It’s when they want the junior staff to improve their skills on your hair that I have an issue! That’s one of the big reasons I switched salons. I was paying a lot (and wasn’t real thrilled), but in addition they always had an apprentice who was eager to practice new skills. I felt terrible saying no all the time, but the most I trusted her with was the post-color shampoo. Now I’m with a solo and yes, she does it all. I pay even more, but I am definitely getting my money’s worth.
I agree with MOWC. That’s like going to the doctor and expect her also to check you in, run your insurance card, and draw your blood.
But to sabaray’s point, you don’t want someone learning how to cut bangs on YOUR hair!
@MomofWildChild I don’t enjoy the experience of being handed off to random people, and having to figure out what percentage of the bill I need to tip those random people, and having to carry cash and add it up and dole it out-ugh.
I’m paying as much for the enjoyable experience of getting my hair done as I am for the end results. Well, maybe 70% end results, 30% enjoyable experience.
I realized this one time when I got a girl scrubbing my head so hard her nails cut into my scalp. I got up and walked out in the middle of a shampoo at a very fancy salon in Atlanta. I was like, I can’t believe I’m paying for this. Yep, still had shampoo in my hair, lol.
And anybody who thinks going to a salon is like going to the doctor-you are at the WRONG salon…
I like that at GJ salons, there is a specialization: the colorists do their thing, and the designers do their thing. I have not seen any apprentices or support staff (JG has its own training academy, and that’s where they offer cheap priced yet professionally looking updos and haircuts etc. done by trainees under the supervision of a master; the academy is especially popular during prom and homecoming seasons).
Seems to me that the stylists should pay the shampoo people out of their tips much like restaurant servers give bussers/water folk a cut.
I’m reading magazines the whole time anyway and zoning out, so I couldn’t care less if it’s a random shampoo person.
I tip the stylist 20% and ask her to please share with the shampoo folks and assistants in the amount she considers appropriate. I say the last bit so that no one thinks I’ve forgotten about them, but I suspect that is what they routinely do anyway. In my opinion, 20% is a large enough tip for everyone, all in.
I have dark brown hair and I never colored it until my mid-50’s, when I started to get some gray. What really convinced me to start coloring was when the stylist pulled some of my hair from the back, underneath, around near my face, and I saw how much the dark part had faded. As the years went by and more and more gray came in, I’ve had to go more and more often. I’ve also gone to a somewhat lighter color - medium/dark rather than dark/dark.
I’d been going to the same person for all those years. Single-process color at the salon was $75 plus tip. I never got a blow-dry, but left with my hair wet for two reasons - first, I have to get my hair colored about every 3 weeks, and I didn’t want to spend all that time and, second, I am probably the only person in the world who doesn’t like the blow-dry. I like it for the first 10 minutes, when it looks fantastic. But after that, it flattens and flips up at the ends and looks terrible. This happens no matter who does it. It looks great if I blow it dry myself.
Every other time, I get a “half-color” or a “hairline” - touching up the roots only on the top half of my head or on my part and hairline. This saves some money.
I always hated all the time I spent in the salon, driving there and back, waiting 35 minutes for the color to develop. About a year ago, I needed an appointment on a day that the salon was closed. My colorist offered to come to my house and do it, and she’s been doing this ever since. It worked out well because a year ago I filed for divorce and spending less on my hair was very welcome. I pay $50 for a full color and $30 for a half, no tip. The best part is that she comes, puts the color on, and leaves. AFter 35 minutes I shampoo it out myself. The 90-minute trip to the salon has turned into 15 minutes in my kitchen.
I would really like to have highlights/lowlights, because I think the solid color is not the most flattering. I had some highlights once when my colorist gave me a few for Christmas, and I loved them.
What I’d really like to do is what somemom does, use semi-permanent color and have the grays turn into highlights. But I think that was tried years ago and it didn’t take on the grays.
I don’t have my hair cut often, because the only person I’ve found who can cut it well is in a small town outside of Boston where I am every month or so, but I can’t get in to see her every time. I’ve tried over a dozen people around here high-end salons and neighborhood salons, and the results ranged from not-so-good to godawful. I don’t know why, my hair is thick and not coarse, with some wave, and I just want a simple shoulder-length cut. The person outside Boston is a genius. Once I had my hair cut here out of desperation and had a horrible result. The person cut layers, which never work in my hair, because each layer does it’s own thing. I went to the person outside Boston and asked her to repair it as well as she could. She did, and I loved the way it looked. She took a disaster and turned it into a beautiful cut. And she is very inexpensive, something like $30. I tip her very well.
Funny, I have never been to a salon where they hand you off to different people to do different things. I agree, you don’t need much skill to shampoo hair, however, it only takes a couple of minutes. I’ve never been somewhere so busy it’s like a massive assembly line to get people done. Not quite sure what the stylist is doing while the shampoo person is shampooing. Working on someone else very quickly? Taking a quick lunch break? The reality is, when the color is over and it’s time to wash your hair, they gotta do it quickly, not put you in line waiting for the shampoo gal, or you will keep processing.
Then again, if they gave me a nice, long, head massage, then the stylist should feel free to go and take a very long lunch break. I could adapt.
I don’t ever remember NOT having someone other than the person cutting my hair shampoo it. I’ve been going to upscale salons most of my adult life. I’m guessing I’ve tried 10 or more. (I feel like I’m getting divorced when I changed stylists, once I find someone I really like).
NYMomof2, have you tried letting your hair go natural? I have dark hair and lots of gray, and get all kinds of compliments on my hair. I like to think of the gray as natural highlights! Cheap and easy…
Anxious mom, I wish I could do that. I hadn’t intended to dye my hair, but as the gray came in it did not look good. If the grays were light gold instead of silver, then they would look good.
I wish I had a better solution. The constant upkeep is a pain.
It takes about 20 minutes to have the color painted on my roots, and then it processes for about 30 minutes before the rinse and shampoo. About every four months I have a semi/demi perm toner done at the rinse stage. The colorist always mixes and applies the colors. While the color is processing, and I’m sitting and waiting, she applies color to another client’s hair. I don’t mind having a separate shampoo person at all–some of them have been there as assistants for a long time. They’re all trained in the Aveda method of doing things so the service is pretty standardized. The salon I go to has lie flat chairs at the washing stations which are really comfortable compared to the tilt back seats that stress my neck. After the shampoo, the assistants apply a treatment on the hair and wrap it with a warm towel. They then give you an arm and hand massage (optional, of course). I usually have my hair rinsed and combed out, and leave with a wet head. I tip the shampoo/ arm massage person an additional $4-6 because they’re performing the personal services. I will leave the colorist 15-20 percent.
My stylist/haircut guy/keratin applier has had the same assistant for several years. I always have a short consult about what he’s going to do with my hair and then go with the assistant for the wash. While she does my shampoo etc., he’s either cutting or blowing out another clients hair. Both the colorist and stylist I’ve had for years are booked solid and the assistants allow them to see more clients. That works for me, especially when I need to fit in an appointment with shorter notice! It does not feel like I’m being passed off–more like extra pampering.
@PlantMom- that shampoo sounds heavenly.
At my salon the stylist does the shampooing. I have on a few occasions when my stylist isn’t available used another stylist in the same salon. They seem to have a reciprocal arrangement where if they are busy they recommend the other. The salon keeps my color formule on file.The alternative stylist does the best shampoo. I sometimes book her for a wash and blow dry before a trip. It is a treat.
I live in the South and I pay $165 plus 20-25% tip for a cut and 2 color partial foil. Around two years ago my stylist stopped working evenings and weekends and it was difficult for me to schedule appointments around work. A few months ago, she moved her shop across town so I gave up and tried a different stylist. I’m not thrilled with the results. It’s such a nightmare trying to find a good stylist.
I have friends with thick dark hair who have the most wonderful salt and pepper highlights going on. If that was my hair, no way I would bother covering up the gray.