Tipping Hairdressers?

missbargain

I know, I am not happy about it either, but nothing I can do. I live in Central London, and everywhere, but I mean everywhere in 7 km radius, the prices are the same ,and there are hundreds of salons where I live. I am not, of course, talking about Supercuts here, because I have my highlights done, and that costs £££.

My salon is actually moderatelly priced, you would die to see how much some others in my area charge. Technically, I should go every 6-8 weeks, but due to the expense, I go about once every 3 months.

Now, I would be very happy to travel a bit further to find cheaper, but I can't risk the burnt hair/yellow highligts. Even if it costs me half that price, but not well done, it would mean having to repeat the process and pay again. I am not saying that cheaper is neccessarilly worse, it is just about finding the right stylist, and that, in my experience, is very hit and miss, and every "miss" costs lots of ££.

So, I agree, I (and my wallet) cringe every time the cash register goes "Dingggg, that would be 150 pounds, please...", but not much I can do, it's all about rip-off London, I am afraid.

steviewander

It's obvious at how this thread got onto GP and junior doctors wages that people compare professions and pay for what they think they're worth rather than the work that actually do.

As a senior stylist myself, and someone who has been to university with a degree in Biochemistry and a postgraduate degree in Computer studies, I would like to add my two pennies worth. One might assume that a junior doctor having studied for years at university is badly paid on little more than £20,000 a year.

Newly qualified stylists who have done a proper 3 year apprenticeship in a salon can expect to earn the minimum wage of 5.73 per hour if they are over 22 yrs old. However, the vast majority of these qualified stylists will be under 22 yrs old as most apprentices start at the age of around 16 yrs old. This means that they will most likely be on the developmental rate of just 4.77 per hour. At that rate, that is around £9.5k a year. 3 years of hard grafting and training and they're on less than half of what a junior doctor starts on.

A junior doctor can at least look forward to much higher salaries with an established career progression route towards salaries beyond £70k-£80k.

Hairdressers have no such career prospects.
According to the Office of National Statistics, hairdressers earn on average £219 per week or £11.3k per year. This is just above kitchen and catering assistants. Senior stylists with more than 5 years of experience can realistically hope to earn around £15-£20k depending on how busy they are and where their salon is located. To earn a lot more than £20k, you really have to put in the hours and then become a business owner and get your own salon. I do however know of some exceptionally good self-employed stylists who put in 60-70 hours per week earning around £40k.

So I would argue that a culture of tipping is appropriate for the hair industry. In particular, at least consider tipping the young shampooer who will be paid in the region of £80 per week as an assistant. I don't however think any client should be made to feel awkward or uncomfortable if they don't tip.

suep

My Daughter is a trainee hairdresser in her 2nd year, she works 40 hours a week and earns £90 a week. In that time as well as shampooing, colouring and helping out the stylists the trainees do all the cleaning in the salon too including the toilets, she works so hard but thinks its worth it as she has always wanted to be a stylist. She said even the stylists admit that the trainee's work really hard and would rather they were given a tip than themselves, but they dont expect it.
sue

carlamagee

im flabbergasted that someone pays 150 for a hiarcut/style - whatever it may be!!! why are you on mse!???? hehe
i get my ahir done by a friend of my sisters - i usually get a colour and a cut, i wash my own hair etc, and she usually asks for about 25 - i give her 30. but this is because i know it would cost me about 75 (at least) to go to her salon to have it done - hence the reason why i dont go to the salon!!

Bargain_Rzl

carlamagee wrote: »

im flabbergasted that someone pays 150 for a hiarcut/style - whatever it may be!!! why are you on mse!???? hehe

Because not everybody on MSE is on the breadline, and people have different priorities as to how they spend their disposable income Maybe it's only because she's on MSE that she can afford a luxury hairdresser?

MSE encourages people to maximise and manage their income and expenditure as effectively as possible, so for people who aren't in debt or on an exceptionally tight budget, it usually follows that they find themselves in a position to afford luxuries.

I'm on a slightly above average (for London) salary, and I don't run a car or go on foreign holidays (or, for that matter, spend £150 every couple of months getting my hair done) but I do spend over a fifth of my take-home pay on concert and theatre tickets, and I use (fairly) expensive beauty products. Those are the luxuries I prioritise. Others prioritise regular high-end hair styling.

missbargain is right, it's very difficult to find good, inexpensive stylists in London - and when you have complex treatments like multiple colour highlights, it can get very expensive. While it is possible to get complex colouring treatments by going through the Toni & Guy Academy or similar (which typically costs £25 for cut and colour) it takes ages, involves planning well ahead and taking a half day off work, and you will never get the same stylist twice. I agree with missbargain in that it's a worthwhile luxury in itself to stick with a stylist who you get along with, and whose work you're consistently happy with.

I also go to a salon in Central(ish) London, and consider my hairdressing costs to be middle-of-the-road for the area: I've been going to the same stylist for over a year now, he charges me £75 for a cut and semi-permanent colour (which I normally get done every 3-4 months). If I had a more high-maintenance hairdo (full head of highlights every time, for example) then a cut and colour at the same salon would be costing me £110 a time.

I typically leave a £5 tip on top of my £75 bill.

lou49

Afternoon all. DS having his hair cut after school on Thursday at a chain hairdresser who are doing a £10 off with junior stylist Monday to Thursday deal. He normally goes to an extremely good barber, about £12, doesn't tip (barber is owner) but he is obsessed about his hair and thinks he'll get a better cut in a proper hairdresser. What do I advise about tip? From a (just) 17 year old lad? Unless I go in to pay and deal with it (sooo embarrassing for him.......!)
Thanks
Louise

lostinrates

20%, £2.

Coincidentally the same as the barber

TomsMom

There's a couple of other discussions about tipping hairdressers with a great variety of answers :rotfl: There is no definitive answer. Some people are big tippers, some small tippers, some don't tip, some feel obliged to tip, some say "why should I tip, I don't get a tip for doing my job".

If he's happy to tip and thinks the hairdresser has done a good job then he should tip what he thinks, within his budget. If a carp job then no tip.

By the way, I'm intrigued by

He normally goes to an extremely good barber, about £12, doesn't tip (barber is owner)

What difference does it make if the barber is the owner?

steviewander

TomsMom wrote: »

What difference does it make if the barber is the owner?

I have come across this situation once before. My ex-boss sold the salon that I used to work at. One of his clients came to me to get his hair cut thereafter. He started to tip me and told me that he didn't used to tip my ex-boss because he owned the salon. The thinking goes that the owner makes a lot of money because they cream off a big proportion of takings that all his/her stylists make for the salon.

In my experience of working in 3 salons, it is usually the case that the owner makes way, *WAY* more than any of his/her stylists. Hence I suppose they don't need the extra money.... or at least they shouldn't need the money if they knew how to run their business properly!

lou49

I had always understood that one wasn't required to tip the owner of the salon...and I used to have my hair cut by a salon co-owner who always has a little pot with change in it at his hairdressing station which I always studiously ignored! Was paying plenty for the hairdo and he was always trying to flog me his expensive products!

Louise