Drastic Hair Changes That Celebs Admit They Regret

If you've ever bleached your hair at home, cut your bangs before you were ready, or gone against your better judgment to follow trending styles, you know about hair regret. Even though strands grow back and color grows out, making a drastic change to your tresses is always a risk. Our hair is heavily tied to our identity, so if you end up hating the change, it can feel like a devastating blow. The good news is that you're never alone in this feeling. Many of the celebrities we idolize have been there and know all about hair remorse, meaning the factors that make us more likely to regret our hair changes definitely don't discriminate.

"In my experience, people often regret hair changes due to unrealistic expectations, impulsive decisions, and miscommunication," explains salon owner and celebrity hairstylist Jennifer Korab. "Many bring in inspiration photos without considering their hair type, face shape, or the maintenance required." In an exclusive chat with Glam, Korab reveals that it's also important to consider your personal style before experimenting with your hair, as what looks great on someone else might not work with the aesthetic you're wanting.

But if you do end up regretting a big cut or color, know that it's not the end of the world. As Korab says, feeling confident in your new look is the most important thing, so try to "own the change" even if it's not what you were expecting. You can also take comfort in the fact that stars like Kim Kardashian and Beyoncé know exactly what you're going through. 

Kim Kardashian isn't the most relatable celebrity in Hollywood, but the billionaire businesswoman does know exactly what it's like to leave the salon feeling less than happy. More specifically, she's been through the very real regret that can come after a huge chop. 

Back in 2018, Kardashian cut her lush mane into a neat and tidy chin-grazing bob. While many of her fans adored the look, the reality star took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to express her regret. "Wait I miss my long hair," Kardashian posted, including a crying emoji. She made the admission at the end of July, but in early August, she was seen with Rapunzel-length locks again, notably showing onlookers how to achieve the popular wet-hair look. There's an important lesson here: If you hate your crop, a good wig or set of extensions can take the pain away while it grows back! You can seamlessly blend clip-in hair extensions into your short hair with the help of a little styling, but longer-lasting options like sew-in and tape-in varieties are available, too. Of course, prevention is the best correction, so it's best to think long and hard before cutting your hair if you want to avoid Kardashian's (temporary) fate.

"If [a client is] unsure, I often suggest a gradual transition, like a slightly shorter cut or a more subtle version of their desired color," explains Jennifer Korab. She tells Glam exclusively that a good stylist should remind you of the weight of your decision when you ask to go from long locks to a chic bob overnight.

Around 2013, Miley Cyrus famously chopped off her long, brunette waves and went for an edgy, blond pixie, officially waving goodbye to Hannah Montana. In the years since, she's experimented with her hair a lot, and one of her subsequent brushes with blond came with a lot of regret. As Jennifer Korab tells Glam exclusively, "Emotional, spur-of-the-moment changes — like dramatic cuts or bold colors — can lead to regret once the initial excitement fades," and this seems to be what happened with Cyrus.

"Learned a valuable lesson in this meaningless process," she wrote in a May 2016 Facebook post. "Bleached my f****** natural healthy a** hair rebelling out of boredom ..." The "Wrecking Ball" singer explained that "something inside" told her she'd regret bleaching her own hair at home, noting that she used a commercially available generic box color that perhaps wasn't right for her unique hair. "And now I'm out here looking like every Suzy Q & Sally B there is ... Either this s*** needs to grow out at super speed or I'm about to go in for a f****** hair cut ..." she went on.

From the length of Cyrus' post, it was clear she was deep in the regret pool, but at least she learned a lesson about listening to that inner voice. "So please fellow humans next time you feel that tickle in your belly while making a decision listen to what it says and know the true you can never be replicated or replaced you are the one and only you!" she urged, leaving her fans with a key piece of advice: "So if a change is something that feels right to you — f****** DO IT!"

The queen of the wind machine herself, Beyoncé has been hair goals for much of the millennium. Candid snaps show us that Beyoncé's everyday hair is absolutely stunning, and no matter what style or color she's rocking, she never fails to impress. So, it's hard to believe that the Cécred founder has also experienced hair remorse. "I've made every mistake and have definitely learned from trial and error," she told CR Fashion Book in 2024. One particular regret came from a bleaching incident just before the 2001 Grammys, when she was still part of Destiny's Child. 

"I took bleach that was made for bleaching eyebrows, and put it in the front of my hair because I was too impatient to wait on the color," the "Texas Hold 'Em" singer recalled. "It got my hair very platinum but two weeks later the front of my hair broke off really badly." Looking back at the photos, Bey was certainly rocking the decadent money-piece hair trend before its time. In this case, the regret seems to have come from the effect that the change had on her tresses rather than the aesthetic. After all, it's possible to safely bleach your hair, but that process doesn't involve doing the job yourself with a product intended for eyebrow hair. As Jennifer Korab exclusively shares with Glam, another key factor leading to hair regret is not truly understanding the consequences and upkeep of certain harsher styles.

Ultimately, though, Beyoncé advises her fans not to live in regret, no matter how bad the result is. "Being safe is boring. We all have those hair moments that are wildly unattractive at one point in our lives," she went on. "But the beauty about hair is it grows. And now there's endless products and hairpieces available to help us achieve any style we want."

If you're a millennial or Gen X-er old enough to remember the prolific influence of the Rachel cut in the 1990s, hold on to something. Jennifer Aniston, who played Rachel Green on the hit sitcom "Friends" and popularized the shoulder-length choppy, layered cut, has revealed that she hated the trend she set. "I love [hairstylist Chris McMillan], and he's the bane of my existence at the same time because he started that damn Rachel, which was not my best look," she said in 2011 (via Allure). "How do I say this? I think it was the ugliest haircut I've ever seen."

The confession is certainly earth-shaking, considering the Rachel is considered the most iconic haircut of all time by some. While Aniston clearly didn't like the look of the famous cut, the maintenance involved was also a deal-breaker. "I'd curse Chris every time I had to blow dry," she recalled to Marie Claire in 2013. "It took three brushes — it was like doing surgery!" In the same interview, Aniston explained that McMillan really took the reins in creating the Rachel; Aniston sought him out at the request of her manager, who insisted she do something different with her hair. So, Jennifer Korab's advice rings true here, too. "A lack of clear communication with a stylist can also result in a look that doesn't match their vision," she explains in our exclusive chat. These days, we're glad to see that Jennifer Aniston has gone through a stunning hair transformation and feels much happier with her mane.

It's not just women who experience hair regrets. Men can also go through drastic changes that they later look back on and cringe at, and that especially applies to men in the spotlight. Harry Styles' hair has been a part of his pop-star image since his earliest days on "The X Factor," beginning with his signature curly cut and then growing into a luscious mane toward the end of his time in One Direction in 2015. He went in for a significant chop in 2019, which fans had plenty of opinions about, and even shaved his head to the tune of worldwide headlines. 

Often standing up for values such as kindness, acceptance, and self-love, Styles appears to only have regrets about one of his hair transformations, and it happened before he was a global star. In a 2019 interview, the "Sign of the Times" singer reflected on his TV makeover. "When we were on 'X Factor' ... the first makeover that we did, where I got it cut and it was like these tight curls, and it just looked very ... it wasn't very me," he said (via TikTok). He revealed that he was okay with the look in the moment, but upon reflection, it wasn't right for him.