Advice on reducing hairdresser cost please

[Merryclaire]

I’m due to go on maternity leave in a couple of months and not sure I’ll be able to sustain my current hairdresser cost - which is currently close to £100 for each appointment (usually every 5 weeks).

This consists of a tint and wet cut.

I have quite difficult big, thick wavy hair that is completely grey underneath my hair dye. Cutting my own hair doesn’t feel like an option as I have so much unruly hair.

I previously used to dye my own hair but it looked quite lacklustre whereas now the colour is fantastic.

I feel miserable for those last two weeks when my roots start to look bad, and not ready to embrace the grey at this stage in life.

If I were to colour my own hair, the brand the salon uses isn’t sold to the public and I wouldn’t even know where to start with choosing something new.

Any advice on what I can do to still have good hair for less money?

I don’t want to leave my hairdresser as she’s great, but not sure I can afford this anymore.

I think I'd be tempted to go for dramatic change and go short, so you could save on expensive colouring and have a dry cut every few weeks, which should be much cheaper. Your hairdresser taking a lighter touch is costing you an arm and a leg every few weeks, so you might need a dramatic change that's cheaper to maintain.

I've swapped to box dye. I like the Olia ones because they don't drip everywhere. The colour is not quite as lovely as the salon one (I think I went a bit too dark) but it was £8 instead of the £100+ I used to spend on colour and cut.

My dd had an undercut. Honestly it was great for getting rid of unnecessary bulk.

I haven’t tried the full curly girl method but have tried plopping, and using different products etc.

I think I’m a 2b or 2c depending on what pics I look at.

Perhaps I should investigate more.

I only wash my hair every 3-4 days as it doesn’t get oily quickly but tends to look best on the day I wash it, after it has dried off. If I’m going out on another day after that I tend to touch it up with a curling iron.

Reading your updates OP, I think your hair is probably actually curly and you need to just buy a hair dryer with a diffuser to dry it.

If I leave mine to dry naturally it looks like Haggrid. If I put curl creme or gel on it, scrunch it and diffuse it, it looks amazing. I don't diffuse it until its dry BTW, just enough to 'set' the curl.

I spend a fortune getting a good quality cut, and save a fortune by using a box dye. I’m heavily grey/white (salt and pepper plus streaking) and find Nice n Easy takes really well. The natural shades come through so it’s multi tonal and hairdressers always compliment the colour. Not all of the brand’s range covers grey so check it’s a shade that will take. Clearly marked on the box.

I don’t think I have nice enough features for short hair unfortunately. My hair was always my best feature, and softens my looks, but now I’ve gone so grey it’s harder keeping it like that.

I think I will grow it out a bit to save on the hair cuts, and if things get really tight in a few months I’ll have to switch to box dye.

As the baby isn’t here yet, it’s hard to know what it will be like, but I can’t imagine I’ll have the time to be going for long trips to the hairdresser anyway.

I’ll also try to have an honest chat with her next time I’m in to see if she has any thoughts.

I have a diffuser - I just rarely bother using it! I think I still haven’t found the holy grail of styling products though. I wonder if I could get a better result on the curl if I found the right product.

L'Oreal extraordinary oil is fantastic too. The original one not the one of coloured hair.

I would speak with your hairdresser and be honest - any long hair cut / dye will be hard work with a baby in toe - for the time it takes each 4/5 weeks.

I've got a shag and it been a revelation- still curly but a lot less hair to deal with - wash's quickly dries in a few minutes naturally- it might be worth experimenting before the baby is here - the worst that can happen is that it will grow out, bear in mind that being a mum will involve you with your head down a lot - changing nappies, playing on mats, picking up from cots / or prams - so being able to tuck it back or have it up is helpful

www.pinterest.com/pin/40-most-stylish-lob-haircuts-to-try-in-2022-in-2022--1900024835006967/

I have thick, unruly hair. It's all one length bar a few layers in the ends to encourage the curls. I had to give up on the dye for financial reasons and was dreading how it would look as it clearly wasn't going to be a stunning white. In fact, it's an amazing colour with much more colour in it than I realised, but blonde which I haven't been since I was a baby. It's really gorgeous and I'm so happy having the ends trimmed every six months and not paying for dye. It doesn't make me look older either.

Are you dyeing your hair blonde or having some sort of special technique that your hairdresser uses? If not, I would give it a go and try at home. You can always buy professional products, still cheaper than at the salon. Maybe your hubby can help you doing it the first time or mum/friend? I am thinking of learning how to trim the ends. It looks easy on youtube, but I'm unsure about my own skills.

You could switch to buying professional dyes from Sally’s online. They stock most professional dyes. Ask your hairdresser what colour number (E.g. 5.1 for medium ash brown) she uses, then you can achieve exactly the same colour at home. You’ll need to buy the colour, developer, plastic bottle, gloves and brush. All cheap and also available at Sally’s. Buy the colour and developer from the same range as each other, E.g. L’Oréal or Wella. Works out about the same price as off the shelf box dye but a much better result.

You can alternate between you doing your roots and then your hairdressers does them the next time. If you do this as well as stretching out the time between cuts, you’ll only need to visit once every 10 weeks, and will near enough cut your hairdressing bill in half.

A lot of hairdressers also do home visits, where they charge less. If you can also do this for the 10-weekly appointment it’ll be even cheaper.

I did exactly this when I was on maternity and kept it up for a few years until I embraced my greys which I now love. Takes all the stress/expense away and I prefer the outcome. But I realise that’s not for you right now. (I have a six year old and haven’t been mistaken for his granny yet!).

No special techniques - just dark brown with some warm undertones.

I think if I knew a really good dye to use I could do it myself.

No way would I trust myself with cutting my own though!

Did DH’s once in lockdown, and it did not go well!…

I have hair like yours, and a similar age. I also thought I was really grey, until I grew it all through, and I've realised it's not as grey as I thought, probably only about 25%. I was going to a trendy hairdressers and it was costing me an arm and a leg, and after two weeks I had the dreaded silver caterpillar. Now I'm spending £45 on a hair cut every six weeks or so, instead of £170 for a cut and dye. I miss those two weeks of having a really nice colour, but threads like this make me determined not to get locked back in to any dye cycles. The natural salt and pepper grey and dark brown looks quite cool on curly hair.

For those suggesting I embrace the he grey, I’m just posting my lockdown roots. This was 2 years ago so I’m greyer now.

I think it looks great on a lot of people but I don’t think mine is a very nice colour and would be very ageing. It definitely doesn’t have that nice blonde look some people’s do.

ask her for the dye number ie. i'm an 8.31 beige-y blonde, root touch ups I can do myself,

Have you tried esalon ? They are very good at colour matching. You just need to upload a picture of what you want and they send you the package by post

Could you perhaps eke out the time between appointments to an extra 3 or 4 weeks and use a root touch up in between? I have had to cut having my hair done down to every 10 weeks and I use nice n easy from Clairol root touch up in between and the colours always blend amazingly well even with salon colour. Wishing you the very best in the time ahead

I think if you’re doing a better job at home with a box dye than a hairdresser then it probably wasn’t a very good hairdresser. I had to abandon my lovely stylist during maternity leave due to cost and I was very upfront about the reason. Finding cheaper stylists who are good is bloody difficult nowadays. Some of the newer ones have very limited experience cutting because fashions have not been that diverse ( some are a bit of a one trick pony) My stylist was able to recommend junior stylists in the salon who were ok. Perhaps yours could source the dye or tell you what to buy if it’s only for a finite amount of time. I ended up gravitating back to my stylist despite the cost because he’s such a good technical cutter which I need for my short style.

I am not sure if anyone has suggested this but you can get salon quality dye delivered to your home with all the equipment you need to dye it yourself. I used esalon in lockdown (www.googleadservices.com/pagead/aclk?sa=L&ai=DChcSEwj-oZ_n46r4AhXEse0KHSRHCbIYABAFGgJkZw&ae=2&ohost=www.google.com&cid=CAASJeRoVvf-jZ64t1Dcl-sp9PuSn74tuzOgu9_r4AF6h0X5Zyp4R6U&sig=AOD64_39r5HpqQBTk4T2Lu7sJDjRzFRQxw&q&adurl&ved=2ahUKEwjGkpnn46r4AhWDoVwKHZ85DBIQ0Qx6BAgCEAM).

You can upload your details online and they will make a colour to match what you get at the salon. Next time you are in for a colour ask what number it is (I am dark and mine is about a 6) and then you can base it from there. I did mine about 4 times in lockdown and it was great. You can buy the application brush, clips, cape, bowl etc and they provide gloves and shampoo.

Alternatively, I also have long thick unruly hair and don't get it cut every time, so I have tint/cut one time, then just tint next time. Saves quite a bit doing it this way.

Try someone who works from their home

You aren't going to be able to take a baby in for that long and tbh you might find you don't have time for a couple of months. Make sure you do get a break and time to go though if it's important to you. Some ideas:

Try tying it back for an extra two weeks? Or as long as you can stand. Baby's like to grab and pull hair so you mind end up doing this anyway.

Speak to the hairdresser and explain, they'll want to keep you even if it means fewer appointments.

My lockdown hair was exactly like yours. I'm not ready to embrace the grey. Root sprays drive me mad. When I was moving to a new salon I made sure I moved to one that used good professional products that I could buy in the Beauty Supply. It's a game changer.

Now instead of going to the hairdresser every 4 weeks to get roots done, I go every 3 months to get roots, a trim and now highlights.

I was upfront and explained to my hairdresser that I could do my roots at home and visit every third go and she was great about it and even told me what my new root colour should be now that I'm lighter, which was a pleasant surprise.

I do find going that bit lighter with the highlights throigh my base colour has helped the regrowth seem less obvious.

It's also so much less hassle to be able to do your own hair in the evenings or nap times without having to deal with sorting childcare etc.

I won't lie, it's nerve-wracking in the beginning and you will need to decide on a brand and do your research. All the information you need is out there be it YouTube or the literature that comes with the hair dye itself.

Best of luck!

@BeauxHeaux Thanks that’s really helpful. I wonder if my hairdresser would be willing to sell me just the product to do my roots at home with longer gaps between appointments. I suppose if they want to keep me in the long term they might be willing.

I will ask about highlights.