Taylor Swift Says Her Hair Texture Changed Completely — Science May Explain Why

Swifties have followed the career of their favorite singer for long enough to notice that her hair has changed over the years. However, the change hasn't been limited to her hairstyles. On the contrary, Taylor Swift's hair texture took a radical shift in her twenties. Lamented one fan on Instagram, "Swift's hair has had a full evolution and honestly, I'm still missing those curls."

Swift discussed the phenomenon in a 2019 Elle article dedicated to all the interesting realizations she had made before turning 30. As she explained, she lived with curly locks until she reached early adulthood. At that point, her hair lost its waves. "It's the straight hair I wished for every day in junior high," Swift admitted. "But just as I was coming to terms with loving my curls, they've left me."

Sound far-fetched? According to professional hairdressers, their clients see dramatic hair texture turnarounds all the time. Really, from the way they tell it, texture shocks can be part of what happens to hair when we age. Speaking with Glamour, hairstylist DJ Quintero acknowledged that it happens routinely: "I have seen women's hair change from straight to wavy or wavy to curly or wavy to straight."

Science backs up all these anecdotes and points to a few possible reasons for hair texture to take a turn and become one of those surprising things that happen to your body after turning 30. The first is a fluctuation in hormones. Endocrinologist Gillian Goddard, M.D., spoke about the hair-hormone relationship in a piece for Oprah Daily. Noted Goddard, "Estrogen in particular has many effects on hair."

But estrogen isn't the only possible hormonal culprit that could steal someone's curls — or bless them on someone who's always had straight hair — by altering the shape of the hair follicle. Endocrinologist Nicole Ulrich, M.D., has mentioned androgens (which are male sex hormones that exist in women) as sometimes producing hair with curlier and coarser textures than before (Glamour).

There's no telling if hormones helped Swift's hair lose its shape. That said, women in their 20s can undergo hormonal shifts, which are sometimes referred to as a "second puberty." Is second puberty real? Yes, for some women, according to women's health professional Erin M. Stone, M.D. She says the 20s can be a time of peaking hormones. Yet going through a puberty-like state twice isn't all bad. "Your bones are the strongest they'll ever be and you're at peak fertility, so you can take advantage of that before your 30s when bone density and fertility will naturally decline," she advises (via Tryon Medical Partners).

The natural aging process can be the cause of a sudden hair texture transformation, too. Specifically, as hair begins to turn gray, it tends to become drier than it was before, which can switch up its look and feel (per MedicineNet). Hair research expert Mark Knitowski agrees with this claim, according to an interview he gave for Oprah Daily. "When you age, your texture becomes coarser and more wiry because your scalp releases less natural oils to coat and smooth hair," he said. Could Swift's hair have started to turn gray? She hasn't said, but she has changed hair colors over the years, with her latest look moving toward a brown shade.

Regardless of why her hair texture took a shift toward the straight side, Swift seems to have experienced an unsettling but totally normal occurrence. The only difference is that her tresses are on display for all the world to notice. However, she seems to be taking the texture changes in stride, as evidenced by an Eras Tour video that was uploaded on X. In the video, she shows genuine excitement at having wavy hair again due to high humidity as she performs onstage.