Does she . . . or doesn't she? . . . Only her hairdresser knows for sure.

This line is best known as a mid-20th-century American advertising slogan popularized by Clairol to promote at-home hair coloring, especially the “Miss Clairol”/“Hair Color Bath” products. It played on the social anxiety and curiosity surrounding whether a woman’s hair color was “natural” or dyed, while reassuring consumers that a good dye job should look indistinguishable from nature. The slogan became a cultural catchphrase, frequently echoed and parodied in later media as shorthand for discreet cosmetic enhancement and the idea that only an insider (the hairdresser) can tell the truth.

The quote hinges on a teasing question—“Does she or doesn’t she?”—that invites speculation about a woman’s appearance, then resolves it with a punchline that both protects privacy and sells expertise. Its implication is that successful self-fashioning is meant to be invisible: the “best” artifice passes as authenticity. The hairdresser functions as gatekeeper of a private truth, suggesting that modern beauty is a managed performance known fully only to professionals. As a slogan, it also reflects gendered social pressures: women are expected to look effortlessly attractive while concealing the labor and products behind that look.

Does she… or doesn’t she? Only her hairdresser knows for sure.
Does she… or doesn’t she? Only her hairdresser knows.
Does she or doesn’t she? Only her hairdresser knows for sure!