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/

I've always been pretty low maintenance - probably only had my hair cut in a salon about 6 times in over 45 years as an adult. I used to pluck my eyebrows but couldn't be bothered after several decades of it but I noticed just the other day that my eyebrows no longer meet in the middle (I've become something of a stranger to mirrors as the years have gone by) Okay, the rest of them have become a bit bushy, some might say weird, but clearly I'm edging ahead in the beauty stakes with this one.

I agree re manicures feeling like they take forever! I rarely go.

I have my hair cut every 10 weeks or so. Maybe longer.

I don't really do much else! Try to sort my eyebrows and nails at home but my eyebrows is just a little.tody up

I do immac bikini line when i go on hols also at home.

I just don't have that kind of money- and I have a reasonably well paid job!

I don’t think I’ve spent anything so far this year. I’ m due for a haircut soon though. I look after my own brows and have an epilator or shave. I have short nails too. I do spend a bit of money on perfume, as it gives me real pleasure. Grooming is a big topic wear I work, but it’s not a necessity, more of a hobby.

Wow, I do not do pay out for a single thing on the OP's list, and never have done either.
All of those things can actually be done at home, with products from poundland and Aldis/Lidlls/Superdrugs if that is your desire. There's plenty of tutorials on youtube to show you how to do it.
To me it's like cooking or fashion, show me a hack and I love it. Other people love to be pampered and buy expensive things. Each to their own.

I get my hair cut every other month alternating with having my hair coloured. £35/£40 each. That’s it!

Imust be very very low maintenance, i spend £20 every 4 weeks for my cut and blowdry and my smile is free

Went out with some of my oldest friends who have been married over 15 years. None of them had ever gone for an itmate wax.
I thought this was interested as my other single friends all get them, if not regularly than for special occasions.
They are £25 where I live in the South. Worth every penny - incredibly tricky to do yourself.

I am gobsmacked by nail prices though. I mean they look good longer but so expensive compared to doing your own.

I have no idea why we seem to spend so much now. I thought the whole acceptance/ inclusive thing would mean less pressure on women’s grooming but quite the opposite.

I can count the times I’ve had a professional manicure/pedicure on one hand. My own wedding and 2 spa days (my 30th & 40th birthday treat). That’s once a decade then with a hot stone massage as well.

Oh goodie, another goady thread chock full of goady and judgemental responses.

What does it matter to you what other people spend their money on? I don't drink or smoke. Plenty of people do. Should I criticise them for their choices? Answer: No, only a twat would do that.

PuzzledObserver - why the judgement? Why does what you perceive as 'attractive' even matter a whit? Answer: It doesn't. You don't sound very nice though, regardless of what you look like.

Live and let live.

I can categorically say I look much better with all the treatments 😂

@OrdinarySnowflake, that's a good point. I wonder if, for our parents, there was a time when people felt liberated from the 'necessity' of grooming and it was normal not to bother so much. Now we're coming back round to that once old-fashioned idea of needing to be 'done' before you could leave the house which our grandmothers had. It's a bit like baby names

I think if this thread was posted on style and beauty the replies would be completely different.

I don't get nails/lashes/tan done, but I have my hair cut every five weeks, and brows threaded once a fortnight. I also spend money on makeup, skincare, and clothes. It's normal for me, I budget for it, and enjoy the process - I don't want to be low-maintenance!

I'm fairly low maintenance. Hair is cut at £20 for a wet cut every 2 months (just miss out the blow dry which is not worth spending money for IMO). Box hair dye at £5 or so every 6 weeks. I do have my eyebrows microbladed which costs £250 a year in top ups but I had lopsided eyebrows for years due to overplucking in my 90s youth, so its worth it not to have lopsided brows.

I bite my nails so am too scared to go for a manicure. I occasionally get my brows waxed but most of the time I just pluck them instead.

Now expensive high end makeup is where I do waste/spend money!

I would say I'm low maintenance.
£20 every 3 weeks to get my eyebrows lip and chin waxed I'm very dark haired so it shows up alot.
I also have a very short hair cut that I pay £10 every 6 weeks for.
So £50 every 6 weeks. I'm happy with that.
If I'm going on holiday I'll try find an offer for pedicure and gel toes but that is around £30 (but once a year)
Nails oh hell no. Unless I'm going to a wedding/christening something like that.

That low/high maintenance trope is just misogynist bollocks and it sounds so much worse coming from women.

I don't disagree with you, Judy, just that we, women, should be able to groom ourselves without judgement - from men or (far more common), other women.

sparkles so you pay £5000 a year and I pay £5.

I thinks its reasonably to wonder why 'looking better' is worth about 1000 times more to you than to me....

My "extravagences"...

Haircut - £35 - every couple of months (don't colour it)
Eyebrow shape - £7-12 - every couple of months (DIY in between)
Pedicure - £25 - pre-hols two or three times a year (DIY in between)
Manicure - £0 - DIY once a week

One year DH bought me a year's worth of pedicures and the next year a year's worth of haircuts. I was very groomed that year!

I like to look my best but I'm not going to bankrupt myself.

Because different people have different priorities? Would you say the same about “why you think a holiday is worth 1000 times more than someone else” or a car, or meal out or anything else people make the choice to spend their own money on?

I consider myself well groomed and take care of my appearance. I spend nothing like that and have in excess of an 'ordinary income' by a long way.

The only think I pay for is my hair. £75 for a cut once every 3 months. £125 for colour 3 x a year.

I spend around £30 a month on average on skin care and high-end make up but only buy more when I've run out.

I do my own nails- file and use Essie or Mavala polish
Same for a pedicure.
Don't need my brows doing.

I think this is an interesting topic!

I think getting your hair done is nothing new, but I know so many people with eyelash extension now, and its just standard to get them done/ infilled every 6 weeks. Eyebrows is another one, if you are fair and get them tinted it needs a lot of maintenance - like every 6 weeks I'd say.

I have no issue with it, I get a few different treatments done now and then, I pay for reflexology every 1-3 months which other may think is a load of crap!

BUT I do find it interesting, as some of the girls on my team at work I know aren't on huge salaries, are saving for house, weddings, etc - living at home in most cases, but they will find money for these treatments as they see it as maintenance, not a treat!

If it helps, I absolutely WOULD wonder why someone would spend 1000 times more on a car than I would too!

Same for a holiday. I've never spent 1000 times what anyone else has on a holiday...or a car...unless you can get these items in pound land...

I spend quite a lot on maintenance but dont have lashes/tan etc

Gel manicure every 2 weeks £21
Toenails get done twice over the summer as it seems to last much longer
Waxing every 6 weeks £70
Hair coloured and cut every 8 weeks £100
Eyebrow threading £10
Eyelash and eyebrow tint only in the summer £20
Facials every couple of months £80

OK, maybe I just thought I was low maintenance.

There's nothing high maintenance about what you have done but I do think it depends on the stage of life people are at and the amount of disposable income they have.

Im early 60's and prior to letting my hair go grey it was cut and sorted out colour wise every 4 weeks to the day. The equivalent of about 130 pounds where I live. Now, its only cut every 4 weeks. I also have regular manicure and pedicures except for during out winter months when Im usually to be found in the garden growing my vegetables. A deluxe mani and pedi where I live costs about 70 pounds. I also have a body scrub and massage every month so thats another 70 pounds if I do it as a package.

Microblading? Ive just had my first session. I had it done in the Uk a few weeks ago when I was on holiday. It cost 400 pound and it was money well spent. The follow up that Im having in a few weeks is included in the initial outlay.

I have make up but I dont wear it often, perhaps a few times a month. I do like perfume though, I even spray it on my pillow at night. Its there to be used.

Im not high maintenance either.

I suppose I might have spent 1000 times as much on education as some people...but that pays you back multiple times over in increased salary...so I'm not sure it counts.

Of course if anyone on here has their appearance as their main earning potential then that would be different. I'm sure for an actress, beauty treatment is actually an investment too.

I agree it's all expensive. I had a gel manicure and gel pedi for holiday recently and it was £70 for the two. I'm well off, but even I winced at that. I accept it's all personal choice. But I do roll my eyes at younger people who moan they can't afford to buy a house (or even drink in a bar rather than at home) when they are spending all that money.

But it's just part of a wider lack of awareness of finance isn't it? How all these small expenditures add up, how you;re not actually "due an upgrade" on your phone but rather buying a new phone on HP every two years; how two or three take out coffees a day is an essential; how new cars on never ending finance are a thing rather than taking out a loan an paying it off. I don't know how people on regular incomes afford to do any of those things either.