Hair Salon Question - Ripped Off?

No, things in the hair salon business have been getting steadily more expenisive. My mom owns a salon outside Boston and they've had to raise costs a couple times in the last year.

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My favorite is when they charge you a styling fee because they blowdried your hair. Last time I went I was all ready to go home with my hair wet, but they started blowdrying and straightening before I had a chance to say anything.

This is why Kitzy hates salons. Except for Eric Fisher. But I can't afford to go there when all I need is split ends cut off.

*sigh*

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Yes, it does depend on the stylist and their...rank, I guess you could call it. I went to one place and could have the master stylist, senior stylist, or whatever the levels were below that. All different rates. I picked a middle level one and when she got promoted to senior stylist after a while, her rate went right up.
Then I didn't go for a while, went back and almost had a heartattack when I found her rates were raised again, significantly. After my hair had been cut, of course. She didn't tell me she had a promotion or rate change, but I was stuck then. And I didn't even have my hair dried and styled, yet it still cost a small fortune.
Haven't been back there. And unfortunately, I haven't found anyone to give me a decent cut for a price I'm willing to pay (and I'll pay a good amount, even for a NYC cut, though I have my limits).
Tried to get a decent cut in Boston (actually Brookline) thinking I could get a good cut for a bit less than what I pay in NYC, but he wasn't that great.

Ha, I cut mine last time, too, just a little trim 'cause the ends were so bad, but I need a real cut to shape it up again. My hair's too long to make any sense of it myself.
I did cut my almost waist length hair off once to the shoulder in the 6th grade when my mom was in the hospital and I washed it by myself for the first time. I apparently didn't get all the soap out and it hardened and it obviously didn't occur to me to get in the shower again. So I cut it off.
My mom loved my long hair so when I went to visit my mom, I wore a scarf to hopefully hide it. She didn't notice til she came home. I wasn't too upset, was tired of wearing ponytails everyday of my life.

The Lioness is correct. It's not out of the ordinary for salons -- particularly larger ones that are part of a chain -- to have levels of stylists with different price ranges.

Here's a tip. If you get one of the lower level ones with potential, and they get promoted, they'll usually keep you grandfathered at the same rate. So find a promising lower level person, and you'll be golden.

and there's always the Flowbee

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I used to pay $88 for a touchup. With a tip, I was spending around $100 each month for someone to apply color with a brush. The product they use costs $3.99 at the hair supply store. That was the first thing I started to do myself.

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Yes, I've definitely heard of that happening. It even happens at a salon in my own town (which a medium size town in the middle of the Midwest... not a big city like Boston). I have had exactly one haircut since enrolling in college in Fall 2002, as generally I like to cut my own hair. The professional haircut cost $50, and I was flabbergasted. But it was probably the best haircut I've ever had. I got it about 8 months ago, and it's grown out really well. Haven't cut my hair since. (I think that whole "once every 3 months" thing is crap. My hair is perfectly healthy without that.)

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