How To Save Money On Your Hair

Let’s face it, the cost to maintain our looks and feel our best can be extremely expensive. Hair, nails, facials, waxing, fancy gym memberships, beauty products, etc. Not to mention the cost of eating healthy, decent quality clothes, even healthcare, life is pretty darn expensive. Throw a mortgage and children into the mix, and how are you supposed to justify spending money on the things we don’t necessarily “need”?

Often times skimping on certain things means skimping on the quality, but it’s not always the case. It’s important to prioritize what’s most important to you and then see where you can cut back on the others. For example, I LOVE getting massages. Not only do I love them, my body needs them from my profession as a hairstylist. In order to budget the multiple massages I like to get monthly, I found a place that does incredible massage for only $25! Yeah I sacrifice the ambiance, the spa extras, and the fancy massage oil, but when my muscles need to get worked out it does the trick. Then when I’m feeling up for it, I’ll treat myself to the fancy $125 massage. I found a way to balance and still get do what I want.

In terms of your hair, unfortunately this isn’t as much the case. With hair you generally get what you pay for, and if a stylist is charging a lot for their services it means they have tons of experience, training, and uses high end (and expensive) products. If their services are very inexpensive you have to wonder how much they’ve invested of their time and own money into their skill. So what do you do if you don’t want to find the cheap massage of hair stylists, but can’t justify spending the extra money on your hair? Here are some ways I’ve come up with that may work for you…

Skip the haircut.

You technically don’t need to get a haircut every single time you get your hair colored. If your hair isn’t too damaged then it’s completely unnecessary to trim it every 6-8 weeks and you can definitely wait at least 10-12 weeks. If you are prone to split ends this may not be best for you, but in general most people can hold off on their haircuts. And if you’re trying to grow your hair out, which 90% of women seem to be doing, you need to hold off on your haircuts a bit so you don’t cut off what grows in. This essentially means 6 less haircuts a year which equals $$$!

Partial Highlight vs. Full Highlight.

Some women just assume they are supposed to get a full highlight every hair appointment. This generally costs anywhere from $15-$50 more than a partial highlight, and often times a partial is all you need! Natural looking hair color is in style and having every piece of your hair with a highlight on it doesn’t even look that good (my opinion). If you’re hooked on full highlights, maybe do them every other appointment, or even every 2 appointments. Again, this cuts costs and saves money over time.

Skip the blow dry.

Now this doesn’t pertain to me because I consider my blow dry complimentary with any of my hair services, but some hairstylists may charge you less if you ask to leave with wet hair. Though it’s a bummer to leave without that bomb blow dry style, if it saves money and that’s what’s important then maybe it’s worth it. Not blow drying your hair saves your hairstylist time and they may be willing to cut off a few bucks. If saving money is important it never hurts to ask right?

Pay cash or check.

Often times hairstylists work for themselves and every time they swipe your credit card they have to pay a percentage for the swipe. They also really appreciate cash for reasons I will not write here 😉 and may be inclined to knock off some money if you always pay cash. Again, it never hurts to ask!

Ultimately, before leaving your beloved hairstylist because you feel you can no longer afford their services, TALK TO THEM! See if there is anything they can do to help you out. This isn’t a moment to be prideful or embarrassed because we too are probably trying to save money in our personal lives!