Modern etiquette: tipping hairdressers??

[london]

I have always tipped hairdressers but slowly realised that no-one else at my hairdressers seemed to now (difficult to be sure because of stylists liking you to sit still an' all, rather than gawp round salon. But definitely tracked this woman tonight from getting up from seat to door and she didn't tip. Perhaps she was just mean though?!). Also noticed the stylists often looked surprised when I tipped - I put this down to politeness on their part, but had someone different recently and she looked positively shocked! (But perhaps I didn't tip enough...cue neurotic worry). Since then have run out w/o tipping but feel very guilty! If no-one does tip anymore - then have hairdressers' basic wages gone up hugely so they don't need tips (seems unlikely) , and also how did everyone know - did they announce it on the telly, in the papers? I feel adrift in 21st century! Please help!

The lady who threads my eyebrows never accepts a tip - and she also charges just £3. I did offer at first, but it's her prerogative to turn it down.

I have the exact same dilemma. I've just come away from the hairdressers: I pay around £100 for colour and cut, and find that leaving a £10 tip with the receptionist is simplist (the tips are put into a collective 'pot' so leaving it with the receptionist makes sense). However, today I decided on the spur of the moment to get my hair done (grey roots showing, friends birthday party happening... you get the picture!) and didn't get the stylist I got before - it's the wrong time of the month money-wise, so I ended up using my credit card and not leaving my usual cash tip simply and only because I just didn't have the cash to spare. I feel a bit guilty and I suppose I could have added the tip to the credit card, but wondered if this would make it's way to the staff! It's a minefield out there! Looking at US advice on this is not helpful (they always say tip 20% at least, and tip the hairwasher, the owner, the colourist, the cutter ad infinitum!!!), because they have much more of a culture of tipping for anything and everything (eg my brother who lives in the US even tips the barman when getting drinks, which we don't do in pubs). In the end, do what you feel is right for you and don't worry about it! To be honest, the only real concern any of us have (consciously or unconsciously) is that if we don't tip, we'll get a hair disaster on our next visit - but this isn't going to happen: the owner would step-in, there'd be hell to pay, and we'd get our next appointment for free to sort it out! (I personally tip taxi drivers - not much just a pound or two, tip a few quid on the rare occasion I'm in a restaurant, and leave a tenner at the hair dressers just out of sheer gratefulness at the transformation!)

Oh, and I'm going to go back and leave my £10 tip when the money comes in.