Why should we tip the hairdresser?

I've been going to the same hairdresser for many years, so she knows me well! I don't tip her, don't believe that is necessary! I give her and her family an Easter present and a Christmas present.

I go to a lady who has her own business at home. I do tip a little but as it’s her own I don’t think I should really.

Hmm, I shall have to think again. My hairdresser (salon owner) charges £80 for cut and highlights, and I tip her....

Tipping is considered an insult in Japan, so much easier.

My hairdresser has little tins by the till for each stylist which I feel takes all the embarrassment away but may mean they get less tips.

I've come to the conclusion that maybe tipping is expected in a posh hairdresser when you get a very young trainee who washes your hair while the senior person does the cutting.
The young person gets a little tip as they're on such low wages.
I don't go to such posh places and I've never tipped. The whole thing seems to be a bit of a minefield.

I always thought that tipping was to top up the low wages apprentice hairdressers got, not fully qualified hairdressers who will get better wages.

My hairdresser owns the business. Therefore (in keeping with a convention that many don’t seem to know), I don’t tip her. I give £1 to the girl who washes my hair, and if someone else cuts it because my hairdresser is away, I tip her £2. My hair is short and not coloured. When I had it coloured I tipped £3, plus the girl who washed it.

There are some very generous tippers here. As an aside, my Spanish tutor worked as a waitress for a while when she first came to the UK. She said that she felt offended when someone gave her a tip as she felt it was patronising (no one tips in Spain), as if the customer was giving her charity. She said she was on minimum wage, but felt she earned a healthy salarly. She was horrified that I tipped in restaurants. She pointed out that, since I am retired, even someone on minimum wage probably doesn’t have less money than me, maybe more and that they are being paid for their work! Something to reflect on perhaps.

I don't tip, but do give her £10 at Christmas which I know goes into their kitty for their night out.

I don't tip my hairdresser per se. I've been visiting this particular hairdressers for many years. However I do give her some money at Christmas. I don't tip the hairwashers at all though

Tipping is dated and ridiculous. It goes back to the time when the small number of very rich people paid very little for the services of a large number of very poor people. They tipped small amounts when they wanted to use the services again, and it showed power and importance. Not relevant nowadays, you're a pensioner, stop doing it!

I have my hair cut, coloured and blow dried every six weeks which costs £50. I have never given my hairdresser a tip. Her 'tip' is the fact that I go back, time and time again, every six weeks.

I don’t tip. On the other hand I don’t complain when the price goes up frequently either. I’d like to tip the apprentice who washes and sometimes dries my hair as she only gets £3.50 per hour, but I’d feel uncomfortable tipping her and not the owner who does my hair.

I colour my own hair and have done for 95% of the last 56 years. I get it cut either at Toni&Guy or visit an Aussie guy in London who does superb cuts (takes about 45 minutes just to cut it)
I do like variation and modern methods so I wouldn't dream of going to the same hairdresser for years on end and I don't always tip. It might seem tight not to give a little extra but I certainly wouldn't dream of giving £10 or anything remotely like it. If I've had a massage and tea and sandwiches plus a fantasic cut, I might tip a fiver but that's it.

I always had this dilemma and tipped my hairdresser £5... but when their prices rose again to £65.00 i decided to go elsewhere...AND decided tipping was no more...

So new hairdresser and £40.00 with no tip ....
Win win... and he is excellent and never have i felt awkward not tipping him ...

I've never tipped anyone - waiters, hairdressers, London cabbies ( you never see a poor cab driver!). I sometimes got abuse from cabbies but I was an eastender and could give as good as I got. I just think tipping is a rather archaic custom and can be embarrassing for both parties, and these days people don't carry a lot of cash and prefer to use cards for payment. I have a perm, cut and blow dry every 3 months at £88 a time. In between perms I have it cut & blow dried at £38. I think those prices are adequate without the need for additional. tips. There is a 'gratuities' box on the counter in the salon and I guess that is shared between all the stylists. I never carry much cash with me and usually pay by card anyway. My DIL tells me that tips are usually calculated to be 10% of the bill.

Living in London my hairdressing bill is always around £130 and that's just for a trim, partial highlights, and blow dry. This is not in a central London salon either, just a local one. Frankly, I find that expensive - just another anomaly with the rest of the country but it's par for the course. My friend who lives in the north of England gets all this done for £60 and my income is the same as hers. But to enjoy the same hairdressing service as she does I have to go without something. Why would I tip?

mumofmadboys I also go to hairdressers with washed wet hair. A cut and blow dry costs £15 and takes about 20 minutes. I don't tip. My daughter is a self employed decorator with an hourly rate of about £15. She has been tipped in the past but it is very rare and I certainly don't feel the need to tip hairdressers.

I don’t tip my hd but do tip the juniors who wash my hair, they only earn a low wage.

As I ve said before in other threads I don’t tip I see no difference between the service my hairdresser gives me and the service the bus driver gives me to get there why a taxi driver but not a train driver why a waitress and not the cook
I am a generous person and easily. give money ( if I ve got it) away to family friends charities etc but I think tipping is as outdated as a bowler hat and rolled umbrella

I pay £20 for a wash cut and blow dry taking about 30 minutes she has a tip jar on the counter which I ignore

It’s the class thing I hate and the unfairness

Never tip anyone. Everything is far too expensive these days already.

My daughter is a hairdresser, and has to pay chair rent and also only gets 2/3 if the price of the hair cut. She is now only part time and is really struggling to make ends meet. I provide child care for two of those days and her MiL the other. So even with no child care fees it’s a nightmare. Only gets any actual cash in her hand if people pay in cash. So could go to work and in effect earn nothing as it all goes to pay chair rent and red figure.

It depends if you have someone visit you or you go to a salon? Hairstylists are amongst the lowest paid jobs in the country, in a salon and even if they’re self employed, some salon owners take a large chunk of their pay. Some stylists in salons even if they’re self employed, or hire a chair, also have to conform to certain prices for their treatments and services so can’t charge what they like. I always tip as I know how little they earn.

You all sound quite lucky to me, I pay over £50 for a cut and blow dry, I dont tip as Im only usually in there for 40 minutes. I stopped having it coloured as it was costing me over £70.

still ever sure why my hair costs 3 times as much for a trim as the barber charges DH. I don't tip the owner if she does it, but tip others if they do. As for rent a chair, not sure which way to go, lol!

My hairdresser comes to the house and she is reasonable at £13!cut and blow but I just give £15 and a pressie at Xmas.