Hair cut and colour now exceeds what I earn in a day. Absolutely fed up.

[Burntout01]

Obviously everything is going up and up. Just went to book hairdressers- I don’t go often , maybe every four months since I went grey ( used to box dye it for 30 years before that). Its my one bit of self care.
Cost has jumped from £120 to over £170 since I last had it done in September. For full head highlights for chin length bobbed hair plus wash and rough blow dry.
It’s not that I don’t believe its worth that price and I am not knocking my hairdresser, its not about that. But I am a senior NHS nurse with 30 years experience. My job has taken a lot from me and my family. I take home £150 a day. The hair appt is 2.5 hours.
I just cannot justify the expense for myself any more.

Im in Kent and my hairdressers also charge about £170 for a cut and colour.
It wasnt that long ago it was £120ish but since covid its gone up a lot.
Youve put it in perspective as it is also significantly more than I earn in a day,especially after tax, obviously there are overheads but still it is a lot of money.
I like my hairdresser, she does a good job and Ive been going to her for years, its a bit of me time but I am starting to baulk at the cost particularly as i am fighting the grey so need it done more frequently.

I've given up altogether. TBH I never particularly enjoyed going to the hairdressers, so I definitely never saw it as a treat, always saw it as a chore. I've let my hair grow long, and I dye my roots once every couple of months. it looks surprisingly good long. I'll cut it my self if it gets too long, or I'll go to the really cheap hairdressers that cost £15 for a trim. I cut my fringe myself.
Hairdressers get away with charging that much because a lot of women are prepared to pay it. Barbers are much cheaper because most men are like me and see going to the hairdressers as a chore, so won't pay it.
We'll all just go back to the days when everyone cut their own hair (or each others), like my Mum did in the 1950s.
Honestly, OP, it's not that bad, it's actually quite good and freeing - just try it - don't bother dyeing or cutting, you'll save a fortune.

I cut my own fringe in between cuts . £6 for a 30 second fringe trim . I colour it myself too .

At Headmasters the price for a cut and blow dry ranges from £60 to £136.

Summer lites with 8-12 foils ranges from £92 to £110. Or be completely gorgeous for up to £240.

Are you in a particularly expensive area? My apt takes 2.5 hrs (full head of foils, trim) and it’s £95. Maybe shop around?

Well if it's as reasonable as everyone is saying here OP, then get yourself on a bus or train, go further afield and spend the day being pampered in a new place. If you book early enough and get cheaper train fairs you could have a lovely day out and explore a new place for less money.
Worth a try with some recommendations maybe?

Could you share more about the videos you watched to do it properly please? Thank you

It makes you wonder how all the salons are staying open when so many people are no longer going at all or not going as often as they used to. I worry for them when I read about people who used to go every 6 weeks and now can only afford to go once or twice a year. I know a lot of the time, salons are forced to increase prices as their costs have increased significantly.

Sadly an expensive area - plenty of customers willing and able to pay. But lots also being priced out. I am seriously considering just getting my hair done when I visit my my mum (her hairdresser charges half the price). I guess the issue is that hairdresser chains have head offices etc to pay for

Are you in London op? That seems very expensive. I'm not in England but am in UK, when I lived in a capital city here I paid about £100 for a cut and highlights on very long hair. Recently moved a couple of hours away to another city and now I pay £60 for full head of highlights with cut and it looks just as good. I'm wondering if it's worth traveling for to save you money?

It is expensive, it was cheaper in London than here up North, can't get a cut and BD for under £50. Everyone seems to start with stylist or jnr stylist at £50. For colour I use Wella Koleston, lots of wella PDFs to explain how to use, what colours are what, what % developer to use for what effect. Much better than the box stuff.

I live 7 miles from central London and pay £120 for highlights, cut and dry. Chin length bob.

Its expensive but if its relative to one day's pay, I actually think that is ok tbh esp. if its the one thing that makes you feel better about yourself. I might be wrong but I do not get the impression from your post that you buy a lot of clothes, have your nails done fortnightly etc? I spend half my salary on these things.

Agree it’s a nightmare. Local salon here - Oxfordshire - is £240 for full head plus cut and blow dry. Totally ridiculous. I used to be in zone 3 London and it wasn’t as bad.

Consequently stretched out the appt for weeks over when it should have been so looked a state the last month.

No advice just solidarity

I decided my colour was too expensive,though it was roughly £96 in London hairdresser.So I have grown it out :it is now white and I have received dozens of compliments! Now I just have cut and blow dry,£46 about every 4 to 5 weeks.I assume a lot of your extra cost is for highlights,could you not go for an all over grey enhancing colour?

My cut and blow dry has just jumped to £64, I normally give her a tenner at Christmas and no tips through the year but feeling a bit annoyed about the price hike this year but I think I will feel awkward if I don't as have done for past 5 years! I am socially awkward enough without adding to it!!

It's easier than you think to cut your own hair and there are lots of good demonstrations by hairdressers on YouTube.

I’m having very similar thoughts myself OP as I too earn way less than my hair £160 cut and colour. Long since given up manicures and waxing sur to cost but this way my one thing I love and value most highly. Seriously depressing how bloody expensive it is and this is nowhere near the dearest. Before I started colouring I used to get it cut at home but stopped when she put her prices up to £55 for a cut and blow dry (& I started
wfh and was desperate for an excuse to get out of the house!)

@Burntout01 The fte job appears to be Band 6? So up to £46,500? Most people would take that in a cheaper area of the uk. Working part time impacts pension but everyone has that issue and the self employed hairdresser will not have an employer contributing to her pension. By comparison, yours is silver plated (maybe not gold) and I would advise you look around for another hairdresser but these staff deserve a decent wage too and a decent pension. We chip in a lot to yours so I’m afraid you’ll have to suck up the costs to keep other people employed. Maybe change jobs if you don’t like it? It depends how far you travel in your car doesn’t it? Not far for £27 I imagine.

There's nothing wrong with being grey.

Things I can no longer afford to do:

go to the hairdressers
Go to the cinema
Eat out
Go on holiday
Have the heating on for more than four hours a day

I don't usually think about it but this thread has pullled me up short and made me think. I never used to have to live like this, the cost of living crisis hit shortly after I retired and it has wrecked me.

I would stop dying it.
You don’t see men dying their hair, they just go grey or bald.
I think more women need to embrace the grey and stop bowing to the ridiculous standards set by the greedy beauty industry.

Box dye for me too. Like you, a cut and colour costs more than a days wage for me. I cant justify it.

Every hairdresser seems to have increased prices substantially so I dont think it is just some hairdressers being greedy. But then people cant afford them. Having said that, the salon I go to you have to book at least 2 months in advance, more if you want a specific hairdresser.

You don't say what you do, but surely you are aware that £50 p/h is high (almost 100K full-time), and therefore much more than a nurse earns.

I’ve always seen a salon dye as a real luxury. I’d have thought people on normal salaries would only be able to afford it if they gave up something else. Doesn’t at all surprise me that a nurse (or teacher, police officer etc) would find it difficult to pay for.