What your body language says: “Twirling the hair is a cue of innocence. Women often employ hair twirling as a way to flirt.
Some men are possessive about their hair, so they don't enjoy a random person touching it. However, if he likes you, he might feel relaxed when you run your fingers through his hair. They feel special and pampered by your touch. You can enhance their experience by lightly massaging their scalp.
When a girl engages in hair play upon seeing you, it's often a flirtatious gesture packed with subtle signals. Twirling her locks or running fingers through her hair is her way of capturing your attention and expressing interest. It's a nonverbal invitation, indicating that she finds you interesting and attractive.
She's Flirting
One of the signs a woman finds a man attractive is that she plays with her hair. It's a subconscious gesture that says, “I'm trying to get your attention.” One study found that after a woman's face, hair is the most attractive female body part.
It's their way of taking things down a notch. This self-soothing behavior can also serve your toddler's coping mechanism for dealing with stressors in her life. Big changes like a new sibling, weaning, moving to a new home or changes in child care all may trigger hair twirling and other self-soothing behaviors.
She's trying to show you she's interested.
When a girl is interested in you, she will want to get closer to you. Touching your hair could be a way of doing this. Pay attention to where you are when it happens and whether you are with friends or on your own. This will give you a clue as to what is going on in her mind.
Hair twirling is a common behavior among girls, and it can have various reasons. Some girls twirl their hair to flirt or attract attention, while others do so to soothe themselves when stressed or anxious.
She may not even regard you as her boyfriend yet. She just wants to take her time to build friendship and understand what she's getting into. As psychologist Omri Gillath said, “Some people play hard to get because they can't trust anyone — and they do whatever they can to protect themselves from getting hurt again.”
Preening
She might knowingly or unknowingly do this as she is risking fixing herself in front of you while she has your attention already because she cares about what you think. Hence, she is making an effort to look perfect and stand out.
As you've seen, looking down is the hallmark of nervous behavior. It signals avoidance, defensiveness, and submissiveness. Women can get away with looking down because it makes them look attractive, but not men.
Touch is one of the biggest mutual attraction signs going. If you touch her, you're showing interest. If she likes being touched by you, she's attracted to you. Note that this applies to even “accidental” touch.
Look for signs in his body language like eye contact and leaning in towards you while talking. He'll also initiate more physical touch between you. Study his behavior, including the time between text responses and how jealous he seems when other guys are mentioned.
Hair twirling could be a sign of interest or attraction in a relationship. It's a nonverbal cue that could be used to communicate interest or as a way to flirt. If you see someone twirling their hair, it could be a sign that they're interested in you.
Overall, Wien describes the act as “a typical nervous tic or sign of anxiety.” Childs echoes that sentiment. “[Playing with your hair] could speak toward anxiety about appearance or about the way you feel within that situation,” says Childs.
Stroking the hair is a preening gesture, which can be deliberate checking that it is perfectly coiffed or an invitation to stroke also. Playing with the hair is particularly flirtatious and invites the other person to do this for you.
That depends a lot on what's comfortable for both of you. She might enjoy gentle caresses on her face and neck, or she might enjoy back rubs or having your arms around her waist. Experiment with different touches and ask what she likes or dislikes.
Certain body language, like licking his lips, moving his legs closer to you, asking about other men in your life, and raising his eyebrows while you talk, can clue you in about someone secretly liking you.
You may notice her glaring at you without a trace of a smile on her face, which implies she's upset or annoyed at you in some way. Other signs that she's upset include giving you the silent treatment or speaking sarcastically (and sometimes with deliberate rudeness) when she does talk to you.