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Salon Etiquette 101It’s so hard to know how to act in different salons sometimes. How much are you supposed to leave in tips and if the service costs so much, why should you leave one at all? If you hate your hair, what then? Why are you paying for 5 different things on your ticket instead of just a color and haircut? Why is your stylist bent out of shape if you’re just 10 minutes late? These are all interesting questions and we will answer them all for you. • Tipping – how much? So you go in to get a haircut and all-over color. It only takes them an hour and a half, the bill total is $120 and they expect a tip on top of that? Yes. Common courtesy in tipping in the past has been ten or fifteen percent. With cost of living increases and not much of an increase in the price a lot of stylists are paid for their time, oftentimes stylists rely on tips as their salary. Here’s a sample breakdown:
Keep in mind that your stylist doesn’t just pocket all this money and smile all the way to the bank. If the stylist is employed by the salon, they most likely get a percentage of the service cost and the cost of the services is set by the salon, not the stylist. Other stylists rent their spaces and set their own prices because they have to supply their own products and pay for the space on a regular basis. In this example we’ll say a salon employee completed your services, and your stylist will make fifty percent of the service (which is actually on the high side) for a total of $60. Not bad, right? Then add in the charges they have to pay the salon for using the salon products when they wash your hair, do the color, style your hair… These are called “backbar” charges and the stylist is required to pay them. That $60 just became $45. When you break that down and it took them an hour and a half to do your hair, they are making about $30 an hour. Sounds fabulous! But there’s more. There isn’t someone in their chair paying them the entire day, so if they do maybe three in a day, that’s closer to $12 an hour. Not so great after all. Those tips help make up for the deficit. They also let the stylist know you appreciate their work. If you hate your hair, tip your stylist 10%. This is usually a good indication that you aren’t really satisfied. If you love it, leave 20% or more if you can afford it. You will definitely be a favorite of your stylist and they will treat you even better next time because they know you appreciate them. • Surprise costs – If you go into a salon and expect one thing and get to the checkout counter and find another, you’re not alone. If you aren’t paying close attention, you may be accruing charges you can’t really afford or wouldn’t pay for if you knew they were going to cost so much. Like what? Let’s start with a scalp massage before your haircut. Some salons will massage your scalp while shampooing and others have a scalp massage on their service menu for up to $25. If you don’t know that ahead of time and they ask you if you want one, of course you are going to say yes! Who doesn’t want a scalp massage? Just ask the person offering if it’s already included in the price of the service or if it’s a separate charge. If they aren’t too shy to ask you, you shouldn’t be too shy to ask how much. Another example that can really get you is color. If you go in for an all over color, that’s one price. If you go in for foils, that’s another that depends on if it’s a partial or whole head or a certain number of foils. When a stylist has to start mixing several different bowls of color, this can add up fast. Let’s say you are getting a partial foil done and your stylist talks you into doing 4 fun seasonal colors. Instead of just paying the regular charge, you will get charged for each additional bowl sometimes at a rate of up to $10 or more per bowl. That’s 30 extra bucks you have to shell out at the end to look trendy. When your stylist starts offering new things, ask how much. We expect people to ask and assume that if you don’t ask, you don’t really care. Just be informed. It’s simple to ask the question and less embarrassing that getting to the register and wondering how your $45 haircut is now $70 or your $50 color is $100. • My hair is a disaster! Now what? – It happens. Hair is an interesting medium to work with because it reacts completely different not just on different people but on your head depending on weather and how you have been treating it. For all our good intentions, sometimes things don’t go exactly as planned. If this happens to you, once you are done freaking out, talk to your stylist. Maybe it’s not the shade of blonde or brown you were hoping for. It may be something that can be fixed easily with a toner right then, or something they can reschedule you for the next day or in a week depending on the condition of your hair. And if this is the case, a lot of salons will only charge you for the products they have to use to get the right shade. Salons operate at a smaller profit margin than most retail locations, so they can’t just give things to you for free unless they were at fault for something. If you just think the color is off a little but they consulted with you first, you should expect that product charge. They will usually require you to get the service done within a certain amount of time, as well. Otherwise, people would go in and throw a fit over something they didn’t really care that much about just to get the next one free. We understand you want your hair to look perfect. We want it to, as well. Just be patient and we can fix it for you. If you choose to go to another salon to get it fixed, you can expect to not only pay the price for the full service, but also an extra fee for color remover. It really is much more cost effective to have your stylist fix it. If it’s the cut you hate, just let them know you don’t like it. Sometimes cuts can be fixed with just a few modifications. If there’s something you don’t like about your haircut, let your stylist know before you leave the chair. Maybe they can fix it then, but if not you can work something out to come in a week later or even two weeks. By then it will have grown out just a little and they have more to work with. The point here is that most things can be worked out. If you are a hundred percent honest with your stylist about things, they will be more able to serve you and get you the style you want. • I’m 10 minutes late. Big deal! – To a stylist, ten minutes is a lot. If you figure we can do a dry haircut on a woman in 30, if you are ten minutes late it can put us behind for the rest of the day and not only inconvenience us but all our other appointments. If you are going to be more than five minutes late for your appointment, the most courteous thing you can do is call the salon and let them know. Most salons will try to call you if you’re more than five minutes late to remind you of your appointment or see if you are on your way. If you are too late, you may lose your appointment completely because the stylist will not have enough time to complete your desired services in the amount of time you have left on their books. Be courteous of your stylists’ time. They try to respect yours, so return the favor. Being a stylist is a fantastic job, but no one wants to do it for free. It’s hard on your body and an eight hour day is really more like ten hours. It can be emotionally taxing and hard to get through the day sometimes. Be patient with us and we will love you all the more. Don’t make assumptions about what we are making because every day is different. Once you take into consideration all these variables, it’s easier for you to treat us with greater respect which we will definitely return to you each time you come back.
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