by
Klassy Kinks
Last week Judith wrote about her frustration – which quite a few naturals share – about the inability to get our hair done at non-specialized hair salons, with some suggestions on how these salons can get our attention back. As you can imagine, one of the major concerns was the cost of natural hair styles. After posting about the article on Instagram, I received a lot of responses from hairstylists with their own side of the story about why natural hair styling is so expensive and time consuming. I figured it was only fair to share their perspectives with you, so we can all have a better understanding of how to work with stylists to get our hair done!
On the difference between paying a professional hairstylist and using a kitchen beautician… read the rest here:
A professional will charge you accordingly. The factors that go into cost of a service are not just pulled out of thin air because “natural hair is more demanding or labor intensive”, the factors include:
As far as pricing goes: time, hair length, texture, density, and the stylist’s skill level and education are all factors. Some stylists increase their prices every time they take a class, go to a show, or get a certification. As we all know, everyone dreads “wash day,” and it’s not different in the salon. For certain styles I have to charge more for a shampoo and blowdry. Many people don’t come detangled even when you told them to, and detangling before I even shampoo can take 15-20 minutes on some people. So I charge extra to detangle because I realized it was adding time and giving me more work. I always do two shampoos, conditioner, sometimes a deep conditioner; then I detangle again, section and blow dry. This is a lot of work, which is sometimes strenuous and does take time. Blow drying natural hair that hasn’t been trimmed recently is especially difficult. This is what I signed up for so it’s cool, I just have to be compensated accordingly.
Stylists pay $16,000 – $20,000 to go to school and also have to pay out of pocket to advance their education in cosmetology. Classes are hundreds and thousands of dollars plus travel costs which we have to pay for out of pocket. In addition, we pay for products and tools: a good pair of shears alone is priced in the hundreds. In Maplewood, NJ, the rent is high but the shop has to stay open. At my salon, we use quality products, we do a great job, and give a great experience. So in addition to our credentials and the hours spent working, standing, and sweating (sometimes with no lunch break), it is only fair for stylists to charge what they feel they deserve. I personally work on commission so I make sure my prices are high enough to make a decent cut for myself without tips.
Click to read the rest at KlassyKinks.com
30 Responses
Stylist’s prices can go to a million dollars per hour for all I care. I do my OWN hair. It has never been healthier or longer since I went natural and left the salon for my kitchen sink and bathroom shower. My hair was never beautiful before I started taking care of it myself. In the beginning it took a while because there was a learning curve, but now I’m in and out in under half an hour. Plus, thanks to youtube, I make my own products (no chemicals) which helps keep it growing. I agree that their time is valuable and it takes a while to do our natural hair, but so is mine and no one will care for my locks like me.
except maybe Baltimore or Philly
If paying so much is a problem why not do your hair yourself? You can’t tell someone they charge too much for the service they offer if they’re doing a quality job.
These are a lot of excuses. Growing up everyone I knew had natural hair and the stylist were professional, knowledgeable and your hair didn’t fall out, it grew and you weren’t in the salon all day long due to double booking, gossiping, tardiness, rudeness or God forbid, some stylist spending 4 hrs doing a pea pod hairstyle on someone that has inch of hair. You know these clients as well as their stylist.
Natural hair on the east coast has been in play since the civil rights movement, this is not a new phenomenon unless you’re from the west coast. The real story is, that today’s stylist are not professionally trained regardless of their bootleg license because if they were, there wouldn’t be a conversation around how expensive natural is. Whether living in NY or now in LA, even the hood hairdressers I ‘ve met have not mentioned a cost difference in natural hair. Either they know how to style it or they don’t. Theses negros need to keep it all the way real and just admit that they are not real hairdressers. If you can’t style natural hair and you also don’t like the truth, find another profession
A stylist should be compensated for their time, I agree. If you can turn out 7 relaxed people in an 8 hour shift versus only 3 non-relaxed people, your time reaps your less profit with the non-relaxed. I get it. The reality of the matter is that non-chemically relaxed hair will take longer to wash, blow-dry and style. Still, in the end, what grows out of our head naturally will be a cost detriment to us in the salon if we opt NOT to chemically alter our hair. It feels as if we are being penalized, and that’s a problem. But, I honestly have no idea how to fix it.
I think that for the quality and the results from going to salons,are not justifying the price for a weave or a wash-and- flatiron.
Since I am going to college soon, I will not be able afford to spend hundreds to thousands of dollars on my hair, because I’m afraid to touch my own hair. It was actually recommended by my mother mother that if I wanted to flat-iron my hair, I must go to a professional, in the fear that I damage my own hair, which I do understand her concern, ( since her hair was damaged by perming, and lack of knowledge)… but I’m a big girl now lol, and I think that the dependency of going to a “professional” is the death of us, because because of the lingering risk that we might “mess up” our own hair. But with the rise of “DIY” tips and tutorials, we are slowly becoming more independent and the stylists do not like that.
As another user has mentioned, of course they should be compensated for their profession, but when I talk about the “results” we’re talking about shampoo, conditioner, heat-protectant ( if you’re lucky) flat iron, and finishing spray. They are not doing a thorough job for my hair, that I can say.
I actually remembered a time when I had a hair appointment, and I met this hairdresser, and she was awful. She used with a small-toothed comb with a rounded edge ( think of a pick of some sorts) and instead of gently starting from the ends of my hair, she (on my dry hair, not even dampened) began to forcefully detangle my hair from the roots, ripping out unnecessarily large amounts of hair, because she clearly didn’t know how to treat natural hair.
Oh, and I forgot that I wanted to stress upon is the fact that they’re “stylists” not hair experts. Natural hair is not as different from curly and/or straight hair. We need more moisture. When we detangle our hair, it’s preferable to dampen the hair with a a couple of spritz of water, so that the detangling process is easier and less hair shed, but no-they’re so giddy about cashing into the Natural-Hair-Movement, whilst emptying a tub of relaxer, color developer, or even passing a flat iron pass our newly natural heads, while not even bother implementing “special care” for natural hair, because like I said, they’re “stylists” not hair experts.
To juxtapose professions such as lawyers and doctors, and the cost of going to beauty school to me sounds like a sense of entitlement, because most of the ink on their diploma hasn’t dried up yet, but trying to guilt us, while overcharging us for mediocrity isn’t helping either. A lot of these stylists aren’t passionate about their profession. They’re not eager to learn about hair, nor give us the utmost perfection that can’t be achieved from home. As long as they’re getting paid, it’s the only theme that apparently seems to matter to them.
I don’t believe any market should have overinflated pricing…
HOWEVER, I do feel most free markets are self-correcting. If your stylist is a bomb stylist but charges an arm & a leg, she’s doing so because she CAN. She thinks she’s worth whatever she’s charging. And you agree with her, the minute you return for service…
I think it’s horrible when or if horrible stylists have exorbitant fees, BUT I can’t see how they last long without repeat business and in the face of bad reviews.
Nobody goes into the grocery store haggling over why the name brand goods aren’t as cheap as the generic goods. Those who can afford or who budget for the more expensive goods purchase them. Those who can’t or refuse to pay higher amounts for certain items simply don’t.
I think people are overcomplicating this issue.
Stylists are professionals and have families to feed and lives to live. Why do people expect to haggle with them unlike they would for any other service?
Some doctors go to crap medical schools, some go to the top medical schools. They are NOT compensated the same. Some are better, some have higher certification, all of these things impact their net pay. The same with stylists and any other profession.
If you don’t like it, you don’t want to patronize, it’s not in your budget, you refuse to budget… Just don’t go. But there are people for whom none of that is the case, and for those people, there is a bomb stylist out there somewhere.
There are some inexpensive gems but at the end of the day, you kind of get what you pay for…
thing is … natural customers didn’t necessarily leave salons bc of price (though its a factor). Many left bc while paying these hairdressers the arm & leg their weren’t satisfied. Trims turned to major hair cuts, flat irons turned to heat damage, sulfate products that leave hair like straw, long wait times …. not worth it.
Women began to leave & start doing it themselves. My hair is mid-back / bra strap now .. its toms of work. Id LVOE to have someone else do it .. id even pay well …. alas .. even in Harlem (black hair mecca) I dont know or trust any salon to do what I would to care for my hair.
Unfortunately. So true. I would love to sit back and allow someone to do my hair—–using good products, nice scalp scrub, decent TRiM, etc. —but the salon is not going to treat my hair like I do. So sad yet so true
At my natural hair salon they charged me extra for the lenght and thickness of my hair, for the detangling, the deep conditionning, and for using their products in my hair.
I realised I would have to come to the salon with my hair already detangled and parted in sections and with my own products for the stylist to do her job without overcharging me. I’m sorry but some of these natual salons are ridiculous and abuse their clients.
Useless to say, I learned to do my own hair, and to rely on family for braids. But carefull with the natural salons, they know that natural hair is more than just looks. For many women, it has an emotional charge to it, its liked to feeling confident, worthy, to self esteem and social acceptability. Those stylists know how much we are willing to pay for our hair, and they take advantage of that.
Moral of the story, learn to do your hair as much as possible. Watch those youtube tutorials and ask close ones to help you out. Become independant, stop the abuse.
I attended cosmetology school and practiced for a while until I realized I actually did not enjoy doing other’s hair ( waste of time, i know…I was young and trying to find myself). I’m at an advantage because I know how to do hair myself and never have really had a need for the salon, even before I went natural. I also know all the tricks of the trade so don’t fall for exorbitant prices ladies.
That was funny, Dee!
I think we should start helping each other and braid each others hair. That’s what worked back in the day before it all became about the money.
Except for maybe time I don’t see any factors that would apply exclusively to natural hair. Regardless of what they feel they deserve I’m not going to pay them a whole lot of money to do a simple style I can do as well or better myself in a relatively short time. Best example is twists. so is it better to get lessmoney than you want from me or none? I wonder if they are charging relaxed clients more to make up for naturals either not coming or coming less. i think doing relaxers were my stylists main money maker.
I appreciate my hairstylist so much. It sucks that I can’t go to her often since I’m unemployed due to being disabled.
Honestly though, those factors can be said about almost any and all professions, yet chipotle is not charging $20 for their delicious bowls.
My friend and I were recently talking about the high prices that stylist charge just for natural hair. We both went to the same stylist. Depending on how well you know natural hair, can either increase or decrease how long you are in the chair. For instance, the hair dresser I used to go to would not detangle my hair before running a round brush through it. But yet, she would complain that my ends needed to be trimmed. No, you just didn’t detangle my hair first. Also, she would use a sulfate shampoo and didn’t DC my hair, so of course my hair would look a hot tangled mess after washing my hair. She didn’t use a heat protectant and would charge high prices for everything. With her, every service was a la carte. I think it’s just an excuse to charge higher prices. I’m trying a new hair dresser out tomorrow because I found a deal on Groupon. I called and spoke with her about her process. Also, I will detangle and pre poo my hair before going to her. I may even go through and dust my ends tonight before going to her in the morning…lol. If only I knew how to straighten my own hair.
I don’t think that a wash, condition, and style should be the same cost as a relaxer. I think that beauticians are trying to compensate for more women been natural than relaxed. Before the natural hair explosion a wash and style was $45, now it’s $60+. Ridiculous and I live the Atlanta area where more women have natural hair than any other city I lived in.
On the rare occasion that I do go to my stylist, it’s only for a simple wash, condition, and cut, which is about $30. So, price is not the issue. The reason I don’t go is quite simple actually…
I have been natural again for over two years, and no one knows, grows, or cares for my hair better than me.
Construction workers make $25/hr+
Consultants and Engineers make around $50/hr+
Lawyers and Doctors make over $100/hr
What is it about applying products, washing hair, parting and pinning hair down that demands doctoral wages? I’m curious. I know a lot of women are intimidated by their own hair, but the only advantage I’ve ever seen to having someone else do my hair is the fact that they would have a better angle to maneuver and see what they’re doing (whereas my range of motion is limited since my arms are connected to my body).
Exactly!!! Im all for women making money…but not off the backs of one client….Ill just do my own hair and keep my money to pay of my student loans.
I refuse to go near my own hair with scissors unless I’m cutting the rare knot. Otherwise I’m not a big salon person. I have no qualms paying for service. I do think however, that triple digits fro a trim is a bit much. However, the last salon I went to charged less than triple digits for a trim and didn’t discuss with me how much they were trimming and I left with the same length of hair I left my trim with 3 months earlier and I was not happy. Especially when the stylist told me that if I had gone 6 weeks from my last trim they wouldn’t have had to trim so much which I consider complete rubbish.
I am not a DIY gal, but after reading this article I am starting today
I will pay for quality service. If I go to a salon that is clean, organized, works on one person at a time, provides quality styling and service, and starts on time, I will gladly pay more. I have an issue with salons that charge an arm and leg for ghetto ass service. No. Do not pass GO. Do not collect my $200.
Also, I will not pay for services I can do myself. If it’s something I can’t do myself reasonably well (i.e cutting my hair in a style) and you meet the above requirements, I will gladly pay.
exactly, and for me at this point in the natural hair game, where I can wash, DC, hot oil treat, braid oit, blow out, flat iron, havana twist, & box braid my own hair like ….. LOL .. the only thing I MIGHT pay a salon for at this pt is to professiprofes color. Women like me they dred, hence i think the astronomical prices when we walk in the door
i stopped getting perms to avoid the fees….i refuse to become a new slave. Love my styling sistahs butteruum…I cant do it! Thank you youtube.
while i think they should be compensated as any other profession, i find it interesting how they compare themselves to other jobs, yet are itemizing every.single.thing. as justification when most jobs dont do that. These might be a bad examples but people at mcdonalds aren’t making gas money to get there and its not included im sure its not a calculated cost in their minimum wage pay otherwise, they wouldnt be making minimum wage! Receptionist and executive assistants aren’t getting compensated for their cell phones bills so the boss can reach them. Most of these justifications just dont pan out for me..ESPECIALLY the argument about how much they had to pay for education…heck we would all need higher pay and fair compensation if we were to think like them on that point
This is why I wash and condition my own hair and go to a barber for a haircut. The salons for me are ridiculous.
All this sounds nice, but the prices are still too high. I have been a scieintist for over 19 years and I went to an Ivy league school for undergrad and I have my MS also. My education was not cheap. I continue to further my education and knowledge. This does not mean my company will pay me 100-200$ an hour. I make a good salary, but I cannot justify paying so much money to get my hair trimmed. If natural hair was not so popular, this probably would not be an issue. I do not agree with increased prices just because it will take you some time to detangle my hair. This all comes with the territory of working on hair.
It is unfortunate that the hair styling industry is taking advantage of the popularity of natural hair to justify the high prices. I do not mind paying a decent price for having my hair done(60-70 $), but $150 is too much and does not even involve any color or chemical services.
Natural hair stylists should not only cater to clients that can pay. They should be more reasonable.
Well that’s why I don’t go to natural specialty places I just do my hair on my own and then I go to my hairstylist (who isn’t a natural specialist) for a deep condition every so often. I know it cost to keep your hair healthy I have a friend that is a hairstylist and I see all the stuff that she buys and the classes that she takes, so I understand that, but sometimes you just don’t have that much money because of other monthly commitments. However when I see my hairdresser I always tip him $20 or more because my deep conditioner is only $60 and I only see him like every 2 months. Actually its been longer right now because I had to fix things in my home, so it’s been almost 6 months since I’ve seen him. I think one thing that might bring more people in might be a discount or a perk for people who refer others or if they have clients that have been there for a good amount of time it could be like a “loyalty” or “appreciation” type of perk or discount. Nothing major, but maybe a small discount off of their next color, or blow out. I would say you can also do it with products, but I remember Tabatha Coffe say that your products are where you make the money, so I won’t suggest that. =-)