IQ and hair cues – can your hair indicate how intelligent you may be? 

It’s not a science, but it certainly is a societal perception. 

Hair is a subconscious trigger that can indicate to someone if you’re capable, dynamic, interesting, meticulous – traits that are all associated with how aware, smart and well, intelligent you are. 

People tend to associate unkempt manes, flyaway frizz, and shoddy attempts at taming your hair into a knotty bun with laziness, unprofessionalism, a lack of self-awareness and surprisingly, or perhaps not entirely – a lack of punctuality, efficiency, reliability. 
Gone are the days and the exalted stereotypes of ‘the super smart nerdy girl’ looking like she hadn’t seen a mirror in years. Keep the oversized glasses, the baggy t-shirts, the ripped jeans – but there’s a veneer, a polish, a sort of down home glamour that takes you from being slightly repulsive and vaguely pitiful to owning the ‘shabby chic’ look in a clever and enticing way. That’s where we are now. 

And a huge percentage of that polish comes from your hair. Hair can either make or break the impression people have when they see you. In the first few minutes, it’s not so much a case of what’s in your head than what’s on top of it. 

Now that doesn’t mean you need to immediately run out and get a shocking makeover – it means you need to adapt your look to suit your lifestyle. And your lifestyle isn’t always about being the efficient co-worker, or the doting girlfriend – you’ve got other facets to you. Like you change your shirt, so you should change your hair to embody the character you want to bring out to play today. 

Now if that means slicking your hair back into a high ponytail to accentuate your cheekbones so you can photograph like a goddess at a party, or letting your hair fall in loose waves to take on a bohemian princess vibe for the latest beach day out – do it.  Nothing says ‘she’s smart’ like knowing how to look and when to look that way. What’s more – it’s control. It imparts a great sense of control to you and inspires others to truly believe you’re in control too. You can work the room with a flick of your mane, be sexy, be sweet, be whatever you need to be to get your point across. 

As you may have probably guessed by now, this isn’t about theoretical IQ – it’s environmental, practical. How you thrive in real-time, how versatile you are. The way you look is half the battle – people are instantly drawn and more likely to place their trust in someone who is thriving in their surroundings, who doesn’t look out of place or seem out of sorts. Sometimes, you need to look the part – acting it comes more naturally after that. 

Whoever said being intelligent and being stylish were mutually exclusive things wasn’t being very smart. 

Text by Amanda