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I'm a born blond but of course through the years the hair color makes changes on it's on. I have always fixed my own hair. My Mom used to get so frustrated with me because I wouldn't let her do my hair, even in grade school. haha! (I think I was a brat.) It's easy to see in my grade school photos that I fixed my own hair. I will occasionally go to a salon to get my eyebrows waxed and sometimes a good shampoo cleansing of my hair but normally leave the salon with wet hair. My mother's hair turned a beautiful platinum as she aged and I see my hair doing the same. After the lung surgery, my hair just kept getting lighter and lighter. I have people ask me where I get my hair color done because it seems 'platinum' is IN right now. So I'm happy with my hair and there is no way I'd spend big money on it. I use the purple shampoo and conditioner on my hair so there is no brassiness. My hair is one of the few things about myself that I'm totally satisfied with. I also cut my own hair as I keep a simple hairstyle of it being straight and just past my shoulders - but still long enough to put "UP" for special occasions.

Mine went kind of platinum, too. To me, it looks blonde, not grey. Like I reverted to my childhood blonde colour. My hair dresser recommended that I start using the purple shampoo because I do have little of the brassiness but it hurt my head. I threw it out today. Anyway, like I said, people seem to think I'm paying for this colour, which makes me laugh. I also have the beachy waves everyone is paying for if I don't straighten it.

SOS, try some different brands of the purple shampoo and conditioner. There are several.

My stylist is notoriously terrible about communication, and always has been. I had my appointments booked through next summer to avoid the stress of trying to communicate with her. It's that bad. She hasn't responded to let me know when she's available, so even though I know how she is, I'm taking that as a "sign" to keep my appt with the new guy tomorrow. I can't stand these roots anymore! Seriously, though, if my hair ain't right, nothin's right.

SOS, I second Jeanie's suggestion to try a different brand. Purple shampoo is just regular ol' shampoo with purple pigments added to it, so see if your favorite brand offers it.

Threadjack:

DragnHeart: How long your hair can grow spends mostly on how thick and how strong it is. My hair is in good condition, but it’s thin, so it will grow longer than the middle of my back. My cousin, on the other hand, has such thick hair you can barely run a comb through it. For most of our lives, her hair was down to her thighs.

If you can’t get your hair passed your shoulders, not cutting it might actually be hindering your hair growth because your ends are very weak and brittle. Trying cutting the dead ends off (at least 3 inches) and then going for regular trims at least every 12 weeks.

/threadjack

OP, if you have a good relationship with your stylist and she works independently (as opposed to working for a salon that sets prices), she should’ve just offered to keep her old price and incorporate what you used to give her as tip as part of the flat fee rather than charge you the new price and forego the tip. The new pricing structure could still be applied to new clients.

OP, if you have a good relationship with your stylist and she works independently (as opposed to working for a salon that sets prices), she should’ve just offered to keep her old price and incorporate what you used to give her as tip as part of the flat fee rather than charge you the new price and forego the tip. The new pricing structure could still be applied to new clients.

That would have been really nice, and I probably wouldn't have even balked. I wonder how many clients she lost. I also wonder if she cares. She's got a toddler at home and one on the way, so she may be thinking that the ones who have the money to do the vivids and extensions, which is what she really loves, would support her new structure and afford her more time with her kids.

She's SUPER slow, though, and I'm betting that's part of the money problem. It takes about four hours for her to do my partial highlights (above the ears), root touch up, cut, and style. She's very thorough, but that's sloooooooow. She's always been slow. I started seeing her when she was relatively new, but it's been over ten years and she's still that slow. If I try to give her a deadline, like "I need to be out of here by 1pm" then something suffers. Usually the cut.

Part of the reason I decided to go ahead and keep my appt with the new guy is that she's pregnant, due in January. I don't want to scramble around in four months trying to work my way into her tight schedule or have dark roots while I wait for her to come back. And I definitely don't want to try to figure that out with her terrible communication skills.

[This message edited by SacredSoul33 at 8:10 PM, Wednesday, October 18th]

I'm so glad this has come up. My W has her favorite but she is $250 plus tip. I told her that's ridiculous and find someone else. She was referred to someone else and was quoted $185 but when it was done she charged $400. My W absolutely hates it!! It looks greyish instead of blonde. Needless to say she will be ok with $250 favorite lady.

$0. I'm 60, never colored my hair and doubt I'll start now. But if I did, I'd do a mermaid color.

$130 plus 20% tip. Highlights, color, cut, style. I’m 63 and my hair looks really healthy now. (It had started looking rough when I was doing the coloring myself). The color lasts about 10 weeks.

Update: I went to the new guy and I'm pleased. He's FAST. My appt was at 11 and I was foiled, roots done, and under the dryer by 11:40! I was out of there and home before 1pm. He didn't mess with the cut, since it's only been six weeks, but he did trim my bangs.

She was referred to someone else and was quoted $185 but when it was done she charged $400. My W absolutely hates it!! It looks greyish instead of blonde.

Oh, hell no! See, this is what happens when husbands interfere. I have to be sure to tell new colorists that I like golden tones, not ash, or I'll end up with a muddy mess.

$0. I'm 60, never colored my hair and doubt I'll start now. But if I did, I'd do a mermaid color.

DO IT! It's fun! I've had pinks and purples, and one time I did sunset colors, which was really fun. You could do it easily with some temp color!

It had started looking rough when I was doing the coloring myself.

I learned a long time ago that everyone's much happier when a pro does my hair, because if my hair ain't right, I am NOT a happy camper. I tried highlighting myself once with a cap. It was awful and I tried covering it with red, but ended up looking like Bozo. And then I put brown on top of that just so I could go to work and not look ridiculous. That's the last time I colored it myself. It was a debacle!

I pay 25$ for a hair cut, but it costs 450$ to take my dogs to the groomers!

I grew up with my mom and aunts descending on my grandmother's house every couple of months to do hair cuts, perms, and colors in her kitchen on the farm.

My mom and one of my aunts cut hair for the men and women. All of the ladies dyed and permed hair (grocery store box). I truly appreciate the do-it-yourself echoes of the depression era.

So, that was my normal.

When the ladies couldn't get together at Grandma's, my mother cut, dyed, and permed her own hair. She later permed my hair and my sister's hair, when perms were a big thing.

So, I've paid for cuts and colors (started going grey in 20s) and felt extravagant. But have mostly colored my own hair (usually just the roots about every 4 weeks). I'm the roots QUEEN!

In my area (Rocky Mountains) I see the price range you've all discussed. Some privately owned shops are $30 for a cut and a cut & color for $80-150 or maybe 180 depending on roots only vs full color vs highlights & lowlights. But we also have some high-end Aveda salons where a cut is $55 and cut & color can easily be $250-300.

I do get my hair cut professionally, but can't usually bring myself to pay $100 or more for color very often when I can do it for $15.

I blend some box colors to get a great match to what used to be my natural color. My natural color now would be white, silver and steel. That variation builds in a highlights look, even though I haven't done highlights in years.

IMO, root maintenance is easy and serves to maintain color indefinitely on my hair.

I pay 25$ for a hair cut, but it costs 450$ to take my dogs to the groomers!

Right?! We have a big ol' Heeler/Great Pyr/Aussie floof that costs about $120 to get groomed.

BreakingBad, I did highlights myself with a cap a few times, but since I messed them up so badly that one time I recounted above, I'll never do it again. It was TRAUMATIC.

Update on former stylist: She still hasn't texted me back. At this point, I hope she doesn't.

Sacred -
I also started going to a pro when my home highlights turned out bad. I ended up with a very light/white stripe near my face. The good news was it looked intentional. The bad news was it fried my hair. Oh well. It worked for a long time.

For me, I can afford only b/c I work with my stylist to go as long as possible between visits. And 4 hours? That’s crazy. Mine is 1.5 hours including cut. I have thin hair, but I can’t imagine it taking more than another 30 minutes.

(Fun fact: I took cosmetology in high school b/c it was offered right after Phy Ed, so I could fix my Farrah flip…. I stunk. Like, it really is a skill and I do not have the talent. So maybe that plays in to why I am okay paying a pro!)

laugh Right?! We have a big ol' Heeler/Great Pyr/Aussie floof that costs about $120 to get groomed.

It's insane how much they cost! But I actually started doing my two doodles and my daughter's mini poodle myself a few years back, so I only "treat" myself to a groom at Christmas. (Which always makes me mad, because they never look how I like them to, so I probably will just do it myself this year)

But the hair products I buy for them, are like 10x as much as the ones I buy for myself lol.

Whoa, that's an enormous increase!!!!! 😱

I'm in the UK and I've finally, only in the last 18 months, found a hairdresser I can trust. I've had many hair related traumas over the years!

Now I've found The One, I'm not letting her go. I've already told her that if she decides to have babies at some point, I will force myself to lactate and breastfeed her baby while she colours my hair 🤭

I get a balayage style with a trim. I find I only need it done 3/4 times a year as the regrowth doesn't matter much. Costs about £120, so not too bad.