Why do women pay so much for haircuts

This is my hair. It’s not coloured but there’s no way I could cut that myself

I go to Salon every 4 weeks for wash/cut & blow-dry. She thins my hair out and straightens it. I have a jaw line straight bob. £25 + £5 tip. Will also book in-between for wash & blow dry & straighten if I have a special occasion to attend, that is £13 + £2 tip. Compared to a previous salon I used to go to, these prices are very reasonable and feel I can go more frequently.

I have a curly cut every 9-10 months. Its £55. Paid £125 for the initial cut.

many hairdressers have no idea how to cut curly hair. So i go to one 2 hours away who only does curly cuts. And i book 2-3 appointments in advance.

I would struggle to cut my own hair at the back.

I have a mobile hairdresser who comes to my house. She charges £12.50 for each person so DD2 and I have ours done by her every two or three months and it doesn't cost silly money.

I don't want to pay salon prices as I think many of them seem extortionate.

A hairdresser butchered my asymmetric bob when my regular hairdresser was on maternity leave. She also managed to mess the colour up.

Which is why I drive 45 mins each way for my hair appointments rather than use the salon a 5 min walk away.

Exactly the style I have . I've also used local hairdressers who have managed to hack it very badly, now paying much more at a city salon where they're cutting it perfectly.
Longer hair yes can possibly be cut at home, but mine is definitely a job for someone else!

But not all. Mine is short and no more complicated than the average older man with short hair. They already differentiate between women's short and women's long hair, price-wise - and the short hair price for women is STILL considerably more than the men's single price.

Exactly.
I have a complex cut and colour which I 100% couldn’t do myself. So although theoretically I could cut my own hair, I couldn’t cut it in this style.

Agree. DH and I started cutting hair for each other during Covid. After that we realised we could do it and have saved ourselves a fortune. Haven't been back to a hairdresser since. I don't think either of us look any worse for it.

I have stupidly thick, massively curly hair that most of the time lives in a pony tail as it’s just too difficult to make it look nice.
I found the best hairdresser for curly hair who told me what to do and now I always look like I’ve just come from the salon, thanks to her tutelage.
I would have paid £200 for someone to show me what I should have been doing since I was a child! Instead I pay £100 every 6 months to keep it under control and it is worth it.

I have forgiving long wavy hair that just needs the dry ends taking off occasionally and can manage that myself. Sometimes I go to a salon with low overheads in a cheaper area of town because their work is better than mine.

There can be discrepancies in barber/ salon costings which show up when you have a boy/ teenager with longer hair. His trims are considerably cheaper at a barbers than a salon.

But most women are paying for more complex cuts and treatments like colour and that time is money. Ultimately salons charge what people will pay, and people chose to go back to salons and barbers when they reopened after lockdown, and they are one of the few business types holding strong on the high street (even discounting the come and go barbers that can be used as fronts for money laundering)

It makes perfect sense - it's free time they have to spend entirely on themselves and for me, it relaxes me to go get a haircut. It makes me feel relaxed and happy having someone wash and massage my head and then style my hair. Whatever you decide to do in your free time probably wouldn't appeal to me either. That's why we are all different. A concept that seems to be out of your grasp. HTH

It’s easy for you, we don’t know , your hair might look a mess. It’s not easy for everyone. I know I couldn’t cut my hair straight.

I'm not in the UK and I pay the equivalent of UK £29 to have my short hair cut. There is no way I could cut the back of it myself. Even if I could I wouldn't, I enjoy the visits to my hairdresser every 8 weeks.

my hairdresser charges very reasonably and is worth every penny , she has become a dear friend who I love , Id be happy to spend the money just for a few hours of her company

Nope. In and out in 20 minutes

Well OP, I think it's because a lot of women are a bit vain about their hair.

I don't exclude myself from that btw. I go to one of the best hairstylists in the city, though not the most expensive he is expensive. But his cut is always really good and grows out well.

And I find a good haircut goes a long way to making me look polished and competent. Good shoes are a more expensive way to do this, but I can manage to avoid too many cuts with the right style.

Also - I think a good salon is an enjoyable experience for a lot of women, so that's also a motivator.

My DH does pay less for his cut, but he's in there for a lot less time. When you check how long we're each in for, and how much we get charged, he's paying more per minute to sit in a pokey barber's shop than I am to sit in a nicely appointed salon, where an apprentice greets me, takes care of my bag and coat, then brings me a drink and something to read while the qualified professional does a complicated cut for my thick curly hair that I cannot do myself. So I think I get a better deal than him, actually.

I cut my own hair because the cost is ridiculous. I've gotten pretty good at it over the years, but have a long hairstyle so it's very easy (I know short hair is much harder to cut well)

£100 is a lot of money, but your colleague is going to an expensive hairdresser (if that is just for a cut, that's probably the going rate for getting your hair coloured, although it sounds a lot for that too).

I think I pay about £40 for a cut and blow dry. I go about 2-3 times a year. I cut my own hair during lockdown and got loads of compliments. I have very long hair in layers and this is easy to do yourself, but for the sake of what is probably about £100 a year, I am happy to pay someone to do a better job of it than me, even though DIY is more than adequate. I haven't dyed my hair for about 12 years, so that helps too. My hair looks far better it's natural colour.

I don't really enjoy going to the hairdresser. I don't hate it, but it's just an inconvenience really.

I mean... I'm an amateur/self-taught seamstress. I do alterations for myself/family, mainly. I can make simple clothing. Could I clothe myself head to toe? Sure. Would it look as good as (insert your favourite brand/designer)? Yea, like hell it would. It would look amateurish. And a bit...shit.

Would my friends/colleagues tell me I look shit to my face? No. They'd either say nothing or tell me I look nice. To be polite/friendly/nice. I'd do the same.

Same with all the 'I often get told I look 10/15/20 years younger than I am'. Yes, because people usually guess your age pretty accurately, and then take 10 years off to be nice/on the safe side.

Same with the haircuts.

Yes in lockdown and it was a disaster! I can probably cut in a straight line but can't do an asymmetric pixie which needs thinning out on certain sections but not others and shave the back at the bottom then blend it in so it doesn't look like a step.

Lmao this! ♥️🤣♥️

Your hair is a crown you never take off 👑

Worth the investment in my opinion 🤷‍♀️

I also don’t for a second believe that you do a good a job OP as a hairdresser - a professional who is trained and experienced. I just don’t. @Moontan