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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Tipping in Hairdressers

68 replies

BootyMum · 02/08/2010 21:39

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?

OP posts:

LynetteScavo · 03/08/2010 09:15

Semibreve, you are quite right. The salon I go to chooses brilliant juniors. They are bright and articulate,and keen to be in the salon because they are treated well.

One thing which really puts me off a salon is the poor junior girls/boy being spoken to rudely, and treated like dirt. Really makes me cringe

Porcelain · 03/08/2010 09:28

I love my hairdresser, because I'm a bit alternative it took me a while to find one who knew what he was doing (I used to have an undercut, there's not a lot of identikit blondes who understand why you might want the sides of your head shaved, let alone know how to work the rest of it into a decent style around it). He will also do a fringe trim for free inbeteween cuts, and gives me insider tips on colouring (I do my own at home, and again, it's a bit more complex than most as I have white streaks in black).

I pay about £35 for a cut and blow dry, so I tend to tip about £3-5. I give it to whoever I am paying (usually a junior who takes over for that bit) in pound coins and figure they will work out how to split it. I did always find it a bit more complicated when I was at a salon where they each had their own piggy bank, because you have to know everyone's names and work out how much to give them.

whomovedmychocolate · 03/08/2010 09:29

I hate getting my hair cut because of the tipping issue. I actually object to paying £45 for a half hour of having a trim. That's £90 an hour. You can get a barrister for that much (not a silk obviously).

And the haircuts generally look the same for a £25 in Supercuts or a £60 in the local salon. And then you are expected to tip on top .

It really takes the shine off the experience to know that you are expected to pay twice.

Consequently I quite often have fiercely messy hair and cut the DCs hair myself. I have now been co-opted into cutting DHs hair as well (it's more convenient for him).

whomovedmychocolate · 03/08/2010 09:29

I mean not a QC (doh!)

Mowgli1970 · 03/08/2010 09:34

I pay £36 for a cut and blow dry and tip the hairdresser £3 and the lad who washes my hair £1. I generally tip 10% in total so a colour, cut and blowdry is £80, I tip £4 for the stylist, £3 for the colourist and £1 for the hair washer.

Morloth · 03/08/2010 10:06

You are supposed to tip the hairdresser?! When did this start?

PosieParker · 03/08/2010 10:08

If it's great and the hairdresser is very pleasant and I'm flush, I tip otherwise I don't.

MadLenny · 03/08/2010 23:00

Sorry to hijack this thread but do most of you stick with the same hairdresser (even if s/he moves onto a different salon) or do you stay at the same salon regardless of who does your hair?

LilMagill · 03/08/2010 23:11

Would never have occurred to me to. Like someone said we have a minimum wage in this country and I don't work for very much more than it myself. Seems arbitrary to tip some jobs and not others, and also feels so foreign and patronising to me. Really hate bewildering tipping culture to the extent that I will actively avoid holiday destinations where it's the norm. Besides, I only pay about £25 for a haircut which takes half an hour so, considering people seem to be tipping £5-10 for a £100ish haircut, the 'correct' amount for me to tip would probably be insultingly small.

SlackSally · 03/08/2010 23:57

I'm very lucky in that my best friend is a hairdresser and so does mine for free. If/when she gets sick of doing so (she doesn't do it for a living any more) I think I will probably tip my hairdresser.

I actually really like tipping. I think it's a slight guilt thing. I worked during my adolescence in shitty jobs for less than the proper minimum wage and I know how shit it is. Now that I'm in a relatively well paid career I think I feel the need to share the love a little bit.

I always tip taxi drivers because my dad is one and I know how little some of them can earn.

LilMagill, do you not even tip in restaurants?

draftywindows · 04/08/2010 00:06

I always tip my hairdresser, cut and colour is £90 so I round up to £100.

I have moved salons to keep a hairdresser.

UndomesticHousewife · 04/08/2010 00:22

I have a hairdresser at the salon that I always ask for to cut my hair and I tip her about £5 for a £45 bill but only so she will like me and not wreck my hair the next time I'm in.

BitOfFun · 04/08/2010 02:07

I don't tend to tip, embarrassing though it is, because I just don't earn enough. I would hate for them to think that it's because I don't appreciate the service though. I just think that once you ae paying forty quid plus for an hour or less of someone's expertise, tipping should be extraneous really.

gtamom · 04/08/2010 03:08

I tip 15%.

LilMagill · 04/08/2010 10:11

Yes SlackSally I do leave a small tip in restaurants since it really is expected, and not to do so would seem like a deliberate statement of some kind. I still don't like the principle, but at least it's less awkward to just leave a bit of money on the table than explicitly putting it in a hairdreser's hand when they aren't neccessarily expecting it (which I think I'd make a horribly embarrassing mess of)!

MyMamaToldMe · 04/08/2010 10:26

So glad to have come across this thread! I always dally over what to do when it comes to tipping the hairdresser (after forking out £120 for cut & colour), and normally if I have money on me I will leave a tip, if not, I don't. But I always feel horrendously guilty if I don't, and it is really reassuring to know there are other out there that feel the same/don't tip! Also good to know that you don?t tip the owner - didn?t know that!

moragbellingham · 04/08/2010 11:49

I left a regular salon because the manageress kept dropping hints at 15% being a regular amount to tip!
I thought my tenner was quite enough!

Anyway, with the new salon (chain)there are three different people who shampoo, colour then cut my hair. Now what?

Also, I've been kept waiting for half an hour with wet hair once and most recently kept waiting with colour on whilst the colourist/stylist finished with another customer.
This resulted in a semi-permanent being used(secretly disguised as a conditioning masque!)to rectify some problem.

I used to tip randomly but now don't as I don't think I'm treated very well but my hair ends up looking nice.

I always tip the DCs hairdresser as they are usually a handful

SpanishHarlot · 04/08/2010 11:57

I think that tipping depends on your service why tip just because it is expected of you. If you pay enough anyway for the service then your tip is just adding to the cost.

If someone is nice and helpful then tip them a couple of pounds and say why.

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