AIBU that a haircut shouldn't cost £60!?

Mobile is probably better if one is having colour too.

If it's in your house with just you, the hairdresser can't do someone else while your colour is developing, accidentally leave you too long and ruin your hair.

True story. Three years later I've nearly grown out the damage she did.

Most hairdressers are now self-employed and rent a chair at a salon, and they have to pay for this. By the time they've covered their costs for an hour's work, they aren't getting much in their pocket. My hairdresser has gone mostly mobile and will now come to my house and do a cut and blow for £30. It would be nearer £70 if I went to the salon for her to do my hair.

YANBU. I have long hair and have avoided having my hair cut for months as a basic hair wash and ordinary trim is £60!

Most salons don’t even offer a dry trim anymore so you can’t even plump for that as a cheaper option. My solution is to leave it months between cuts.

It's a lot of money for a haircut by a junior stylist (which I assume she must be if she's on minimum wage).

I pay £60 for a haircut in Manchester, but my stylist is the salon owner and creative director, works with some major brands, trains other hairdressers in new techniques etc so I'd expect to pay top whack for her services (and frankly she's a genius). But an appointment with one of the junior stylists at her salon is £40 - and I know she she pays them well above minimum wage.

I do the front and sides myself and get someone else to cut the back as I just can't do it myself.
You need better than nail scissors.
What sort of hairstyle do you have? Long'ish, short?

Do you have any tips on how not to look like you got attacked by a toddlers with rusty shears? I do the hair around my face with nail scissors when it gets too long but have no idea how to cut my own hair at the back so that it hangs well.

Once a business passes the VAT threshold, they have to pay 20% of everything they bring in straight to HMRC. With some businesses - retail - they can reclaim the VAT that THEY pay so that offsets their bill a little. This is more difficult for service industries. So there's £12 of your £60 straight away.

Then your hairdresser needs to be paid, there's a minimum of £12. Plus, she'll need paying for holidays that she takes, so that'll probably be another £4. Then there's her tax, NI and pension (and accounting costs).

Does the salon have a receptionist? There's another percentage towards their wage.

Then there's a coffee, biscuit, the magazines, music licence. Disposable towels or towel washing. Website and marketing costs. Insurances. Scissor sharpening. Paying towards ongoing education, investment in the salon. A generally small profit for the owner.

Then there's rent and utilities, etc.

It actually costs a lot of money just to open the salon door.

@Pistachiomix Yep, in London. There’s a page on FB called sensible curly people and they have a list on there of trusted curly cut providers. Before the most recent debacle I previously, some years ago, had a ‘curl by curl’ cut with a lady who works under the name Kinson by Kizzy in South East London. I found her expensive but knowledgeable. She only releases blocks of 3 months at a time and gets booked very quickly. Maybe if you’re more organised than me you can get space with her.

SE here; I pay £35 every six weeks for DH and DS to have their hair cut and for me to have a box dye and a trim. Hairdresser used to work in local barbers til it shut and now she comes to our house. I make her a coffee and we have a chat while my dye "sets".

My hairdresser tells me she doesn't feel right charging the earth for her services. She's always fully booked.

@Sickwithkids was that in London? I was thinking of getting a ‘curly cut’ for myself and kids but it is very expensive. Wondered if it was worth the extra cost.

It’s about £40 where I live ( small Scottish town , not too far from Edinburgh)
thats for a cut and finish .
when you start with colours of course the price increases loads , especially for technically more tricky colour techniques

Ask the person who cuts your hair to come to your house and pay them cash. My hair has gone from £200 to £90 by doing that.

I pay £100 for just a cut. But it's central london and it's a FANTASTIC cut. I mean fantastic. It's gone up gradually from £75 10 years ago.

I'm not surprised as a) I'm paying for a very talented stylist who is top of his game b) rents and business rates have skyrocketed c) the stylist and other staff all live in london and need to be paid accordingly and d)I get a good quality cup of tea and posh biscuit in swanky surroundings 😬

I've never spent a lot on clothes, shoes and handbags, so I'm happy to pay it (and can afford it). Before I found my current guy, I had mediocre (and some dreadful!) haircuts which didn't do much for me at all and were still £60+. I now get regular compliments. But it is a definite luxury.

@HollyLondoner i would say that’s on the cheaper side

I think my hair grows slower since the menopause

I go to a no appointment one in Surrey for £35 for a wet cut. I used to go every 2 months but go every 4 months now.

What I dislike is clients who don’t value our time by not turning up or cancelling half an hour before their appointment

We do deposits because we used to have so many clients not show up , or cancel on the day ,
or ring and say they’re been called into work

meaning we then lose money while they go and get paid extra !
since we’ve taken 50 % deposit it stops it happening

we are not trying to be the police , just survive

If you went to work one day and were told you were not needed for 2 hours , and would not get paid how would you feel ? (That’s how I explain it to the very occasional client who objects )

That’s what it’s like for us when clients don’t come in.
They don’t value your time .

We have the same costs whether a client in the chair or not
50 % only covers half of our losses
we actually charge 100 % for a no show
and anyone who does not pay it won’t get booked in again
and guess what , we have virtually no late cancellations or no shows now
I have a cancellation list and if I can fill a late cancellation they I don’t charge
also for a bereavement etc then of course I don’t,
but if I get arsey comments or arguments about having to pay it with no consideration for my time. then they pay or they don’t come back
It’s been a game changer since COVID and all the piss takers

when clients pay a deposit they have an financial investment and don’t want to lose the money so are much more likely to show up

Your comment again shows how little some people value us and our time

You could always go to a hairdressing school and save £££ as a model.

I use Alan D. who are adjacent to Elizabeth line, Barbican Station.

I'm very much afraid, they've just had a massive 50% price increase from £5 to £7-50. Takes a little longer as you are with a student, but they are very closely monitored by tutor.

Because if a client cancels their appointment without sufficient time for that slot to be filled - the stylist won’t get paid. Hence cancellation fees.

Imagine you turning up to work and your boss says “X project has been cancelled, so you won’t get paid for two hours today. But you still have to stay here for those two hours”. Because that’s what happens to hair stylists, nail techs, anyone providing a booked service. If their client doesn’t turn up - they don’t get paid.

Cancellation fees are in place to ensure people get paid ffs.

That’s a lot. Mine is £60ish for cut, colour, highlights and styling.

@ButtCheeks

You're right, it's difficult to find a good hairdresser. I've tried everything, going by reviews, personal recommendations, fancy salon, very established salon, experienced stylists. I've always walked out underwhelmed at best. It's a straightforward cut, essentially a glorified trim and they can't deliver a satisfactory result sadly. Made worse by having to spend over an hour total with lots of waiting between wash, cut, styling in a very loud environment.

My view from various salons in my area is they've got too big for their boots and they've stopped caring. They've stopped trying. They actively ignore you. I can't find any other explanation for my last haircut when I said multiple times that I want a few long layers, NOT SHORT LAYERS as I want to be able to put all my hair up, we discussed this, we agreed. What does she proceed to do a few minutes later? Cut ridiculously short layers.

Or the other time when I got the opposite result - the hairdresser just seemed completely unwilling to give me any layers no matter how many times. I said "oh can we do a few more please? Oh ok can we just do a few more again?"

Baffling. My only explanation is they don't actually give a shit sadly.

What I dislike is the ones that demand a 50% cancellation fee, they act like they are the police ffs 🤣

£35 and I'm in a London suburb. I think you need to be looking for a new hairdresser! (That's a cut and blow-dry.)

I pay £90 cut colour and blow dry. west yorkshire. fancy salon

I pay £20 for a dry cut, but because my hair is short, I do need to have it cut every 4-5 weeks... saying that if my hair was long, it would still be £20 for a dry cut (just less often)