Best Day to Cut Hair for Growth: Moon Phase, Moon Sign and Weekday

Best Day to Cut Hair for Growth at a Glance

Moon phase	Waxing, between the new Moon and the full Moon
Moon signs for growth	Pisces, Cancer, Scorpio (the water signs)
Moon signs for a precise cut	Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn (the earth signs)
Best weekdays	Monday (the Moon) and Friday (Venus)
Skip	A waning Moon if growth is the goal; a new stylist during Mercury or Venus retrograde
Next growth window	November 9 to November 24, 2026, Eastern time
Water sign days in it	November 9 (Scorpio), November 18 and 19 (Pisces)

Why the Moon Phase Comes First

The Old Farmer’s Almanac and the Farmers’ Almanac both publish best day lists for haircuts, and both say they use the Moon’s phase and its position in the zodiac. The Old Farmer’s Almanac’s own FAQ says: “Lunar tradition commonly associates the waxing Moon, the period between the New Moon and Full Moon, with growth and renewal. However, our Best Days calculations consider the Moon’s astrological position as well as its phase.” The Farmers’ Almanac describes its formula as one that “considers the phase of the Moon, the Moon’s position in the zodiac, and other traditional factors.”

The logic is simple: what you want to grow, you do while the Moon grows. Cut on the waxing Moon for length. In our view, use the waning half, full to new, for a trim you want to last. Astrologer Lauren Tisza, quoted by Mane Addicts, advises cutting while the Moon is waxing or becoming full: “It’s considered ’astrologically wise’ to cut hair, as the energy is building toward bounty and lusciousness.” The same article says that when the Moon is waning, “it’s not the best idea to get a cut.” If waxing and waning are new to you, our guide to what each Moon phase means walks the whole cycle.

We checked the almanac’s five dates against the sky

The Old Farmer’s Almanac does not name the signs behind its dates. So we took the Old Farmer’s Almanac’s next five dates to “Cut Hair to Encourage Growth,” as listed on October 31, 2026, and checked each one against the US Naval Observatory’s phase times and a Moon sign calendar.

Almanac date	Moon phase	Moon sign
Sun, Nov 22, 2026	Waxing (new Nov 9, full Nov 24)	Taurus from 5:09 AM Eastern
Mon, Nov 23, 2026	Waxing	Taurus all day
Sun, Dec 20, 2026	Waxing (new Dec 8, full Dec 23)	Taurus all day
Mon, Dec 21, 2026	Waxing	Taurus until 5:27 PM Eastern
Mon, Jan 11, 2027	Waxing (new Jan 7, full Jan 22)	Pisces from 5:35 AM Eastern

All five are waxing. Four fall with the Moon in Taurus and the fifth with the Moon in Pisces, so the almanac’s “position in the zodiac” is, across these five dates, an earth sign and a water sign. You can rough this out yourself: the Moon moves about 13 degrees a day on average (faster or slower by the day), and the Beaver Moon is full at 2 degrees Gemini on November 24, so two days earlier the Moon is back in Taurus. The calendar times above come from a published ingress table (Moon Tracks, converted to Eastern), not from the estimate.

So, when should you cut your hair for growth according to the Moon in 2026? In the two windows left this year: November 9 to 24 and December 8 to 23, Eastern time. The water sign days inside them are November 9 (Scorpio), November 18 and 19 (Pisces) and December 15 and 16 (Pisces). The Taurus days are the almanac’s own four.

Which Moon Sign Is Best for a Haircut?

Phase says when. Sign says what kind of cut. The Mane Addicts piece from October 2023 splits the zodiac by element: Tisza and Bell name water and earth, and the article adds fire and air without a named speaker.

• Water signs for growth. Tisza: “Water signs (Pisces, Cancer, and Scorpio) are generally acknowledged as the most fertile for growth.”
• Earth signs for precision. Alice Bell, the astrologer behind British Vogue’s weekly horoscopes: “When the moon is in a stable earth sign (Virgo, Capricorn, and Taurus), it’s better to get a cut because no details are overlooked.”
• Fire signs: a caution. The same article, without naming a speaker, suggests skipping the salon when the Moon is in Aries, Leo or Sagittarius, “just to be on the safe side.”
• Air signs: nothing drastic. Also unattributed in that article: when the Moon is in “a rebellious air sign like Aquarius, your hair might be more all over the place, so it’s better not to do anything drastic.”

Set that beside the almanac’s own dates, which land in Taurus and Pisces, and the two traditions agree more than they differ. Water and earth are the haircut signs.

Our view on the Leo Moon. Leo is the lion, so a Leo Moon haircut sounds right on paper, and the Mane Addicts article files Leo under the fire signs to avoid. In our view both are right about different things. A Leo Moon suits a cut that is meant to be seen, a new fringe, a color, a shape change. It is not a growth day, because growth belongs to the water signs. Our rule of thumb: Leo for the look, Pisces for the length.

The Moon changes sign every two to three days, which is why every waxing window has at least one water sign stretch in it. The sum: the Moon takes 27.32 days to circle the zodiac, and 27.32 divided by 12 signs is 2.28 days a sign. The sign the Moon is in today is a different thing from your own Moon sign, the sign it held when you were born. Our Moon sign guide covers that one.

Growth Windows for the Next 12 Months

Every waxing window from now to November 2027, in Eastern time, with the sign the Moon is in when it turns full.

Month	Waxing window (Eastern)	Full Moon in
Nov 2026	Nov 9 to Nov 24	Gemini (the Beaver Moon)
Dec 2026	Dec 8 to Dec 23	Cancer (the Cold Moon)
Jan 2027	Jan 7 to Jan 22	Leo
Feb 2027	Feb 6 to Feb 20	Virgo
Mar 2027	Mar 8 to Mar 22	Libra
Apr 2027	Apr 6 to Apr 20	Scorpio
May 2027	May 6 to May 20	Scorpio
Jun 2027	Jun 4 to Jun 18	Sagittarius
Jul 2027	Jul 3 to Jul 18	Capricorn
Aug 2027	Aug 2 to Aug 17	Aquarius
Aug to Sep 2027	Aug 31 to Sep 15	Pisces
Sep to Oct 2027	Sep 29 to Oct 15	Aries
Oct to Nov 2027	Oct 29 to Nov 13	Taurus

Phase times are published in Universal Time, and six of them cross midnight on the way to the US East Coast. The December new Moon is 00:52 UTC on December 9, which is 7:52 PM Eastern on December 8. The December full Moon is 01:28 UTC on December 24, which is 8:28 PM Eastern on December 23. The June full Moon, the July new Moon, the late September new Moon and the November 2027 full Moon shift the same way, to June 18, July 3, September 29 and November 13. The table shows the Eastern dates.

The best days by sign in the next four windows

For the next four windows we went a step further and pulled the days the Moon spends in a growth sign and in a precision sign. Times are Eastern. The Moon changes sign at a clock time, not at midnight, so a sign it enters after about 9 AM counts from the next day, and a sign it leaves before 5 PM is not counted. These are the days the Moon holds the sign for the whole working day.

Window	Water sign days (growth)	Earth sign days (precision)
Nov 9 to 24, 2026	Nov 9 Scorpio; Nov 18 to 19 Pisces	Nov 13 to 14 Capricorn; Nov 22 to 23 Taurus
Dec 8 to 23, 2026	Dec 15 to 16 Pisces	Dec 10 to 11 Capricorn; Dec 20 to 21 Taurus
Jan 7 to 22, 2027	Jan 11 to 12 Pisces; Jan 20 to 21 Cancer	Jan 8 Capricorn; Jan 16 to 17 Taurus
Feb 6 to 20, 2027	Feb 8 to 9 Pisces; Feb 17 Cancer	Feb 12 to 13 Taurus

A few of those days also land on the Moon’s own weekday. November 9 is a Monday and the new Moon itself, in Scorpio. January 11 is a Monday with the Moon in Pisces, and it is also the almanac’s pick. February 8 is a Monday with the Moon in Pisces. Our pick in each window, if you want phase, sign and weekday all pulling the same way: November 9, December 21 before 5 PM (a Monday in Taurus, the almanac’s day), January 11 and February 8.

These windows roll forward every month. We refresh this table when the last one passes, in November 2027.

Is Today a Good Day to Cut Your Hair?

As this is written, on October 31, 2026, the answer for growth is no. The Moon is waning in Cancer, a day short of its last quarter, and heading for the new Moon on November 9. That is a water sign on the wrong phase. In our view, today suits a trim you want to last instead.

Three steps to read the block above, or any Moon app, for a haircut:

1. Phase. Is the Moon waxing, somewhere between new and full? Yes means growth is on the table. Waning means wait, or keep it to a trim.
2. Sign. Water (Pisces, Cancer, Scorpio) for growth. Earth (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn) for precision. Fire and air mean wait a day or two for anything drastic.
3. Weekday. Monday or Friday if you want the planet on your side. It is the tiebreaker, not the headline.

Two out of three is a good day. Three out of three is a date to book now.

The Best Day of the Week to Get a Haircut

The weekdays are named after the seven classical planets of Hellenistic astrology, so every day of the week already has a planet attached to it.

Day	Planet	What it lends a haircut
Sunday	Sun	Visibility and vitality: a cut you want noticed
Monday	Moon	Growth and care: the lunar tradition’s own day
Tuesday	Mars	Sharp, bold, fast: the big chop energy
Wednesday	Mercury	Change and conversation: a good day to brief a new stylist
Thursday	Jupiter	More of everything: volume and length
Friday	Venus	Beauty and pleasure: the day for a look you love
Saturday	Saturn	Structure and restraint: the trim that holds its shape

Our pick is Monday for the Moon or Friday for Venus, the two planets most tied to growth and beauty in traditional astrology. The astrologers quoted in this article give no weekday rule at all; their rules are about Moon phase, Moon sign and retrograde timing, so a weekday is the tiebreaker, not the headline.

So what is the best day of the week to get a haircut? In our view, Monday. It is the Moon’s day, and in our view the Moon is the right planet for growth. Friday is the runner up, the day of Venus.

Can we cut hair on Thursday? None of the sources above sets a weekday ban. Thursday belongs to Jupiter, and in our view Jupiter’s day reads as abundance, which is not a bad omen for length. Our rule of thumb: if Thursday is the only day your stylist has, take it.

Days to Skip

• A waning Moon, if growth is the goal. In our view, use the waning half for a trim you want to last, not for a length plan.
• A drastic cut right at the full Moon. Bell, in Mane Addicts: “The full moon and the days leading up to it tend to be a very emotionally charged time, so you’re more likely to act on impulse.” She suggests reflecting rather than acting. A trim is fine; stylist Mischelle Navar, in the same piece, recommends a full Moon cut for thickness. The impulsive chop can wait.
• An air sign Moon for anything drastic. The Aquarius line above. Shape, do not reinvent.
• A new stylist during Mercury or Venus retrograde. Astrologer Susan Miller, in Nylon: “If I’m trying a new hairdresser, I’m not gonna do that when Venus is in retrograde or even when Mercury is in retrograde.” Mercury is retrograde right now, from October 24 to November 13, 2026, and Venus turns direct in the middle of November. The next Mercury retrogrades run February 9 to March 3, June 10 to July 4 and October 7 to October 28, 2027. If you cannot avoid one, Miller’s advice is to book toward the middle, because “a retrograde planet is at its worst, at the beginning and end.” Our Mercury retrograde guide has the 2026 dates.

Miller also offers a green light: the article says she finds it ideal to time major hair changes for when Venus is in your sign. If you do not know your Venus sign, our free birth chart calculator covers Venus and Mars in your chart.

Which day cannot cut hair, then? The Farmers’ Almanac lists dates for growth and for slow growth, and the Old Farmer’s Almanac lists dates for growth. Neither names banned days. The Mane Addicts article steers growth cuts away from the waning Moon and drastic cuts away from fire and air sign Moons.

A Haircut Under the Moon in Each Sign

What a cut on each Moon sign day is said to bring. Each link goes to the full guide for that Moon sign, which is about people born under it, a different thing from the day’s Moon.

• Aries Moon: Fast hands, fast regrets. Fire sign, so the caution applies: sleep on it.
• Taurus Moon: The almanac’s own pick. Steady, precise, a cut that holds its shape for weeks.
• Gemini Moon: Two minds about everything. Good for the consultation, not the chop.
• Cancer Moon: A growth sign. Nurture it: trim, treatment, oil, early night.
• Leo Moon: A cut that wants an audience. In our view, Leo for the look, not for length.
• Virgo Moon: Bell’s “no details are overlooked.” The exact half inch, clean layers, a sharp fringe.
• Libra Moon: Balance and symmetry. Shape the sides, keep the big decision for another day.
• Scorpio Moon: A growth sign with a private streak. The November 9 new Moon falls here: quiet start, long plan.
• Sagittarius Moon: The holiday bangs day. Fire sign. Wait until you are home.
• Capricorn Moon: A precision sign. The disciplined cut you will still like in March.
• Aquarius Moon: Hair “all over the place,” says the Mane Addicts line. Nothing drastic.
• Pisces Moon: First on Tisza’s growth list, and our top pick for length. Book the trim, start the plan.

What Actually Makes Hair Grow

Neither almanac claims these dates are science, and neither do we. The Old Farmer’s Almanac says plainly that its dates “are based on traditional astrological practices rather than scientific evidence.” The Farmers’ Almanac says its hair dates come from “traditional lunar lore rather than medical or scientific guidance.” Mane Addicts notes that even Tisza, the astrologer it quotes on water signs, does not fully buy the link between the Moon and hair.

So why time it at all? In our view, because a date you chose is a date you keep. Hair that gets a regular trim on a schedule you remember looks better than hair that waits for a mood, and a waxing Moon comes round every month to remind you. Treat the Moon as your calendar, not your biology, and it earns its place.

Best Day to Cut Hair FAQ