To think hair salons are extortionate?

[chatterbug22]

I haven’t been to the hairdressers since the last lockdown, instead using box dyes. We have a hairdresser in the family so they don’t mind giving the occasional trim every six months.

I’d love to go back to a really nice hair salon, but a basic colour and cut starts from £85-£120, and balayage would be anywhere from £110-170!

AIBU to think this is really extortionate? Theoretically I have the money and could pay but wow, I just think it’s excessive and so so much. I want to treat myself and feel good about my hair. I know costs of everything have gone up and that a good stylist deserves paying well for their time and effort, I would never want to underpay someone. I just can’t believe it’s so much! Up north and not looking at city centre salons either.

I get mine done at the local college by students under tuition. £6 for a cut and blow dry. £10 for a colour/highlights/perm.

I couldn't justify paying what some salons charge. My hairdresser has always been reasonable, the most I've paid was £65 that was for foils, roots, cut and style with curls.

I guess the prices can vary depending on location, but I can get a wash and blow dry for £25 - considering it takes an hour, product, overheads etc I thinks its more than reasonable. Had my roots done a couple of weeks ago - I have long hair. Took about 3 hours all in, cost me £75. I don't think that's pricey at all.

Have my hair dry cut £23 and my friend colours it

My hairdresser is worth every penny. She’s amazing and extremely talented.

I tried a new hairdressers last month purely because I hate the faff of having my hair blow dried and washed. I just want a 2inch trim. My usual hairdressers charge £30 for a cut and blow dry. I booked a dry cut at the new place only because they were the only place I could find that offered a dry cut. I didn't even ask the price as I thought it would be about £15 to £20
From the moment I walked in the door to the moment I was back out it was ten mins and it cost £28!!! The actual time in the chair was literally 3 minutes
Safe to say I won't be going back

I agree with this.
Yes it’s a lot of money but it’s presumably been carefully worked out to cover all the costs and pay the person a decent wage.
If you can’t afford it or choose not to spend that then that’s fine. Shop around find cheaper if you can.
This kind of moaning annoys me, most hairdressers do not earn a lot of money.
It is a lot of money. Which is why it’s been 6 months since my last cut and 12 since I had any colour done. My hair is not an essential. I make do if needed.

Long hair balayage & cut breakdown:

Full box of lightener - £20
2 Tubes of colour - £15
Developer - £7.50
Foils - £5
Shampoo/Conditioner - £3
Chair rent per stylist - £20 (see this as a full day of working on once client 5 hours. Roughly the max time for a client with long hair)

Total - £70.50

Say the client is charged £100.

Stylist is left with £29.50

Then factor in other products. Scissors, combs, brushes, clips, hair spray, heat protection, hair dryers, straighteners, mousse, hairspray.

Costs for the salon - water, gas, electricity, rents, insurance, marketing, music license, training, uniforms, fixtures and fittings, cleaning products, teas, coffees, milks, juices, reading material, online booking services, card machines.

I think it’s colour that tends to be crazy expensive. Mines over £250.

What it boils down to is hairdressing is not an essential service. Mechanics, plumbers, electricians are not an equivalent service because they are essential and benefit the whole household.
Yes, hairdressers, most of which women deserve to be adequately paid but you could also say that it is also used against women that hair services are so expensive. Men go to barbers and get a £10 haircut. A hair trim is £25 + tip where I am. Just for a bloody trim! When hairdressing is expensive it also disadvantages and discriminates against women because that is the majority of their clientele. And it's not a tragedy because again, this is not an essential service. It's something nice and many people no longer have money sloshing around for nice things.

I’m paying £110 for a semi-permanent all over colour and cut. The last appointment I pushed back four months as it’s just too much otherwise. She keeps trying to book me in every two months, but that works out £55 a month from my budget, at least over four months it’s £27.
I’m in there less than 90 minutes, a significant proportion of that is sitting with colour on, so with some planning she could easily see four clients a day, that’s over £440, which is a huge amount for a job that requires Writing this I realise that I actually need to cancel and find something far more reasonable!

YANBU. It's just not an essential at the moment for many people including myself so it's had to be one of things that I've sacrificed. Even pet grooming is a priority over hairdressers as that is for welfare rather than luxury.

I just can't justify hairdresser costs anymore.

I pay £70 every 11/12 weeks and that's a full head of highlights (2 colours) opelax treatment, cut and blow, she has over 40 years of experience and knows her stuff, this weekend I had 3 of them working on my hair, making sure parts of my hair weren't developing faster than other parts, felt like I was being pampered. I defo would not be paying £250 like some others.

I just paid £128 for cut and colour in an average high street salon . The colour has lasted about 4/5 weeks before the roots showed through and I resent the money .
I can afford it but I just don't think it's good value .

Where does all that money go? How much does the stylist get paid? How much for consumables (hair dyes etc.) How much on overheads such as premises rental, heating, lighting, water and sewage?

@hattie43

Sorry you resent the hairdresser because your roots have grown in 4/5 weeks?

Please can you tell me how that makes any sense ??

My hairdresser charges £150 for a trim! But she is totally worth it.

My colourist charges £220. Eek.

So I haven’t been to a salon for 9 years. I last had my hair cut when I went to uni and then never moved back home and I didn’t trust anyone to cut my hair. However; as you can imagine it’s in need of cutting, thought I’d treat myself and looked at my local prices. £60 for a dry cut! £60?!! Last time I had my hair cut it was £10!

I simply can’t justify it, I’ll wait for my birthday to treat myself - little home trim will do until then.

Mine was £31 on Saturday for a cut blow dry and ghd curls. Can’t remember how much a colour is. My mum was moaning that her highlights and cut cost £85, I told her that was actually a good price but she wasn’t having it. I have to be really happy with a salon to get up
the nerve to go after having my hair butchered at cheap places my mum forced me to go to. I hadn’t been to the hairdresser for over a year.

My dry cut is £20, up £4 from before C-19.----

Former hairdresser here. I only do family now. It's crazy what salons charge. Colour and tin foil is not that expensive especially in bulk. We used to have the cheapest of the cheapest shampoo and conditioner too and everyone always commented on how nice it was. I think if you're paying hundreds you just assume it's nice stuff. Got to make money somewhere I suppose.

There was a salon in the wee shopping precinct where I grew up that used to empty the big bottles of 'pro' shampoo and divvy it up between staff to take home and refilled the bottles with supermarket value shampoo and conditioner which cost like 40p a bottle! People said the same, they loved it! (My best friend was the Saturday girl)

That's ridiculous. Ask what colour you use and do it yourself. Semi permanent colour is not expensive.

My root regrowth and cut is £100, it takes 2 hours and I feel that is a fair price. My stylist rough dries my hair as her cut is that good it doesn't need a full blow dry.

hair chemicals are not dangerous. And yes we are saying that 2 hours work isn’t worth £160 or so. That’s reasonable imo.