To think having your hair done is now extortionate- rant

[OnlyFoolsnMothers]

So after covid lockdowns I went back to my hairdressers, didn’t know my hair dresser had been promoted and so for a full head of highlights, cut and blow dry was over £200- I’m in a London zone 3 suburb not central London!
This is extortionate so I used a local girl who works from home £85- she’s now unavailable, so this morning I’ve been calling round other salons etc- it’s an absolute rip off everywhere I call!

Last one I rang:
Highlights £70 for one colour- +£15 for an additional colour
Toner £35-£40 depending on length of hair
Cut and blow dry £40-£50 depending on length of hair

Seriously?! The length of the hair subjectivity pisses me off because I cannot plan how much it will cost me (I assume people will call anything past the ears “long hair”).
A cut and blow dry costing nearly £50?!!!
And these aren’t high end branded salons, they’re run down salons on high streets, main roads etc.
I’m not struggling but have to think before dropping over £100 on my hair- surely this isn’t right or is cutting ones hair now a luxury ?!

Cheapest cut & blow dry near me is about £65. Which is why I only get it done twice a year!

I hated not having my hair cut during lockdown. It made me thoroughly miserable so I don't agree.

My salon charges £82 for cut & colour, which involves 90 mins work, plus two cups of fresh brewed coffee. So say £75 ,or £50 per hour, for a skilled trades person with 30 years experience, who is also paying for a salon, utilities, tools, business rates, in the home counties.

I think that's fair. How much would you pay a plumber or electrician?

It's definitely a luxury.

Look for a hairdressing training college nearby, or salons with student evenings..often very discounted prices.

Last time I had a cut n blow dry was about £28 in a regular salon...asked for a quote for balayage, trim and dry... £110-140, needless to say I didn't book.

How much do you get paid per hour? Do you get charged for every bit of paper, ink electricity you use? Do you pay towards the person who keeps the records up to date? Answers the phone? Makes appointments and gets the drinks?
Think on..
I despise threads like these, theOP can earn a living but everyone else is ripping them off

The cut and blow dry sounds like a normal price.

Yanbu.

I paid £50 for my 11 year old dd to have a haircut last week. Just a simple wash and cut. My own fault for not checking the cost before we started but I thought that was an absolute rip off. We were only in there 20 minutes. And nowhere near London.

*helliachi
*
"They aren't charities and they are not "extorting" anyone - please consult a dictionary."

I have just checked. There are two definitions in my dictionary. One is 'excessive prices.' I am usually quite good with a dictionary and have had to do so with accuracy many times in my life. You might not agree with my opinion but I am confident my vocabulary is correct thank you.

@Comedycook

Really no need to call someone an idiot. So rude

But there's so much truth in it.

Threads like this, whatever product/service they're about, are deeply unintelligent.

I have just asked my nine year old (my completely normal nine year old), why she thinks hairdressers charge so much. Her response 'I don't know the exact numbers but they'll have to pay their rent in a town centre, electricity, wages, training, products and probably other things. So, whatever that costs. There's too many hairdressers for any of them to charge too much, otherwise another one would just be cheaper.'

1. It really isn't rocket science.

I used to pay £50 for full head colour, cut and blow pre covid, this is in North West England. My hairdresser has put it up to £68 (same hairdresser) I can't afford to go as often now, so spend a lot of time with roots!

despise threads like these, theOP can earn a living but everyone else is ripping them off apparently I don’t earn a good enough living to afford a hair cut.

I just think it’s sad that cutting ones hair is a luxury, yes everyone has to earn a living but that doesn’t stop people complaining that nurseries are expensive or estate agent fees are expensive- it’s called an opinion. All it means is I can’t support a local hairdresser anymore

@OnlyFoolsnMothers

despise threads like these, theOP can earn a living but everyone else is ripping them off apparently I don’t earn a good enough living to afford a hair cut.

I just think it’s sad that cutting ones hair is a luxury, yes everyone has to earn a living but that doesn’t stop people complaining that nurseries are expensive or estate agent fees are expensive- it’s called an opinion. All it means is I can’t support a local hairdresser anymore

Agree. How well off do we now need to be in order to access basic services?

Comedycook I suspect it’s the posters who say “it’s a luxury you can’t afford deal with it” who take home 100k+

@OnlyFoolsnMothers

Comedycook I suspect it’s the posters who say “it’s a luxury you can’t afford deal with it” who take home 100k+

😂😂😂

No

Perhaps the issue is not so much what the hairdresser's charge then but the wages of everyone else who can't afford them.

@OnlyFoolsnMothers

Comedycook I suspect it’s the posters who say “it’s a luxury you can’t afford deal with it” who take home 100k+

Or, they have an ability to think.

I completely agree and my costs were nothing like yours. I was paying 75.00 to have my roots done and a simple trim. I tried someone else who charged me the same and did an awful cut. In the end, I found a local mobile hairdresser and have just had a cut for twenty pounds. It looks great. I washed it before she arrived. She cut it beautifully and I dried it when she left. I will be now having the colour done with her too. I used to like getting it done in the salon as it was a bit of a treat. It ended up being just over priced.

It is a luxury, though, isn't it? That's not sad, it's sad that e.g. going to the dentist is something people can't afford. But there's no absolutely imperative need to pay someone else to do your hair.

As PPs have said, you can get it cut and not blow dried, or a dry cut, and no colour. You could cut it and colour it at home.

I cut my own (it's long and I don't have layers so I just trim it) and I do my DH's (I'm v good at precisely one style, if he ever wanted anything else he would be fucked haha), because for us salon prices are a luxury we can't afford/can't justify.

They are expensive, but they're allowed to be - nobody's entitled to cheap haircuts like (to use someone's example) nobody's entitled to a 5 tier professionally made birthday cake when they could make one at home.

The thing is, I agree its expensive but I always thought it was a luxury in the UK (as a lot of services are). I come from Singapore, where there is no minimum wage. Haircuts can be very expensive (esp the ones in shopping centres) but it can also be very cheap at the neighbourhood salon - I paid 30 dollars or £15 at a local salon , and I think DH got a haircut for $3 or £1.50 (it was a dollar more expensive cos it was Chinese New Year). They tried to get me to take some vouchers selling haircuts at $2 but I had to tell them, no I am sorry, flying back to the UK really soon. I have no idea how they make money charging such low prices, but in Singapore, everyone goes to their salon for haircuts/trims and most women dye their hair in the salon. the high population density + no minimum wage means that they charge lower prices.

I think the UK is different and it is my perception that not everyone uses salons. I once read an article where a pensioner on the state pension got a lady from the council estate to cut her hair. There are a lot of mobile hairdressers. So it makes sense that hair salons particularly in areas of the SE and London where people can afford it charge high prices.

I go to Chinese hair salons in London and I think the prices are cheaper than regular hair salons. I try to get my hair cut in Singapore where possible but its impossible now due to the pandemic.

You’re right OP, it’s incredible.

I’ve tried to handle it with styles/colours that are low maintenance and need done infrequently. I get T bar highlights and a cut that grows out pretty well and go about once every 9 months. So it’s expensive, but manageable.

I think if you just described hair cuts you would have had a more sympathetic response. To bring in colours and highlights you are definitely moving into luxury product territory IMO.

it's sad that e.g. going to the dentist is something people can't afford.

That's actually not sad. It's abhorrent that people in UK can't affort basic freaking healthcare. First world country... Yeah

What's sad is UGGs being so expensive 😔 Extortion that. It's basic need to have warm feet😔

I've been paying my hairdresser £70 for a full head of highlights (shoulder length hair), cut and blow dry for a good few years now. I think I recall it being £65 at one point. I have been going to the same woman for 20 years though, not sure if that makes a difference, also not in a city centre.

That £30 an hour includes £5 VAT. So the hairdresser has £25 less all their costs and if they are self employed, many are and rent a chair, it has to cover any holiday and sickness too.

Really unfair to call it a rip off imo. Presumably you saved over the last year+ not getting it done whilst hair stylists' income vanished completely, then with added costs on reopening and reduced income when open because they can't have as many people in, its spectacularly shortsighted and tight to think that prices wouldn't have risen substantially to cover all of this.