TRUST & SAFETY
Moderation Policy
Last updated 21 June 2026
Why we moderate
Confessions of a Hairdresser only works if it's a safe space — for the person writing and for everyone reading. Every submission is read by a real person before it's published. This policy explains what we look for, what we change, and what we won't allow.
What we publish
We're looking for genuine confessions, stories, and reflections connected to the salon chair or to life more broadly: secrets, funny moments, hard truths, thank-yous, things you're still figuring out. Anything honest is welcome, as long as it follows the guidelines below.
What we edit
We trim length where a confession runs long, without changing its meaning.
We remove or vague-out identifying details — full names, exact salon or business names, addresses, phone numbers, social handles, or anything else that could reveal who's involved.
We correct obvious typos and tidy formatting.
We never rewrite someone's words to change what they're saying, and we never add anything that wasn't there.
What we don't publish
Anything that names or clearly identifies a real person without their consent.
Hate speech, harassment, or content that demeans someone based on race, religion, gender, sexuality, disability, or any other protected characteristic.
Explicit sexual content, or any content involving a minor in a sexual or exploitative context — this is zero tolerance and will be removed and reported where appropriate.
Threats of violence, or content that promotes illegal activity.
Defamatory claims presented as fact about identifiable people or businesses.
Advertising, spam, or self-promotion disguised as a confession.
Sensitive disclosures
Some confessions touch on hard things — grief, abuse, mental health, self-harm. We treat these with care rather than rejecting them outright. If a submission describes a safety risk to the writer or someone else, we may, with sensitivity, choose not to publish it, or publish it alongside a brief, non-judgmental note pointing toward support resources.
An honest limit on anonymity: we don't ask for names or contact details, and in almost every case we have no way to identify who wrote a confession even if we wanted to. But if a submission ever describes an imminent risk to a child or a named third party, and we happen to have information that could prevent harm, we may be obligated to act on it. This is rare, and it's not a loophole for moderating ordinary submissions — it exists only for genuine emergencies.
Anonymity & data handling
The confession form never asks for your name, email, or any account information.
Alias and city/region fields are optional, free-text, and shown as written — please don't put identifying information in them.
We don't link submissions to IP addresses or device information for the purpose of identifying who sent them.
Review timeline
We aim to review every submission within 5 business days. Not every confession that meets our guidelines gets published — we also consider repetition, tone, and overall balance across what's shared.
Asking for a removal
If you recognise your own confession and want it taken down, get in touch with enough detail to identify it (category, approximate date, and any alias used) and we'll remove it — no explanation required.
Questions or appeals
If your confession wasn't published and you'd like to know why, or you have a question about this policy, reach out.
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy as the page and community grow. The date at the top of this page always reflects the most recent version.
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