When we lived in the Midwest during residency we were dirt poor. We went to a local shop and had a male hairdresser (which was unusual at the time). He had tattoos , young guy , really nice. Early 1980s. We went for four years to him. Best haircuts we ever had even now. When we went in to tell him we were moving, he said he had to tell us something. He said we were his very first customers, that he learned his skill in prison and that he really enjoyed seeing us. Apparently he was in for drugs and rehab and the beauty school was offered. This was an eye opening experience and what rehab can offer.
Sorry OP, a little off topic but couldn’t resist.
I have paid a lot and little through the years. I say if you can afford it and it is important to you, go for it.
How much time do most people spend in the salon? I used to get a cut and color & occasional highlights every 6 weeks but got so I didn’t want to spend 2-3 hours just sitting there. My stylist often left the color on for an hour while she worked on someone else, is that typical? I started buying Schwarzkopf color online & doing it myself so I could make use of the time while at home. It’s getting old though, and I’m looking for a stylist again. I’m trying to determine if it’s possible to let some gray shine through without going total grandma. Perhaps foil with color rather than highlight?
Wow… didn’t know how much of a variation in price going to the barber could be…
My salon trips are about 2 hours or so long. But the hairdresser is a friend…so,we can catch up. Her salon has flex hours…so I usually go,when no one else is there. We have a LOT of fun.
1 1/2 hours for my color and cut.
I pay $40 no tip for a great cut, but she is booked up weeks in advance, I just scheduled her first available 30 minute appointment, last week in August.
I use professional semi-permanent color on my roots only, at home, every 2-3 weeks. It just colors the gray which gives me amazing highlights, with great distribution.
Haha,not living in a city has its, few, benefits. A cut & color, not including tip, $50. Add a red highlight every other time, add $5.00. It looks pretty good. I get compliments.
People are always very surprised at my age. I suppose I would look more my age If I did not pay a decent amount of money not to. Haha.
It is common for hairdresser to stagger appointments. My hairdresser staggers the three of us if we are there.
I admit that I spoke to my friends (local). Generally we pay 150 ti 250 fir a cut. A base is 100…baliage or foils are about 150 and up. Plus tip…
For those of you that don’t want to tell your spouse, my mom had a stroke a couple of years ago, and my dad had to drive her everywhere. She couldn’t really handle money any more, so he had to come with her to the hair stylist and pay. They did her usual stuff (not sure what all, cut and color for sure, probably highlights), and it was over $200. My dad was stunned. Of course she had been doing this for many years, he just didn’t know it. Just sayin’, you may not be able to hide it forever.
I have been with my hairdresser since I was 25. I have very straight, shining black hair. I’ve had the same haircut for years (blunt precision cut). She is the only one who can and has patience to make sure my hair is perfectly straight. I have tried few other stylists when I moved out to the burb or out of country, but each time there would be few strands of hair sticking out. I finally decided to always travel back to NYC to get a cut. Now I live few blocks from where she works. My cut and color is $110 without tips. I think a cut is $40. I go to her every 2 months. My girls go to a different salon. They pay $120/cut.
I have an appointment this morning and will be there about 2 hours. My stylist has known me and my family for several years so it’s fun to chat. I bring a book for the waiting time while my color sets. I don’t mind investing the time for my hair to look good.
@momsquad wrote
Yep, this is typical for me. I will sometimes stagger my appt with one of my daughters so she can work on both of us at the same time, and my daughters always get staggered appts with each other. I don’t mind. I know some people do mind, and they can ask not to have a staggered appt. I totally don’t care, and usually bring a book with me to read while I’m under the “cooker” as I refer to it, lol.
I get the new oleo-based highlights that take longer, but last longer and leave your hair really shiny and silky.
DH knows how much we spend on hair and beauty-it has its own category in his bill-paying software, lol. He’s an ivory soap no frills kind of guy, but doesn’t mind that the women in his family are so high maintenance.
$150 plus tip every 4 weeks for cut, color and glaze. A bit more for semi-annual highlights. One and a half to 2 hours in salon. Like my stylist and she has done my hair for at least 15 years, as well as my kids’ hair when they were home.
“My stylist often left the color on for an hour while she worked on someone else, is that typical?”
It would seem pretty pointless for her to hang around you while the color was processing. Of course, I’ve got my stack of magazines so I’m content to be left alone! I typically do not hang around for a blow-dry - just enough of a blow-dry so I’m not sopping wet, but normally I’m on my way home or to go work out so there’s no point in having it “done.” But I’d say most of the time my hair is in a ponytail anyway, esp during the summer.
I love how my hair feels after they blow dry it. I don’t like to skip that step since my hair looks great when it is properly dried. I normally wash and air dry at home. If I’m spending all that money I want to look great when I leave the salon.
A new expense I’ve added in the last few years is a wash and blow dry before I travel. I find my hair stays cleaner an extra day or two when it is salon washed and dried. If I am flying overnight I feel less grungy with clean hair. This cost me $40 plus a tip. My H doesn’t get it but keeps his opinion to himself.
My H spends $20 out the door at the barber shop. They don’t shampoo before cutting.
You’re probably right and I probably should stay and have it done, but if I’m heading off to sweat at yoga immediately after I feel like why bother. I don’t like spending a lot of time there.
With regard to the time question, I wondered if most people wait a full hour for color development. The professional line Schwarzkopf products recommend up to 40 minutes and color lasts as long as when I had it done in the salon. I didn’t care that the stylist worked on someone else while I waited, but when I’m waiting an extra 30-40 minutes for her convenience it became a problem.
Yea, I usually just have roots done. When time is up, 30 minutes, I get it washed. I sit under dryer so it’s not dripping, then leave. Cost is now $55 for roots, at a casual place.
My hairdresser is $85 for cut and color. She tries to schedule me for the only evening She works so I don’t have to take off time from work. She is always busy so my appointments are made for 3 months in advance. She staggers appointments so is usually working on someone else when my color is doing its thing.
I keep thinking of stopping coloring, not quite there yet. Maybe when I retire.
Goodness gracious. Jaw drop at some of the prices reported here. I cannot imagine spending thousands of dollars on my hair every year. That’s insane. Unless maybe I were a movie star or TV anchor who needed to have a certain look.
I get it cut maybe 5-6 times a year for under $20 each time. It looks great when I get a good stylist, other times it looks ok, but that has happened to me at both high end salons and Great Clips. I do color touch up myself, just to mute the gray to blondish (I was/am a blonde with lots of gray).