The Great Hunt: Your MoneySaving hairdressing tips

A question about : The Great Hunt: Your MoneySaving hairdressing tips

Your MoneySaving hairdressing tips

Our poll found a third of women are paying between Ј26 and Ј50 a time to care for their locks, with 16% forking out over Ј51 for haircuts. Most men get away with paying less than Ј10, but how can both genders save money on looking after their hair? From cutting at home to using trainee hairdressers, we'd love MoneySavers' tips.

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Best answers:

• Men pay less because they are in and out in 15-20 minutes. Some women are in these places for the best part of an hour.
  Check out your local college and if they have classes for hairdressers get it done for free, they are always on the hunt for models.
• Don't bother with the glitzy town centre ones. You may well have a local hairdresser who can do just as well. I get my hair cut for Ј10.40 (just gone up from Ј9.80) and the owner recognises me as a local and gives me the pensioner rate!! (She knows I have several years to go before achieving that status!)
• Used to get mine done (when I lived elsewhere) at a training salon for a top hairdresser in that city. Always supervised by fully competent trained staff. Only ever one blooper and nothing serious - trainee cut my very long hair a bit shorter one side than the other. Easily levelled out. Wouldn't have happened with shorter hair. Cost me about Ј7 each visit.
• I go to Tesco's and get a dry cut for Ј12.50 and get clubcard points too!
• For those gents (and maybe some ladies too (I mustn't be sexist here)) who have a number 1/2/3 cut via clippers with the relevant guard, buy your own clippers. I've been using mine for many years; for the cost of 2 or 3 vists to the barbers, you could have a lifetime of "free" cuts.
• I have just had a very satisfactory trim for Ј5 in my local barber's shop, and I don't have a 'short back and sides! A friend recommended them to me, and a lovely lady trimmed my hair just as I wanted it. I even paid Ј3 less than a man would have done!
• I use a mobile hairdresser who comes to my house to cut my hair. I have to sweep up my own hair but as I only pay Ј7, and she won't take tips, I don't mind that. Don't know what I'll do when she retires though!
  Denise
• [QUOTE=Sunny Day;65637640]Don't bother with the glitzy town centre ones. You may well have a local hairdresser who can do just as well.QUOTE]
  I was going to suggest this but someone got there first! If you live in a city then try independent hairdressers in the suburbs or small towns nearby. They'll often be as good but charge a lot less. Ask friends and colleagues where they get their hair done for ideas. For example, I live in Leeds but go to a small hairdresser outside Huddersfield for my highlights and cut and it's literally half the price of a city centre salon (minus about Ј5 extra travel costs).
• I have been using Group-On and KGB vouchers - I have been some very up market hairdressing saloons in London and had my hair cut and coloured, or highlighted for as little as Ј24. Not had a bad experience so far.
• Try the local colleges that have hair and beauty salons. The students' cuts have to be signed off by the tutor. I haven't had any bad experiences so far and the maximum I have paid is Ј8 for a wash, cut and blow dry. My only tip is to ask for Level 3 students who already have salon experience.
• I work in a University and we have a hairdressers in the students' union. Anyone can go there, including the general public. Any cut you like and its just Ј5. There is no appointment system, you just go in, sit down and wait for your turn. They will do perms, colours etc too. I highlight mine with a kit for Ј6.99
• Pay money for a really good haircut and it lasts a lot longer.
  I have tried to explain this to my mother-in-law. She pays Ј20 a time but the haircut needs redoing every 4 weeks. I pay Ј50 a time and it lasts 10 weeks. So both haircuttings cost Ј260 over the year - but she still insists that mine is much more expensive!
• I found a fantastic tip that Nicky Clarke actually done a video of (google it), showing you how to cut your own layers in yourself.
  Flip your hair upside down and tie it into a ponytail at the front, so you have a "fountain" in front of your face. You then tie another hairband around it and pull it down to the length you want your shortest layers to be. Then trim across it in a STRAIGHT line. Pull all hairbands out, flip your hair back and - ta da - fabulous layers cut in! I then trim the ends straight across so they arent too wispy.
  I do this on my own hair and on my mums. If you want longer layers then the ponytail needs to be positioned further back on your head.
  It sounds absolutely terrifying to do such a thing to your own hair, but believe me, it works, and I'm a 26yr old girl who loves her hair to bits!!! But I refuse to pay salon prices, they're a complete rip off.
  Then do as I have done, and teach your other half to dye hair, and voila, salon at home! And if this helps one single person who has the same mindset as me (which is "!!!!!! it, worth a try") then I've succeeded.
  Spend on hair = Ј0!
• If I go to the salon to have an expensive colour or highlights I ask the stylists lots of questions on the products and techniques they used and then go and buy the equivalent in Boots or Superdrug and do it myself next time. Some good clips on You tube too. I have never (yet) come unstuck doing it myself although sometimes it has been a bit darker/ lighter/more vivid than I imagined! .............. Have also used Groupons that have been great value for a haircut, conditioning and colour package in a city centre salon for a treat. One was with a trainee stylist, (which was stated in the deal. ) It turned out great and I don't think a reputable place would take the risk of promoting someone they didn't trust.
• If you just want a cut and your hair is clean and no products on it within the last 24 hours go to SuperCuts and your bill will be about Ј13 or Ј14. Hope this helps someone.
• I colour my own hair, it's not scary at all and it's never gone wrong for me.
  You can buy tubes of colour on ebay for around Ј6 and peroxide for about Ј3/4, and this usually lasts for 3 colours on long hair.
  There are loads of shade charts on google images too.
  Box hair colours use really strong peroxides which damage your hair so much! If you buy your own you can choose which strength to use, 6% or 20 vol is usually enough if it's not a drastic change.
  (Trust me, I'm a hairdressers daughter!)
• Doing some Googling to see what was available in my area, I found this site https://www.salonguineapig.co.uk/
  It's for people who are happy to be models for trainees. You pick what treatment you want & search for free or cheap versions in your area.
  For example, there were a number of free hair cuts at decent London salons. Lots of other services, like different beauty treatments on there too.
• I do mine with a CreaClip. These are available at various places online and googling will find videos on youtube to show you how it works. It's a bit fiddly initially on fine hair, but worth doing if you want to save money and don't need anything too fancy.
• Do each others hair.
  I cut my bf hair with clippers, I try and do this regularly as it makes it easier for me and he cuts my hair, I load my hair up with cheap conditioner and comb it straight, as my hair is wavy I'm not to worried but he has a good eye and cuts it straight. Helps when the other half is easily persuaded to have a go at first.