Unless your job revolves around Zoom calls that are much longer than needed, for most of us, the hairdresser is where we spend the longest time staring back at ourselves in one sitting. Salon and barbershop mirrors are a part of the experience that has become normalised, but we rarely question it – and why would we? Hairdressing is a practice that is physically out of our hands and concerns our appearance, so surely we’d want to keep an eye on how someone is altering our hair, for better or for worse.

However, for some people the constant presence of the mirror can be daunting, even distressing, which is leading to a growing number of salons removing them from the process altogether. In artist and hairstylist Daniel Kelly’s gender-neutral salon in Peckham, art hangs on the walls instead of mirrors. Inspired by the salons of early modern France, Kelly’s concept was born in pop-up form in 2011 as a way to alternatively exhibit their artwork. Their permanent space, DKUK, opened in 2014 and now features new exhibitions by artists every three months – although Kelly admits that the mirrorless element has become their main selling point. “Hairdressers need bright lights, but a photographer would never use them. Bright lighting makes the shadows look horrible on your face,” Kelly says. “You go to the salon to feel good as well as look good. Sitting in front of a mirror with hair and shadows across your face, I would say, is going to make you feel worse.” 

Kelly’s clients, some of whom travel from as far as Cambridge and Nottingham to visit, have described their mirror-free experiences at DKUK as meditative, relaxing and likened them to a heightened sensory experience. But it’s not just the customers that benefit. “We’re a neurodivergent bunch of staff members, and I think it’s better for our mental health to not be in front of a mirror all day,” Kelly says. They point to common instances where a mirror may not be present during a haircut: at home, on-location photoshoots and even during stages of hairdressing training. “It’s just a case of working around the chair a bit more. It feels more sculptural when we’re doing it because we’re looking at it three-dimensionally, rather than just relying on the mirror.”

Sophia Hilton is the owner of Brick Lane’s Not Another Salon, which opened in 2014 and became the UK’s first official gender-neutral salon three years later. In addition to a silent service and a reduced pricing initiative for customers who earn under £25,000, since 2022 she’s offered a service where mirrors are covered with a sheet. “It’s really important that we promote this because it normalises that it’s okay to not want the mirror in front of you, especially when some customers feel awkward bringing it up,” she tells Dazed.

She explains that mirrorless haircuts remove the anxiety-inducing in-between stage we’ve all experienced before a haircut is complete. “The team love mirrorless cuts because there’s nothing more beautiful than removing that sheet from the mirror and seeing the look on their face,” Hilton continues. “Sometimes you’re contributing to someone’s mental health more than you’ll ever know.” 

For 31-year-old client Ayisha, the reveal was the best part of her first mirrorless experience at Not Another Salon a few months ago. “At the time, my self-esteem was quite low. The idea of facing myself for a good hour and a half was intimidating,” she explains. Ayisha, who is from a mixed Caribbean background, understands why people – especially from her own community – would want a mirror around, especially if they’ve had negative experiences in the past. For her, the key is trust. “I probably wouldn’t jump to a mirrorless cut if it was my first time with a stylist,” she says – she’s been seeing her own, Jeremy, for two years. “But once you build that rapport with them, I’d say 100 per cent go for it. I felt so much better as I left the salon. I felt physically lighter. I prefer it – there’s less pressure.”

But where does this pressure come from? According to clinical psychologist Dr Sophie Mort, it isn’t the mirror that’s the problem, it’s how we use them as individuals. Mirrors can help shape self-perception, enhance self-awareness and improve confidence, she says, although our relationship with them nosedives when we focus on our perceived flaws over our strengths. “This use of mirrors can contribute to negative body image, and for some, particularly those prone to conditions like body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), exacerbate obsessive thoughts about appearance, leading to increased anxiety and low self-esteem,” she explains. “In such cases, the mirror shifts from being a neutral object to a trigger for self-criticism and distress.” 

Referring to DKUK and Not Another Salon’s mirrorless services as “compassionate and thoughtful”, Dr Mort believes that clients who opt for mirrorless treatments are less likely to engage in obsessive self-scrutiny, easing body image concerns and opening them up to a more relaxing salon experience. In addition to people living with conditions like BDD, she says that they could benefit gender non-conforming and trans people, too. “By removing mirrors, a safer space is created where clients of all backgrounds can sit in comfort and express their needs without fear of judgement.”

Admitting that the idea of a mirror-free haircut made them nervous at first, Rowan Lee is now a DKUK regular and describes the service as “therapeutic”. “Over the last year, each time I’ve visited I relish the fact that it’s not there more and more,” they say. “I’ve realised that it’s something that can add to the anxiety that comes with a haircut.” Lee, who is non-binary and queer, began visiting DKUK while they were adjusting their gender presentation. As well as feeling uncomfortable when visiting heteronormative hairdressing settings in the past, they admit that they’re prone to picking apart their appearance and have struggled with low self-esteem, body image issues and gender dysphoria. “Having a few hours where my reflection is taken out of my hands is liberating in that sense.”

While Dr Mort notes that a mirrorless haircut might not be for everyone – especially those who prefer watching the process and providing input along the way – Kelly hopes that offering a less appearance-focused approach to hairdressing will provide comfort to their community of clients from marginalised communities. “The world is a really scary place, and hairdressing – especially in a mirrorless salon – can offer a bit of a time out,” they say. Clients agree. “When I come out of DKUK I feel confidence in a way that I haven’t in the past,” Lee says. “Now, I wouldn’t want to get my haircut any other way.”