Care with The Chapel London

Recently I was invited to The Chapel London to have my haircut by the lovely Luke Gilbert. 

On what felt like an impulse due to it being my birthday and a mad Pinterest session pinning photos of J-Law’s GREAT hair, I decided we should chop my hair off.

Surrounded by The Chapel’s lovely interiors, and sipping on a complimentary mint tea & fizzy water, distracted by lots of chocolate, snip by snip my long(ish) hair was cut off.

Why am I going on about getting my haircut? I hear you wonder … a haircut is just a haircut right?

You see that’s what I thought too, until it wasn’t.

I hadn’t realised how much I’d fallen back into a habit of rolling out of bed 5 minutes before I left the house & perhaps haphazardly slapping on some BB cream & mascara on the tube (if I could be bothered). I hadn’t realised that somewhere between stopping drinking, and all the inner work I’ve been doing, I’d stopped bothering with my outer appearance.

Convinced somehow that it was vain to care about my looks, about my hair, and my makeup, and my clothes. Yet our (my) appearance is precious, it is how we present ourselves to the world – and more importantly to ourselves.

When we (I) take time to look after my appearance, I am taking the time to care for myself.

From the moment I stepped into The Chapel, I felt special, cared for, looked after. I had nothing to do for that hour and fifteen minutes except be looked after by the people who were cutting my hair.

It was an occasion, not a chore.

And my new shorter hair requires styling, I can’t just scrape it back anymore (trust me I tried, “tuft” is how I would describe that situation) and in the styling and washing I’ve come to appreciate these moments as my time, part of my #boringselfcare routine. An occasion, not a chore.

Daisy Buchanan writes beautifully and carefully in her book How to be a Grown Up about learning to wash her hair &  the meditative power of taking the time to wash it:

This simple, often daily act of hair washing transformed from a chore to an occasion. Looking after the outside to help you take care of the inside. Stepping back, taking time to care for yourself.

The haircut at The Chapel London kickstarted this for me, and it is the every day that keeps me going. The joy I’ve found in washing and styling my new (short) hair kick started the self care I began to find in painting my nails, washing my face & even brushing my teeth.

You (I) don’t need permission to enjoy looking good, to enjoy feeling good, to luxuriate in the meditative state of washing your hair, to celebrate bothering to brush your teeth – you brushed your teeth, go you! – to spend money on a great haircut, to spend money on new shoes & a dress that makes you bum look great, to save every penny of your paycheck if you want too.

You (I) don’t need permission to take care of yourself.

Thanks to The Chapel London for cutting my hair & enabling me to spend the money I would have done on a haircut on hosting for this blog, and thanks to Luke for cutting my hair & in the process helping me to take care of my outside again xxx

This post is lovingly linked to the following websites:

TriumphantTales / Brilliant Blog Posts