Tipping hairdresser after an expensive treatment.

[Bubblegum22]

I’m getting hair extensions which will cost £550, Aibu to not tip or should I be tipping 10%, which seems to be standard? Or whats an acceptable amount in your opinion?

Maintenance is circa £200 every 2 months so tips will add up over the year (if I decide to keep them in that is).

I’m not sure what the protocol is these days with more expensive treatments so would appreciate some info on other people’s tipping etiquette/or not at the hairdressers, particularly for more expensive services.
Would be great if any hairdressers here could offer some guidance on what they’d expect.

Thank you.

Did he give a reason?

You just say can you add £5 please or whatever the amount to the receptionist.

I’ve always tipped and now am wondering whether I shouldn’t have been.

I give my hairdresser £10 tip. I pay for the haircut by card and I then turn to h/dresser (wherever he maybe) and just give him the tenner. He never looks at it, just takes it and says thanks so much, that's really kind etc.

I have never tipped a hairdresser.

Used to round it up to the nearest tenner - when it was an amount that only rose very slowly over the years. Post-Covid, it’s a fortune so I don’t any more.

Whether I tip (which would be a case of rounding up or £2/3 max) depends on whether its an independent stylist or someone working for an employer.

If you're an independent stylist you are setting your own rates. So, if you want £27 instead of £25, set that as the price. Don't think I'm going to telepathically know to top it up. Tipping is for topping up the low wages of people in minimum wage jobs. Independent stylists set their own rates and round my way, are FAR from on minimum wage.
If its a stylist employed by someone, I'm happy to tip a couple pounds as I realise they usually have jam packed diaries and no control over availability/pricing.

For a £550 hair extension appointment, no way would I be tipping 10%. Its that expensive initially because you have bought the product - the hair. You've already paid for it so why would you tip the stylist for it? Its yours, she's not doing you a favour!

The cost is the cost because of the time it takes. If you don't want such a time consuming and expensive thing done, don't have it done.

The hairdresser isn't making extra money from your extremely long appointment.

Got any evidence for that. Many employed hairdressers will be earning close to fuck all. Any self employed hairdressers will be paying 50% commission or a daily rate to hire a chair. How many rich hairdressers do you know?

I do tip.

But it's definitely not expected.

I must live in another world as i cannot imagine spending that on a hair do never mind the tip to go with it.
Totally misses the point i know

You definitely wouldn't tip 10% of the £550, as you would only tip on the labour not on the product. If you desperately wanted to tip, I'd say £10 or £20, but lordy I'd not be adding anything to a bill that high in the first place.

I used to tip the hairdresser that does my cut & colour when she worked in a salon, usually £5 when it used to cost about £80. She's independent now so I don't. I do tip the hairdresser who does my £130 keratin treatment, who works in a salon, usually give he £10 as it's a labour intensive job that takes about 3hrs. For £550 extensions, if it's someone in a salon, I'd probably give them £10-£20 depending on how long it took.

I'll ask the receptionist to pass it on or I'll go back to the hairdresser after I've paid and give the tip.

I've always given a tip, even as a child in the 80s my mum used to give me £1 to tip the hairdresser who did my hair. I thought everyone tipped, I don't think I know of anyone who doesn't but obviously I don't go around asking everyone! I'm in Ireland though and I definitely think it's standard to tip the hairdresser.

I don’t tip at all, I’m at the hairdressers frequently and he presents me the card reader to pay. It would be awkward to tip here. And honestly I pay fortunes to him already.

The extensions cost so much because of how long it takes. If you take up the equivalent of 3-4 appointments, you're going to have to pay for that as you would do with anything else!

He did say "why are you giving me that?" But he does own the salon and I've been going there a long time.

I don't know if this happens to anyone else, but I ask for a price each time before I go (in person too so they cant say my hair was surprisingly thick or long) and it ALWAYS changes at the till.

If I have been quoted £120 and it cost £130 at the till, then I don't tip anymore. If it was the £120 quoted then I would tip £5.

I would tip £5 regardless of spending £50 or £500.

I stopped tipping hairdressers when the cost went over £100 a visit. That puts you comfortably into professional territory, imo, and you don’t tip professionals. Tips are to compensate people in low paid, low status jobs for being exploited.

A £5 tip for that is absolutely plenty and fine.

I do always tip even if it’s just 4 or 5 pounds as I find they treat me a bit better and take more care as a regular client.

Also can I just say that reading these comments you all seem like very generous tippers - I worked on a Reception desk at a posh hair salon in my teens and I reckon only 50% of people tipped and when they did it was £2-£5 even when having £200 worth of work done. So I always think of myself as generous paying £5 extra as a tip.

I go to an Aveda salon and I don't tip. It's expensive enough as it is (it's the only hair colour I don't react to), and the awkwardness of tipping cash when I'm paying £100+ by card makes me cringe. I was sat by the desk last time I was in, and only one person tipped in the 2.5 hours I was there.

When I used to go to my village hairdresser in the 90s/early 2000s, I tipped.

My hairdresser keeps going up in cost. I didn’t tip the last few times. I can’t afford to!

It's been many years since Ive been to a hairdresser but I have always tipped 10%, and it's always clearly been expected. But being a bit tight, I suppose if I was spending that much on a visit, I would probably tip £25 rather than the full 10%!

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