To be shocked how much "ordinary" people spend on grooming?

[Daygals]

Let's start by explaining that by ordinary, I mean people on average incomes living not unusual lives. What is normal might also be regional, I live in a world of fake tans and long fake lashes.

I am shockingly low maintenance but I thought I might make a bit of an effort for a special occasion and have my brows tidied and nails done, so I looked up some salons and price lists and this is where my shock comes from.

I had no idea these things are so expensive. The list I'm looking at is a fairly basis salon, nothing upmarket and includes things lots of people I know would consider "need" doing on a regular basis.

The prices are probably fair from the point of view of the therapist's time but I can't imagine spending this on myself on a regualar basis.

Eye lashes £40
HD Brows £20
Gel Nails £30
Pedicure £20
Hair cut £40
Hair colour £80

That's before waxing and and more luxury treatments like facials or anti-aging stuff.

I don't know how often it all needs doing (monthly?) but I know lots of people who are always "done" like this I can't fathom how it's even possible/

Just thinking about how much I spend monthly on 'maintenance' and it is a large amount of money. I treat myself to the full works.

That's not including teeth, fillers, facials, massages, cosmetics, skin care, clothes, shoes and fragrances.

But... I can afford it. I enjoy taking the time out to have pampering sessions and I only do it for myself so don't really care whether people think it's ridiculous or not.
I feel a lot better in myself when I've had a treatment or two done and I'm not hurting anyone.
What's the issue?

I'm low maintainence. Got my first haircut booked for 18+m coming up. I've had good value out of my own hairdressing scissors. My natural wave/ curl is quite forgiving.

My colouring means that I don't need to use products to bring out my features for daily life. My eyebrows are a decent shape so I just tweeze the strays occasionally. Sometimes I'll buy a temporary colour for £5 to brighten my hair up in the winter, but having a range of tones naturally means the effect comes out well. My nails grow quickly and are strong so I've never felt the need for a manicure.

Make-up, I'll wear a few times a year. I've got to the other side of 35 where tinted moisturiser gives a bit more polish than being completely fresh faced.

I'm happy with my natural features and don't need to do much with them. My greatest expense is normal brands of shampoo and even then, my hair only needs 2-3 times per week.

I don't really do anything so probably look like a right scruff : cut own hair, don't have any beauty treatments, hardly ever wear make-up, just shave leg and bikini line, don't do anything to nails except keep them cut short (sometimes i paint them myself for fun), I pluck the stray hairs on my eyebrows but that's it. Not judging those who enjoy beauty treatments though, each to their own. As PPs have said, what ppl choose to spend money on is v personal.

Reading this thread though part of me is wondering whether I look a right mess compared to other women and just don't realise it

Wow I have no money but even if I did I wouldn't spend this much on it. Haircut once a year, 30 quid. Maybe another 30 quid a year on makeup etc. Never had my nails done professionally,I do them myself, my eyebrows are completely untouched so probably look crap.

I spend £10 on threading every 3/4 weeks. I do any waxing/ shaving myself. I keep my nails short for work but will get acrylics for going on holiday or weddings. I replace makeup as and when I need to. I colour my own hair but will have highlights, balyage etc done now and again and have a trim every 12 weeks. I do my own facials at home since dh bought me a facial steamer. I do have a monthly massage which normally costs £45 and this is probably my main treat. I have never used fillers etc but may consider them one day. I don't see any problem in spending more on grooming if you can afford to.

I used to think I was low maintenance but I realise when I add it all up I’m probably not 😂 but I have been doing this for years before it was probably popular
Nails £30 every two weeks
Eyebrows /Russian eyelashes £50 every 2/3 weeks
Pedicure every month £40
Facial every month £50
Lip fillers as and when £160
Hair £100 every 6 weeks
Must be working at keeping me looking
young as I’m on holiday with my 25 year old son and everyone we meet thinks we’re married 😂😂

I do it as I can afford it easily and I like the fact that by doing this especially my eyebrows and eyelashes means I rarely need to wear make up

I spend roughly £100 every two months for a trim, colouring, eyebrows tinted and waxed and also false eyelashes. I occasionally get my nails done but rarely. The £100 includes a tip.

I do it because I dislike my natural hair colour and my eyelashes and brows look non-existent due to how fair I am.

Everything else, I do myself. I have a really good facial cream from Boots which works wonders. It typically lasts me a year and then I get more for Christmas.

In regard to the salon, I've been going for years and it's more like a social gathering rather than just sitting in a chair, silent. Plus, they're a small local business which I'm happy to support.

See, I don't see nails, hair, waxing etc as 'a nice day out'. It's just the same as going to the dentist to me, only unnecessary as well as a chore.

I am so low maintenance that my niece cuts my hair, I never buy make up, apart from mascara. I use coconut oil as a body moisturiser and add brown sugar to it as a scrub. I slather E45 on my face as I have dry skin. I apply fake tan in the Summer and that is about it.

I don't know why people are so keen to pretend that funding the cosmetics industry is a victimless crime, and hence just another hobby.like a sport or music or something.

The number of teenagers who are very unhappy with their bodies has doubled in recent years. Plastic surgery for teens is spiralling out of control.

Women choosing to spend money on pretending to have perfect skin, or different coloured hair, is directly funding the kind of advertising that is indisputably impacting body confidence.

There is no way this a personal private choice that is no one else's business. NO WAY.

See, I don't see nails, hair, waxing etc as 'a nice day out'.

Agree, it's boring as fuck. Getting my hair done is only tolerable because she comes to my house rather than me having to schlepp into town, sit in an uncomfy chair, drink crap coffee and be "entertained" with rubbish magazines.

I also sometimes spend money on video games and would rather have an afternoon playing Fallout4 than getting my brows done.

Am I really a man?

Some people would think a meal out (£50+) was a complete waste of money but I prefer that to cosmestics/hair.

Each to their own.

Agree, it's boring as fuck. Getting my hair done is only tolerable because she comes to my house rather than me having to schlepp into town, sit in an uncomfy chair, drink crap coffee and be "entertained" with rubbish magazines.

Ah, but the shampoo and head massage is excellent. It's the best bit!

M3lon, you are so wilfully ignorant and dismissive of people; women, their rights.

Spending money on a product is not a crime, victimless or otherwise.

You blether on and on (along with your cohort) about women feeling pressurised yet you (general) keep pressurising women to not do whatever it is they've chosen to spend their time and money on. You're disparaging and yet impotent. Nothing you've posted on this thread would give me cause to stop and think.

Nobody lives in a vacuum, I posted that earlier, we're all influenced by what we see. I'm teaching my children to be circumspect about what they see in the media and how it impacts how they feel about themselves. I don't expect to have overwhelming influence but I hope and trust that we've done enough to make them think.

Your last sentence though... it is NOT your business. It's not anybody else's business and (happily) you have no powers to stop other women from living their lives. I realise that you're not in the 'business' of supporting women, got that. How about just stop treating them as mindless fools for a bit?

I am so low maintenance that my niece cuts my hair, I never buy make up, apart from mascara. I use coconut oil as a body moisturiser and add brown sugar to it as a scrub

Coconut can clog the drains, so it seems cheap until you have to call a plumber or when the water companies have to carve out a fatberg and use that to hike up the charges. .

Donkey, I must have the 'neck' for the salon washbasins as I nod off every time I go. Gaming isn't my thing. I love that we're all different and free to be so.

I've been told that I'm 'not a woman' because I don't like chocolate. Silly, isn't it, the nonsensical throwaway stereotypes that people bandy about?

You can get good deals on sites like Treatwell.

Next week, before my holiday, I’m getting a deluxe pedicure, an eyebrow wax, a bikini wax and a 1 hour facial- all for £70!

@M3lon
What gives you the right to berate and criticise women for spending their money how they like?

It really isn't your business.
I have no idea why you've clicked on a 'maintenance' thread if you don't agree with it (apart from the ram your insufferable comments down peoples throats.)

Say what you like about M3lon, at least she's trying to have a wider discussion about it rather than just writing a list of what she does/doesn't do.

There's a good debate to be had here imo - personal choice vs social pressure

Had to google microblading too.
On reflection, I’m probably just tight wrt to makeup and beauty because I prioritise other categories of spending like eating out and holidays. I never view these as essentials though.

I spend about £100-£120 a month on a pedicure, my roots and a couple of blow drys as and when I fancy/or have plans.

I have extremely long, thick unruly hair, so to me the £12.50 I spend on a blow dry, that will last the 7 days until the next one I have booked is worth it, not to spend two stressful clammy hours washing, drying and straightening it myself.

I'm not quite as angry as you are about it M3lon, but I do agree with you. I am just hoping the fashion for extreme over-grooming, throwaway fashion, trowelled on make up will change (as fashions do) and we can all relax a bit and embrace the more natural look of, say, the grunge era .

I do feel sad on behalf of our young people that the expectations they feel re. their appearance are so extreme just now.

Lashes - every 6 weeks
Nails - every six weeks
Brows - not sure but I don’t do mine.

About the only thing I spend money on is decent skin and hair products. I have dark lashes and eyebrows which I take care of myself. Any defuzzing is for comfort and hygiene with a razor or bikini trimmer. My mother was a hairdresser and I use her various scissors to take care of my fringe and split ends; I go once a year or so to a hairdresser near work in my lunchtime to get my waist-length hair evened up and straggly ends removed. I leave it to air dry to keep the condition and because blow drying removes the waves. I occasionally wear makeup to cover up post-menopause skin blemishes or for a special occasion. I paint my toe nails myself and keep my splitting nails short and neat. My grey hairs are colour defiant and I really don't want to go down the bleaching/permanent colour route for the condition of my hair. I hate fake tans and don't see the point as they don't look real; I'd rather show my freckles from the garden. I don't think I know anyone who actually bothers with fake tan.

As long as I'm clean and presentable, that's all I care about. I don't frighten the horses but I think the reality star type of grooming might...