Feng shui hairstyle

We've all had bad hair days: missing the train, spilling our coffee, getting a dressing down from the boss. But, in the world of feng shui, bad hair days can literally ruin your life.

Indeed, the way we shape, cut and style our hair has a profound influence on our relationship with the world around us, in much the same way shifting furniture around the room, installing a water feature and lighting candles can alter our moods and so influence our behaviour and state of mind.

According to feng shui expert Raymond Catchpole, if you are stuck in a rut and looking for a change of direction, you could do worse than book an appointment with your hairdresser.

Now there may be those who doubt whether a successful job interview, finding the right home or enjoying a fulfilling relationship is dependent on whether you go for a short bob or long, flowing curls (for men read short back and sides, side parting or mullet).

Mr Catchpole, chairman of the Feng Shui Society, has identified nine personality types and the hair styles best suited to those traits.

For example there are the nurturing types, who should go for "blonde, sandy tones", keeping the hair off their faces.

Or passionate personality, who does best with "strong colours, bold style and long tresses or curls".

Mountain personalities, meanwhile, are stubborn and single minded, and therefore need hair that accentuates strong facial features. Catalysts - problem solvers who are interested in people - should adopt the girl-next-door look: pony tails, buns or plaits in "a loose and friendly style".

And thunder types - active, ambitious, supportive people - need to adopt a messy, tousled style, cut short and off the face "so as to be able to impart ideas and concepts without constraint", says Mr Catchpole.

This might seem a bit chicken and egg. Don't active, enthusiastic types go for easy-to-manage, informal hair styles to begin with? Mr Catchpole, who was commissioned by Harmony Hair Products, insists changing your hair is the first step in changing your life. "You can apply the rules of feng shui to your hair to change preconceived perceptions about you," he said.

"Feng shui works through colour, light, texture, weight, shape and movement.

"Each personality type will react favourably to a particular approach. Whether it's cutting, growing, curling or straightening, changes can build self-confidence within the individual according to personality type.

"Everyone can work out their own personality type, as well as the type they aspire to, even if only for a date or two. Why shouldn't the mountain become the passionate for an evening?"

So remember, the next time the hairdresser asks if you're going anywhere nice, what she's really means is can she, with a snip here and there, give you new life?