Study: Kiwi Women Choose Hair Over Bra Size and Men!

Kiwi women would rather go bald than change their hair for a man and would rather drop a bra size than shave their head, according to a new trans-Tasman survey.

Independent research commissioned by global hair care brand Herbal Essences has revealed a number of insights into how Kiwi and Australian women feel about their hair.

According to the Herbal Essences Study a quarter of Kiwi women said they would rather go down a bra size than shave their head, similarly 24 percent of Australian women agreed that a smaller cup size was preferable to losing their locks.

Despite an unwillingness to lose their treasured tresses, women in both New Zealand and Australia said they would rather shave their head for charity than change their hairstyle for a man!

Nearly two thirds of Kiwi women (63%) said they would have a drastic cut or go bald for charity. Australian women were slightly more charitable with 71 percent saying they would be prepared to be hairless for a worthy cause.

In contrast only 25 percent of New Zealand women said they would change their hairstyle to make themselves more attractive to men.

Australian women were even less likely to make this change with just 14 percent saying men had any influence on what they did with their hair.

Top New Zealand psychologist Sara Chatwin says she’s pleased to see how confident New Zealand women are in the choices they make about their appearance.

“It’s empowering to know that women are more likely to shave their heads for charity than change their hair for men! At least what women do with their hair is ‘all about them’ and their needs and their desires. That’s important, because if we learn to love and accept ourselves first, then we can give of our best to others.”

Chatwin says the results also show that women perceive their hair as a more defining feature of their femininity than their breast size.

“To emphasise your bust you can wear a push up bra but long hair takes a lot of nurture and care. Hair is self-identifying for women and represents who we are,” she says.

When it came to hair fashion New Zealand women rated higher in the glamour stakes with 40 percent saying they favoured long luscious hair. Practicality won out for Australian women with 41 percent preferring mid-length sensible hair.

The Herbal Essences Luscious Hair Survey also asked Kiwi women which celebrity’s hair they most admired.

‘Pretty Woman’ Julia Roberts was the favourite with more than a third (36%) of Kiwi women saying she had the ‘most luscious hair’, this was followed by Angelina Jolie (23%), Jennifer Aniston (18%) and Demi Moore (12%).

-Ends-

If using this content please attribute the study to ‘Herbal Essences’

Notes to Editors:

*The Herbal Essences Luscious Hair Survey
The survey was commissioned by Herbal Essences and conducted by Consumer Link (a division of Colmar Brunton) in New Zealand. Five hundred male and female respondents were interviewed nationwide. The Australian research was conducted by Galaxy Research in Australia and 652 women were surveyed.

Sara Chatwin Biography: MNZPsS; M.A. Hons; Registered NZCER Tester; Sports Psych. Cert.AUT

Sara Chatwin is a Registered Psychologist with 14 years of experience in the field. Sara is used widely on television. She has hosted and provided expert commentary on a number of tv documentaries, family series and reality series (How Normal Are You; Family Confidential, My House My Castle, DNZ, Flipside,One News, Sky Sport, tv3 news, Target). Additionally she contributes to many radio programmes (The Edge; More FM, The Breeze; NewsTalk ZB) and gives comment in print media on things 'psychological', social and para-medical. Sara's regularly contributes to weekly and monthly magazines. (Cleo, New Idea, NZ Fitness, Family Health Diary, Sport Unleashed). Sara also runs her own psychology practice MindWorks in Auckland.