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Price of any beauty service....

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Photo of Joanne V.

Elite '08

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503

03/10/2006 Joanne "I CUT HAIR" V. says:

I've been reading a ton of these reviews for different places such as American Male Salon and my salon and other salons in random areas and it seems as if price is always a touchy subject.

Paying for a haircut or any type of beauty service should be almost be looked at like paying for a type of car you are buying.

If you want a Mercedez, you better be ready to spend the money.  You buy the car for the luxury, the experience, the look and the feel.  You also buy it for the name, the reputation, and the image.

When you buy a Toyota, its the same as the above, just a different price level.  

People complain about paying for a $50 haircut or a $100 facial, but dammit if it's done right, consistent, and you've experienced something you might not experience at Supercuts, then well you can say you've got what you paid for.  

From my own point of view:  I hate when people hear what I charge for a haircut and almost have this cringe of a facial expression and I think to myself; "I fly out of town 12 days in a year to get trained in more haircutting, coloring, and chemical services just to better my skills and to keep me on top of my game.  And then I wonder if that's not worth it?"  People who work at Supercuts or at Linh's Beauty Salon don't do that.  They might go to a huge hairshow/expo twice a year and get some tid bits of new information on a new cutting technique here and there.  Then try five different haircutting methods on you, the next Tuesday they come back into the salon after that show, and you end up with five different haircuts on your poor one head of hair.  

I wonder to myself, the 4 straight days of going out and cutting 10 live models to a perfection of multiple techniques and styles; and new  clients want to "bitch" about prices is worth all this....My answer: FUCK YEAH I'm worth it.  I fucken train harder than any other hairstylists that I know, except for the ones at my salon.  I AM DAMN WORTH someone paying $55 dollars for a damn haircut!!!!


sorry just had to vent....
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03/11/2006 Amy "I'm making a difference" L. says:

I can vouch that my hairstylist and colorist are worth the money.  You're paying for their skill, their time, their innovation.  You're also paying for the ambiance, the staff, and the location.  Plus, a great hairstyle is versatile and grows out well, which is perfect for lazy people like me.
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03/11/2006 Yi S. says:

The problem is that even if I spend $50, $70, or over $100 on a haircut, there's absolutely no guarantee that it'll turn out well. In fact, I've had only one haircut that has absolutely stunned me, and it only cost $35. So, I'm thinking to myself...$35 for the most amazing haircut I've EVER had...in a gorgeous spa with friendly staff...so why is it that when I pay so much more here, I don't get anywhere close to that?

Oh, right, because I'm paying for overhead and the fact that the cost of living here is simply more expensive, so $70 for a mediocre haircut is common. After all, a Mercedes-Benz here is far more expensive than in Europe.

My solution? Fly back home every so often to get that perfect haircut, and just put my hair in a ponytail in the meantime.
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03/16/2006 Richard "Boom." T. says:

This is so true... people who usually complain about stuff like that usually have a 'cookie-cutter' haircut or something that isnt unique..., one's head is like a blank canvas and your artist is your stylist.

I have had only 3 stylists in the past 10 years, and they have only changed because I have moved or they stopped cutting... It's worth the money to pay more because after a while your regular stylist will get to know how your hair works, how it will grow out and how it will look like say 3 weeks after you get it cut...

hmm these thoughts are somewhat scattered but i hope you get the idea... good day!
Photo of Jeannette S.

Elite '08

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292

03/16/2006 Jeannette S. says:

I have had some bad stylists and some good ones.  The interesting thing is, everyone charges differently.  I will pay the higher price and will be a loyal customer if the style is done right.  

Hey Joanne, while we're on the subject, can you explain how salons charge?  Sometimes I pay the stylist directly.  Sometimes I pay the salon who charges me different prices depending on the level of the stylist.  Sometimes I pay the salon the same set price regardless of the level of the stylist.

I don't mind paying one stylist more if he/she gets the advanced training and knowledge and knows their sh**.  But I have paid a salon price for a stylist that was only in the industry for a year.  My hair was cut too short and the color did not come out!  I didn't pay for the color, but I am never going back there regardless of whether the other stylists are great.  One bad stylist can do it for the entire salon... at least in my book.
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03/16/2006

This post was removed because the yelper who wrote it has closed their Yelp account and is no longer a registered yelper.

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03/16/2006 lisa R. says:

I think it is because you can't see the haircut before you buy it.  That is unless you want to haggle over the price after the cut ,which is tacky.   For example, you can go to the gap and say to yourself "that shirt is worth 55 bucks, I think I'll pick it up".  
I don't mind paying for a top-notch haircut.  Having my hair look good makes me feel like a million bucks.  
A gripe I have is that there are times when my stylist gives me a whole new look, spends an hour on the cut and charges me the same amount as anothe time when all I got was a clean-up on the neckline.
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03/16/2006 Stupid F. says:

Can you guarantee me that I'll like the cut?  Can you guarantee me that you won't have an off day and give me a turd of a cut yet still charge full price?
If you give me a good cut that I love, you won't hear any complaints.
Photo of Joanne V.

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503

03/16/2006 Joanne "I CUT HAIR" V. says:

Lisa R:  The hard thing with a haircut is that , it doesn't matter whether its a trim or a brand new cut, stylists look at it as a haircut.  There's no "trim" put on a salon menu, which yes I understand is quite the annoying thing.


Stupid F:  You know you're getting your money's worth when the stylist can spend at least 10 minutes discussing with you the needs of your hair, your maintenance, the products you use, what you do as far as styling goes, your likes and dislikes about your hair.  If a stylist sits you down and you give them a picture and they say "YUMP, I can do that."  without discussing the way its going to look on you, then you're in the wrong chair.

A good stylist will point out the funky hairlines, cowlikes, the problems with the cut you think will look good. They will analyze your face structure and tell you what wont look good and what will show off your best features.  

The "off-day" remark. If someone really loves what they do for a living, they wont have an off day.  Trust me no matter how much BS I put up with in my personal life, I put it aside when I walk into my salon because what I do in the chair affects that specific person's everyday life and if I have an off day, that particular client or clients throughout the day, will have an off few weeks.  Thats a reputation of my own that I wont put at stake.

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