Interesting survey about the attractiveness of hair

[Simone_Fatale]

Hey guys and girls of the LHC

I hapenned to be googling random hair stuff today and I ended up reading a survey on women, their hair and how men percieve the influence of hair to the overall physical appearance. It appears that voters were exclusively men.

Here is the data:

Hair Preferences
 87% of men surveyed indicated that a woman's hair is important when evaluating her overall appearance

 44% of men surveyed indicated that hair is the first thing they notice about a woman, more than her
clothes (26%), legs (25%), or make-up (4%)

 37% of men surveyed chose length as the aspect of a woman’s hair that they loved the most. Other
aspects men loved most included smoothness (21%), smell (15%), shine (14%), and the way it feels (11%)

 82% of men surveyed indicated sexy hair is a key element to a woman’s overall sex appeal

 46% of the men surveyed found long hair to be the sexiest, while 30% indicated the sexiest hair to them
was any hair that looks and feels healthy

Healthy Hair
 80% of men surveyed indicated they considered it a turn-off if a woman has unhealthy hair

 78% of men surveyed indicated they considered it to be a turn-on if a woman has healthy hair

 86% of men surveyed admitted they believe how a woman takes care of her hair is reflective of the way
she takes care of herself

 Men surveyed described women with shiny and healthy hair as being attractive (78%), healthy (69%), and
sexy (65%)

Hair and Dating/Appearance
 74% of men surveyed indicated that they notice women because of their hair

 Most men surveyed would be more likely to approach a woman at a bar with great hair (58%) than a
woman wearing a low-cut shirt (41%)

 60% of men surveyed would rather date a woman with great hair than a woman with big breasts (39%)

 70% of men surveyed admitted that on a first date, bad hair can distract from the conversation

 54% of men surveyed said that if a woman has great hair, it makes it easier to overlook other physical
features that are less attractive

 52% of men (overall) surveyed admitted that if their date had sexy hair, they would try harder to sleep
with her; 59% of men aged 18-25 surveyed admitted they would try harder to sleep with a date with sexy
hair

 48% of men surveyed indicated they would prefer if their girlfriend/date had nice looking hair but it
wouldn’t be a deal-breaker

 40% of men surveyed indicated that having great hair completes the package of an attractive looking
woman they would want to date; older men (over the age of 25) were more likely to identify with this
statement than those aged 18 to 25

 70% of men surveyed admitted that women should put more effort/time into making their hair look nice
 If their girlfriend/date only had time to do one, 80% of men surveyed would rather she style her hair than
put on make-up (19%)

 69% of men surveyed indicated hair care has the biggest positive impact on a woman’s appearance, more
than make-up (22%) or a manicure/pedicure (7%)

 Men surveyed are about twice more likely to spot a bad hair day on a woman (66%) than a zit (33%)


What are your thoughts and do you agree?

I do think that hair is a big part of somebody's appearance and that it can make a difference when it comes to sex appeal of a woman, but somehow I didn't like the overall feel of the survey. I found it a little bit objectifying, but maybe that's just me.

EDIT: I just realized I posted this in the wrong part of the forum by accident, was going for Hair polls and projects. Sorry!

[gus]

Interesting - and it confirms some of the things that I've believed through lived experience, such as guys complimenting my hair even when the rest of me is decidedly less "sexy."

But as a gay woman, I've gotta admit I don't give a fig what guys consider attractive!

[SkyChild]

Ha! I think that's pretty much all nonsense really. Maybe hair makes more of a difference to her overall appearance but I'm fairly certain if you presented most men with a stooped, wrinkled, bearded lady with no teeth but amazing hair he wouldn't be like "I don't care honey, your hair's amazing!"

Sorry to be cynical but it's like the surveys where men go "I prefer a natural woman" but they don't actually have any idea what natural is and will instead pick a woman with subtle makeup, subtle highlighted hair, a big bouncy blowdry, a wonderbra and one who shaves, waxes and plucks everything from eyebrows down!!

I'm not convinced that they notice hair or care about it that much in real life.

To add to this though - My husband watches an advert for some online clothing company. There are shots of several women wearing different dresses and outfits. The only time he commented "That's a nice dress" was when the model was a brunette (which he claims is his personal preference). When asked, he usually says about blondes (films, TV, adverts) that they have squarer jawlines and masculine faces. Even if they actually don't. Odd, the male brain, isn't it?

[Lyv]

Honestly I think most survey's about what a man or woman likes in the opposite sex tends to be mostly bs. If you're looking up any aspect of a persons appearance you're bound to find some survey that 'proves' how much more attractive that quality is. To answer the question though, no I don't agree. My interactions with men have never been different with short hair than with long hair so I'm just going by my experiences.

[Simone_Fatale]

Ha! I think that's pretty much all nonsense really. Maybe hair makes more of a difference to her overall appearance but I'm fairly certain if you presented most men with a stooped, wrinkled, bearded lady with no teeth but amazing hair he wouldn't be like "I don't care honey, your hair's amazing!"

Sorry to be cynical but it's like the surveys where men go "I prefer a natural woman" but they don't actually have any idea what natural is and will instead pick a woman with subtle makeup, subtle highlighted hair, a big bouncy blowdry, a wonderbra and one who shaves, waxes and plucks everything from eyebrows down!!

I'm not convinced that they notice hair or care about it that much in real life.

To add to this though - My husband watches an advert for some online clothing company. There are shots of several women wearing different dresses and outfits. The only time he commented "That's a nice dress" was when the model was a brunette (which he claims is his personal preference). When asked, he usually says about blondes (films, TV, adverts) that they have squarer jawlines and masculine faces. Even if they actually don't. Odd, the male brain, isn't it?

Oh I totally agree with the point you just made. Men tend to think makeup, nails, hairdos etc all have to look unnatural and fake, but if done properly, all of it can subtly add to somebody's appearance without men even noticing that something was done in the first place.
I'm not sure how much they really notice hair but I can tell that my appearance changes drastically with different lengths of hair and different styles, so I guess hair isn't so irrelevant after all.

Honestly I think most survey's about what a man or woman likes in the opposite sex tends to be mostly bs. If you're looking up any aspect of a persons appearance you're bound to find some survey that 'proves' how much more attractive that quality is. To answer the question though, no I don't agree. My interactions with men have never been different with short hair than with long hair so I'm just going by my experiences.

It's definitely individual and not a rule, although 90% of the men I know have a very similar preference to long hair. It's portrayed more feminine by society norms and we're exposed to those our whole lives, so I'm thinking that must be a big factor.

[Brynja]

I agree with SkyChild here,men don't really have an idea of what natural hair (maybe even a natural woman) might look like,because of the media showing girls with blow dried fake hair,make up and plastic surgery,it's hard to come by a natural woman since most of them (at least where I live) do that stuff but some men will think that it's natural because it 'looks sexy'. Of course a blow dried,straightened hair looks good but by the morning when the girl wakes up near her date looking her natural self,it won't be so pretty because of the damaged hair and skin (if the girl is wearing heavy make up daily that is). I knew a girl who would actually wake up early in the morning,before her boyfriend did just to shower,blow dry her hair,straighten it and get her make up done,she didn't want him to see her natural self! I'm not saying that make up is bad,make up can actually boost your confidence and make you hide those zits but it's a shame when a woman can't leave her house without it.

I agree with the survey,that hair can be important when you want to get a date but I think it's only good for those first impressions. After being with a guy for over 2 months or so,I don't think he will mind a bad hair day or anything. In my experience,men tend to 'stare' more at a long haired woman than her having a short hair,of course it depends on personal preference.

[Kaelee]

Based on the relative rarity of natural and healthy hair in our society, do the guys who responded to this survey actually know what it looks/feels like?

That said, whenever my (male) coworkers happen to catch me with my hair down, they all do double takes. Haha it is past waist length though and I wear it up every day.

[Johannah]

What about the background information about this study?

If a researcher asks a man 'Would unhealthy hair be a turn-off?' it's easy to say yes. But in real life, would they really notice the difference? I'm quite sure if I ask a random guy in my neighborhood whether hair is healthy or not, he wouldn't notice the difference.

[StickyMane]

Yeah, guys may mistake hair that has frizz and kinks as unhealthy when it may be as healthy as it gets. My brother and father wouldn't know the difference between natural me and raw me if they saw me. That goes with many other guys I know.. they have no clue how subtle a girl's makeup and other enhancements can be that really do make all the difference in how they appeal to others.
A woman can have her hair professionally bleached and it looks very silky and shiny and healthy. But take away the bleach, extensions, and heat tools and her hair will not look as great. Now I am pretty raw when it comes to looks (raw as in, no makeup and my hair is usually natural in every way), but subtle changes such as curling my lashes and enhancing my waves and concealing a few spots, even combing my eyebrows can make me look more polished and pretty.. but it's not me in the raw and most guys wouldn't know the difference.

[HintOfMint]

I think these kinds of surveys are just loaded with leading questions that make the dude filling them out lean more towards "yes" or "agree" answers than not.

Don't get me wrong, having long thick hair helps in attraction (of course my perspective could be off, and I'm attracting "hair men," not necessarily giving me a leg up with the general population), but I don't think men are really judging all that much with this sort of particularity. I think they notice a pretty, well groomed woman, but not like "oh my god her hair is so...fried."

And plenty of women with bobs and the like get dates.