Tipping in Hairdressers

[BootyMum]

Just wondering what other MNetters's think about tipping their hairdressers... I usually tip the girl who cuts and colours my hair £5 - £10 depending on what I'm having done, probably around 15% of my bill. However I find working out how much to tip a little stressful - ie should I also be tipping the girl who washes my hair and the girl who brings me a cup of tea? And how much to tip? Don't want to seem stingy, ungrateful or displeased at the service I received as I am actually very happy with my hairdresser. But also feel a little resentful that I feel I should tip on top of the £50 - $70 I usually pay for cut and/or colour. I am not particularly well off and have to space these appointments quite far apart to be able to afford them. Why should hairdressers get tips for doing their job when many other lowish paid professionals don't ie nurses who also work hard on their feet all day... AIBU? What do other MNetters do?

cut plus colour costs me £140 every 8 weeks - so I don't tip on top of that - the woman who does it owns the salon, so is hardly a poor starving saturday girl dependent on tips. as far as I am concerned I am giving her quite enough money as it is!

My sister owns her own salon, her prices are about average for our area but she does not earn some fabulous living. In fact for the last 6 months she has barely taken a wage out of the business. Her apprentice earns a very small salary which she makes up with tips. Most people tip a few pounds and assume that the hairdresser will/may share it with the junior but not all do. My sister employed someone who was taking home 80plus on top of her wages each week and the poor junior was making 5 if she was lucky. I think the idea of a small jar or plate is a good one then people can give as they see fit. I am lucky not to pay for my cut (although I cover the cost of my colour)and always slip the junior a few quid - she gives the most amazing head massage whilst washing my hair!

I tip around 30 - 40% when my ds gets his hair cut, as it's a mammoth task, he screams and fights, and the ladies at the salon are SOOO lovely with him, and always miraculously manage to do a good job. it's a cheap cut, and I genuinely feel they deserve more for working with him.

For myself, I only tip if I am super happy with the result

Stupid question, but how do you tip the people who wash your hair? I normally tip my hairdresser at the till and just hand her the fiver or a few pounds (depending on change), but I never see the opportunity to do the same for the hair washer.

I very rarely tip hairdressers but on the occasions I do it's only a couple of pounds. I just can't afford anymore.

do tip waiting on staff if the service is good, and cab drivers too, and have occasionally tipped my hairdresser, but jeez, I hate the tipping culture, it's such a minefield. I wish those odd services where tipping is the norm would juct charge you whatever is necessary to pay all those concerned a fair wage, and cut out this weird "should I shouldn't I" charitable donation nonsense.

Charity is charity. Business is business. Charge me fairly for the service you provided. Humph.

If you want to tip the junior, either find them or ask the receptionist/stylist to pass it on to them.

As a hairdresser, my experience of the number of clients who tip certainly isn't reflected here. When I was working in a salon, I found most of my clients tipped. Some only tipped me, some tipped both myself and the junior. Usually if one junior had been working with me all day I'd share my tips with him/her at the end of the day, as generally I found juniors don't get tipped as much. I certainly didn't expect tips, but appreciated them. Not least as it meant the client was happy with their hair. (at least, you'd hope so!)

As a client, I usually give the stylist £5 and a couple of pounds to the junior too, regardless of how much my bill is. I might tip a bit more if I have had something quite complicated done or something that took a very long time.

I don't understand people who tip. I also find it very patronising. We do have a minimum wage in this country you know. Why don't you tip the woman at the checkout in Tesco or the bus driver??

PS One of the "laws" of tipping is you NEVER EVER tip the business owner (ie the person who owns the hairdresser shop)

I dont tip my stylist/ colourist as it is his business but I do tip the drinks/ sweep up/hair wash/ head massage person who's a junior/ apprentice (here in Asia this will take about 30 mins- they take their head massages seriously!).

Pedi-Mani- Waxing etc- I'd tip them if it's well done. Cabs- I round up to the nearest $10.

However, I'm not completely consistent- if I've got nothing smaller than equiv of a £20 note then they might be unlucky that day.

Tipping is a global minefield I agree.

I have never even HEARD of tipping your hairdresser! Never crossed my mind to do so. I go every six weeks for a trim and colour, but it 'only' costs £50 (rural area) and i know my hairdresser earns a helluva alot more than I do. Besides, £50 for something that takes her 45 minutes, 20 of which she is waiting for the colour to take and so cuts other hair is quite enough thank you.

verylittlecarrot, you said exactly what i wanted to say.

I give the woman that does my hair £5 or £10 depends how much I have in my purse/whether she did a good job/my mood. The girl who washes my hair gets a £3/£4 depending on what I have. More at Christmas.

As to the actual "art" of doing it having lived somewhere where tipping was prevalent I am much more comfortable with doing it now that I was a few years back.

It is physically easier to tip with notes so I will walk back to the hairdresser and just say "thanks I love it" hand them the money then walk away saying "see you soon". Easy.

The girl who washes my hair usually fetches my coat or "escorts" me to the till so it is usually easy to just hand her some money. If either of them are not about I just hand the cash to the receptionist saying (again!) "I love my hair can you make sure X and Y get A and B".

I used to tip my old hairdresser - the same member of staff would do everything on your hair and they all had little tip tins. They were also extraordinarily cheap - £6 for a trim and £25 for a full head colour. They charged me £60 to put up my hair,my 3 bridesmaid's hair an d wash and set my mum's hair when I got married.

I don't tip my current hairdresser (moved away so old hairdresser too far away )- they are a lot more upmarket, and charged me £60 for a full head colour - plus I did notice they have no tip jar/plate.

So I think it depends on the salon.

mine is 120 quid for cut and colour every 3 months... it takes about 2 hours, i tip 10 quid

I can't believe how much some of you spend on having your hair done - I must be living on another planet !! I used to pay £10 for cut (done by a friend in her 'salon' - ie: garden shed ) now I've decided to let it grow; I certainly wouldn't consider colouring my (going grey) hair.

I can't believe how little some of you pay - I'm quite . Even the little granny salon in the village where my DC go to school charges £65 for a half head of H/L and they don't blow dry your hair after.

In town (at by no means the most expensive hairdresser) cut and a half head of H/L's now cost me £130

I used to tip my old hairdreser £5 but after starting with a new one, I took the stance of no tips. The first time, i sort of cringed a bit, but now i feel ok, as she knows i dont, so pretty straightforward.

I never tip the hairdresser. If I pay £70 for a colour and cut, then that is more than enough!

My hairdresser now has her own salon and makes a good living from it. I pay the price and that is it.

£70 for highlights, cut and blow dry
£25 for a trim, wash and blow dry in between.

I have it coloured every 12 weeks and trimmed once in between times. That is alot of money and although I am very happy with the service I feel that the price I pay is more than enough.

I pay £150 every six weeks (religiously) for my cut and colour and don't tip - I see the most senior people in a good London salon, so think that's fair enough given the cash I KNOW they earn!

I'll pay the girl who washes my hair a fiver at Christmas, providing she doesn't soak me at the basin!

Cut and blow dry costs me £27, so I usually round up to £30 and tip £3 (which they split £1 to the hair washer & £2 to the stylist)

When I have highlights it comes into £70 and the owner does it, so I don't tip. She drives a Merc and has built a house in the Algarve...she doesn't need a tip.

I have been in the craft for fifty years, so my experience is considerable. The kind of training that is given now, is poor, especially the non professional attitudes in local shops.
The politics of haircraft is that its for young women who have left school with poor grades; not good! This is why the craft is generally poorly paid and frequently with employers who are anything but professional; beware of this and dreadful hairdoes! Yes I agree tipping should be a thing of the past, and the fact that it is still practiced shows the state of the craft, generally speaking, I mean at a local level.
When looking for a good hairdresser, here's what to do. Look at the faces of the young women working in the shop, and choose the one with the bright eyed sparkle who greets you with a smile- ignore the dead eyed, empty looking faces who look as if they wished they weren't there! the bright eyed want to work and eager to create not only the good cut, but clients too.