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Tipping your hairdresser

(38 Posts)
Liz46 Mon 13-Oct-25 07:22:50

I didn't have any change to tip my hairdresser the other day and felt guilty. Because I have a back problem I just have a dry cut which takes about 10 minutes and costs £19. It is a small shop, run by my hairdresser and her daughter.
On thinking about it, I wonder why we tip hairdressers?

dragonfly46 Mon 13-Oct-25 07:40:56

I never tip as the owner cuts my hair. It is expensive enough.

multicolourswapshop Mon 13-Oct-25 07:42:01

I tip my hairdresser, she’s so good and everyone admires my cut, she’s well worth the little bit extra I give her

Sarnia Mon 13-Oct-25 07:45:16

My hairdresser comes to me. I pay her £25 which includes a £5 tip. When I moved house I tried a local hairdresser who charged me £55 for the same cut. I was very grateful when she said she would still come to do my hair.

Georgesgran Mon 13-Oct-25 08:07:33

This has been such a topic in recent times. Some GN’s don’t ever tip anyone, others will, but for good service. Others top the postman, bin men, Uncle Tom Cobbly and all! Often others will include their salons on their Christmas list (I give my podiatry clinic a tin of Quality Street) as they’ve become friends over the years. At my old L’Oréal salon, I always gave a £5 tip to my stylist, but I go elsewhere now and my appointment is with the owner, so I just round up the cost from £33 to £35 or drop a couple of £1 coins in the tip jar if I’m paying by cash.

karmalady Mon 13-Oct-25 08:15:36

I give mine a £20 note and she has a £2 tip and gives me the £1 change. I will only ever use a £20 note and one day, if prices rise, there will be no tip. It is still good money for 20 minutes of her time, just a dry cut

RosieandherMaw Mon 13-Oct-25 08:33:56

Why not 2 x£10?

Astitchintime Mon 13-Oct-25 08:39:43

A good hairdresser who knows and understands her clients hair is like gold dust! I always go to the same salon where I’m styled by the same lady but she will often ask someone else to rinse off my colour if the times up and she is busy with another client. ( and No! I don’t feel like I’m on a production line either). The whole team are really polite friendly and attentive, they’re excellent at record keeping and skin testing with a new or revised product too.
Why wouldn’t I tip my stylist and treat them all at Christmas and their birthdays? Mean not to.

ViceVersa Mon 13-Oct-25 08:42:46

I just honestly don't understand why we are expected to tip for some services, yet not others? It's a bit of an anachronism in this day and age anyway. And I'm not being mean - I just generally don't agree with the whole culture of tipping.

karmalady Mon 13-Oct-25 08:49:33

RosieandherMaw

Why not 2 x£10?

Maw are you stalking me again today?

I would love to see a positive post from you, not one that is copied and pasted nor sarcastic nor pedantic

Where are your original ideas? Do you have any?

SuzieHi Mon 13-Oct-25 09:01:11

No I don’t tip the main hairdressers- costs £110 for colour, cut & dry! Enough to pay I think. They are good & I don’t want to swop.
Do buy a small Xmas gift though. Occasionally if a teenager/student is doing the washing I’ll pop £1-2 in her box

BlueBelle Mon 13-Oct-25 09:03:45

There’s only just been a thread all about tipping hairdressers
It’s just repeating it all over again and again
I don’t tip, I m not mean, I think it’s an unnecessary and outdated gesture We tip some people for their services and not others and that makes it a very unfair system
As I ve said previously you tip a taxi driver but not a train or bus driver
You tip a hairdresser but not the girl that serves you in the shop
You tip a server but not the cook or cleaner ( in case you are going to say the cook gets more money than the server)

It’s unfair and belongs in he doff your hat to the gentry generation

GrannyGravy13 Mon 13-Oct-25 09:34:55

I am a tipper, always have been always will be…

sodapop Mon 13-Oct-25 09:39:02

My feelings exactly BlueBelle people are in thrall to their hairdressers it seems.

Samsara1 Mon 13-Oct-25 10:37:23

I have always tipped a hairdresser and always will U think. I did not ever tip a beautician. I don't really know why. My salon now has a system where you pay 50% of the treatment you book on line to secure the appointment and then the salon with you permission will take the balance. AFTER all that you get a review request inviting g you tip tip in three bands. I usually do the middle one. I'm not rich but I can afford hair and the occasional salon treatment. The hairdresser and the beautician are not rich either and they still have to work and bring up their children I don't. While I can do it to spread a bit of love around I will.

Aldom Mon 13-Oct-25 11:51:49

At my hairdresser if one chooses to pay the tip online the company who facilitate this charge 5% for the service. I was caught once, but on subsequent occasions I have left a cash tip.

aonk Mon 13-Oct-25 14:14:47

I give £2 to the girl who washes my hair. It’s cut and coloured by the owner who I don’t tip but I do put money in a card for him at Christmas.

sodapop Mon 13-Oct-25 15:02:04

Shop assistants, medical staff, bus drivers to name but a few also have to work and bring up families but they don't get tips Samsara1

MayBee70 Mon 13-Oct-25 15:13:31

I haven’t been to a hairdresser for years but the one I’ve always gone to used to charge me the same as all of her other clients even though I’ve hardly got any hair to cut. I’ve sat and watched her do dry trims on other clients that take ages but mine takes minutes. She used to have other people that worked for her that charged me less because I had so little hair. Even so I’ve always given her a small tip. I could do with a tidy up but do feel a bit aggrieved as to how much it will cost. She’s always wanted to cut my hair really short, but that would necessitate more frequent trims which I can’t really afford. I understand that she doesn’t want to set a precedent by charging me less but her colleagues, feeling a bit sorry for me, used to.

MadamChairman Tue 14-Oct-25 13:54:03

The only people I ever tip are hairdressers and then only if I intend to go back.

I did have a very tip expectant pizza delivery person once who I had to practically pull the box from.

Momac55 Tue 14-Oct-25 13:57:51

I agree I rarely tip

Bazza Tue 14-Oct-25 14:30:21

We have had the same person to cut or hair at home for about twenty years. I don’t tip her but give her a £50 Space NK voucher at Christmas. She has become more of a friend over the years, is very reliable and does a good job.

LovesBach Tue 14-Oct-25 14:45:14

Giving someone a tip makes me feel like a ghastly Lady Bountiful. If I carried out work for another person I would never expect them to give me anything extra - the price for the work having been accepted. It seems you should not tip the owner of a salon, but then younger staff, hairdressers, waiters etc. are said to rely on tips. What a minefield - why do we not have a scale of charges that reflect a reasonable wage for the younger staff and not have this performance of pressing coins into the hand?

StoneofDestiny Tue 14-Oct-25 15:01:24

I always tipped my hairdresser but have never felt comfortable tipping. I moved to another area and a new hairdresser and I decided the tipping should stop. I now just buy her a Christmas gift every year.

MissChateline Tue 14-Oct-25 15:07:41

I work part time in a shop for the minimum wage. I can spend hours with a customer getting them kitted out. I don’t expect a tip. My hair dresser earns more for an hour than I make in a day. So no I don’t and won’t tip.
This practice needs to stop and employers should pay a living wage.