by Ashley
For you readers who have been around awhile….
Remember the struggles Emily had with getting her hair done? I think hair care was one of her big weaknesses (as eating out is one of mine). Way back then, I remember commenting on one of her posts about the issue. For the first 3 years that I lived in Arizona (before I had babies), I would always go to the Aveda Institute to get my hair done. I LOVE Aveda (I’ve talked about their fabulous lotion before, too)!! They’re quite pricey, but the institute is a school, so you’re getting your hair done by someone who is learning. This worked great for awhile, but the problem with a school is that the people working there are new (duh!). Because of this, they take foreeeever to do your hair. I’m talking – a hair cut can take 2 hours. If you need a color (I usually do a partial highlight) in addition to the color, kiss a solid 5-6 hours of your life goodbye (and sometimes they have to schedule the procedures on different days!!!)
Once I had kids, this was no longer a viable option. In the pre-baby days, I lived by the mantra “I have more time than money,” so I was willing to get a 6 hour cut and color if it meant I was paying a fraction of the price. But with babies, time = money. Who is watching my kids? My husband works every day, so I’d have to be paying a sitter for those 6 hours. Suddenly, my half-price hair is not so cheap after all.
So once I had babies I transitioned to using Groupons. I would buy a different Groupon every time I needed my hair done. I would get lots of great deals (like $35 for cut + color), but I’d be going someplace new and foreign every time.
The last time I got my hair done it was a disaster of epic proportions. It was so horrendous that I yelped all about the terrible experience (which is why I am able to copy/paste this review for you and know that this is 100% accurate, not at all exaggerated in any way):
I bought a Groupon here after reading the rave reviews. Unfortunately I was super disappointed by the whole experience and do not plan on returning.
First thing is just weird – I had originally booked my appt for a Wednesday. I got a call the Saturday before at 8pm asking me to reschedule (so weird to call on a Saturday evening???), so I changed my appt to Friday.
2 – But when I got in Friday morning, my person was running behind then made some remark about how Fridays are crazy and I shouldn’t have booked a Friday (ummm, I tried to book a Wednesday – YOU made me reschedule).
3 – Because of my Groupon the person doing my hair knew I wanted a partial highlight and cut, but she didn’t ask me a single question. What color for the highlights? Do you want thick or thin highlights? etc etc etc – Nope! She just started working. I thought it was strange, but I didn’t have any crazy requests so I just let her do her thing.
4 – I was repeatedly asked to lean to my side so the woman could reach my head. I am not tall – 5 feet 4 inches – so this has never happened in my life. But I literally had to stoop and bend my neck to the side (like, putting my ear to my shoulder), causing a wicked crick in my neck. wtf? Relatedly, when she was doing my cut (I asked for subtle layers at the bottom), she asked me to stand up while she was cutting. Yes. Instead of boosting me up on the seat, she had me stand while she cut my hair. Again…wtf???
5 – The woman washed my hair only 1/2 at a time. As soon as she finished the foils, she washed the first half of my head. Then she waited 15 minutes for the second side to finish processing. Then she came back and washed the other half. I have also never had this happen in my life.
6 – Once my shampoo was done, I could see my hair color was definitely sub-par. There’s still a clear line around my hair from where my previous color has grown out, and the color she added does not match or blend my own hair color at all. I have a dark/dirty blonde color and her highlights are almost platinum blonde. Not at all natural.
So, yes. Perhaps I could have spoken up when she just started mixing the color (“Um?? Excuse me….Can we talk about my color before you just do it????”), but the whole experience was just so odd. Overall, my hair is livable and I’m hoping to color will fade. However, they will not be getting my return business, for sure.
This experience was back in March. It’s now 4 months later and I am coming up on needing to get my hair done. But now I’m at a total loss for what to do. I don’t have time for Aveda Institute, don’t have money for the “real” Aveda salons, don’t have the desire to throw caution to the wind and try another Groupon (I had specifically looked up reviews prior to purchasing that Groupon and still had a terrible experience, so now I feel like reviews can’t be trusted).
I’m leaning toward doing a grocery-store box of all-over color at home and going to a Supercuts or something for the cut (side note: old school readers, I looked up this old post from Beks, who got her hair cut for $13 from Super Cuts). I really hate this, though. I feel like my hair looks drab and “blah” with all-over color, but I’ve also had bad experience with DIY highlights (I feel like, to be done right, highlights really need to be from a salon). I feel like there are no good options. I’ve also thought about saving up my “personal maintenance” budget money for a few months, but it would take forever to save enough for a “real” salon (I only allot myself $30/month and most salons charge in the $75+ range for cut and partial highlight, not including tip). My hair already has the straggly-needs-to-be-done look to it, so I don’t think I can wait another 3 months (which would put me at a total of 7 months from my last cut).
Do I need to stop whining and just go buy a boxed color and DIY at home? What do you do to save money on hair care expenses?
Hi, I’m Ashley! Arizonan on paper, Texan at heart. Lover of running, blogging, and all things cheeeeese. Freshly 40, married mother of two, working in academia. Trying to finally (finally!) pay off that ridiculous 6-digit student loan debt!
I haven’t bought a Groupon for anything in almost 2 years. Too many crappy experiences of the vendors not wanting to honor what they signed up for, or being so weary of people wielding their Groupons that they give subpar service like this.
I’ve been coloring my own hair for almost 15 years using the same product in varying shades of brown….obviously if you are or want to be blonde, it’s not as easy. I use Clairol Natural Instincts, as it rinses out gradually and doesn’t leave a visible root line. I’ve had professional colorists compliment my color, so I don’t feel bad about using it. I always use a coupon — they are frequently in the Sunday inserts — and I always buy it on sale, so it’s rare that I pay more than about $4 a box, sometimes even less.
My hair grows way too fast to pay someone else to color it, but I only get my hair cut 3 or 4 times every year. My work and custody schedules are such that I can’t plan very far in advance. Once it starts looking ratty, I call my stylist and see how soon she can fit me in.
Salons and technical schools all over offer cut-rate nights when students do hair, so you should look into that if you don’t want to or can’t DIY. I tried this once at Frederic Fekkai in NYC and I am still traumatized 20+ years later. I bawled at what happened to my hair, and it wasn’t even colored, just cut.
Oh no! Sounds like it must have been an awful experience! Thanks for the tip on Clairol Natural Instincts – I’ll have to be on the look out for coupons!
You are young so I guess the way your hair looks is important. I hope you find a frugal and easy solution soon.
I color my own hair for years now mostly because I hate going to the hairdressers. My own hair is a dark chocolate brown but I have been successfully coloring it a reddish and lighter brown. I use L’oreal Excellence Cream and I always buy multiple boxes when on sale. I challenge myself to color every 8-9 weeks but my gray hair is mostly around my face and I actually need to color every 6 weeks or so.
Since I hate going to the hairdressers, I maintain a very simple cut that needs to be trimmed may be every 6 months if not more;)
I would suggest finding a good stylist – maybe check with girlfriends you know with great cuts and ask for a recommendation. Once you have a regular stylist she can give you some ideas on how to save money while still getting a great cut and good color (maybe you could do the “all over-out of a box” base color and she could give you some quick highlights every 3 months?). I’ve found that once you have a good stylist and let them know that 1. you don’t have a lot of time and 2. you don’t want to spend a fortune they will work with you to meet your needs. Then just give a generous tip and they will be happy to have a steady customer.
I pay $25 for a cut every 6-8 weeks from my stylist ($18 cut plus $7 tip) plus a do-it-yourself $7 box of all over color (L’Oreal Excellence Cream – nice, shiny color and a tube of fantastic conditioner included). My stylist appreciates that I don’t need a lot of chit-chat and can be in-and-out in under 20 minutes (no blow dry, no styling – just a hair cut)…..and I appreciate a good cut quickly. For special occasions I’ll get some highlights added.
Moving from stylist to stylist is too stressful and time consuming for me:)
Finding a good stylist is the hardest! I think I’d feel judged for doing the boxed color, too! This could just be in my head, of course, but it seems like there are elitist hair stylists out there, lol. I’ll have to ask my friends for recommendations!
This is a really tough situation since you feel like you need hair color. I think $75 is actually a pretty good deal. I get $20 haircuts at my salon, which I think is a rock-bottom price for a salon, but their colorings are $50, so I use a box at home. Do you feel like if you found a quality job somewhere you could reasonably stretch it to 4 months? Not hating it the last month, but feeling like every 4 months was good enough? If so, then I think find a $75 deal and just write it in (even every three months, I wouldn’t judge). I have debt and finally just resigned myself to getting a cut every 4 weeks. I hated my hair long, I want it short, so I just suck it up. I don’t spend that much money on other personal care items, so it is worth it to me.
However…first I would try the boxed color and just get a cut somewhere. It sounds like it can’t look any worse than your last dye job, and that would even save you the first $75. The box color will not last as long, though. I have to color every 4 weeks to cover up gray.
I can certainly go 4 months between color – that’s my usual (I go about 3 times per year). I’m leaning toward this route – DIY boxed color and going somewhere for the cut. I think I’d feel more comfortable saying “screw it” and going to a salon if it weren’t for blogging here (heh). The accountability this format provides is a great thing! : )
I understand that you want to color your hair and are used to doing that. However, perhaps you could consider that your natural hair color is probably a great match for your skin tone and try letting it me natural. I cute cut that is easy care is the key to great looking hair IMO.
I could do this, but for now I feel like I need color to cover up/correct for the terrible job I had last time. I’ve got a good solid 2 inches of growth (of dark blonde) and then it goes nearly platinum (from the terrible highlights I got last time). I feel like I’d need something to even it out so it can grow out more naturally because right now the clear line of growth I have is awful looking!
I used to be a natural blond, but as I aged my hair darkened. I am now a dark blond/light brown. After I stopped trying to hold on to the blond, I just let my natural hair color come in and I have much healthier and attractive hair. I have been cutting my hair for years and I have yet to butcher it beyond repair. I guess I am not someone who likes to spend time or money in a salon; even when I was blond I dyed it myself.
I never had highlights, so I don’t know if you would be ready to take the plunge to all-over color. Maybe try it at home and if it is just not to your liking you could go in for some highlights? Or maybe you just need to set up some savings so you can have your hair done it peace.
When I was a teen I used to cut my own hair and I’ve considered this as an option if I were to get some proper hair-cutting scissors. Of course, I don’t have any formal training so I would feel uncomfortable doing anything other than a basic trim type cut (no layers or anything new/crazy). However, this could still be an option. Like, maybe only going to a salon once or twice a year (maybe before a family wedding or some fun event) and then cutting/coloring my own hair the other times?
That would be a good option! Every woman is so different when it comes to our hair needs and expectations – it can be a bit unrealistic to expect every woman to switch to DIY and not have disappointments with the outcome. I think if you are able to find ways to cut down salon visits or prices, that counts as a win!
Also, youtube has great beauty tips and tricks videos that could help you edge your way into cutting your own hair. I’ve done my own layers before, it wasn’t as difficult as I thought it was going to be. But, again, this is just a suggestion and you may prefer to just leave the dirty work to a professional 😉
Ashley…if you turn your head upside down and cut it the same length, it’s an easy way to give yourself long layers!
Hey, that’s a really great idea! Thanks for the tip!
Now now, if you were really serious about saving money, you would BUZZ YOUR HEAD! Think of the savings — no cut, no color!
Kidding!!!!!!!!!!! 🙂
Hey, and a savings in time with getting ready for anything! Ha! : )
I get my hair done (cut and highlights) at a JCPenney salon. I have long hair and keep it simple with a few layers, and I also get partial highlights. I get thin, natural looking highlights that grow out well, and my stylist is generous with the foils. I only go 2-3 times a year, and last March I paid 82 dollars, including tax and tip. I think a good stylist is worth the extra money (compared to gambling with groupon) especially if you have little ones and aren’t able to spend a lot of time getting ready.
I had quite a bit of sticker shock when I had my stylist add a little color to cover my incoming grays back in January. Six months later I’m trying to convince myself that it isn’t that obvious and that I can just deal with a hair tone that isn’t my preference because it’s so not worth the money to me. (I’d rather drink $100 of delicious coffee!)
I would eat ramen noodles before I would cut my haircuts out of my budget! My current stylist is one that I found by looking at my friends’ haircuts; I found one that I really liked & asked her who her stylist is. Because I now have a haircut that requires a regular visit every 6 weeks to get maintained (corporate job, and get lots of compliments on the style), I balance it out by doing my own color. I use Garnier Nutrisse and people think that I have my hair highlighted. It’s also close enough to my natural color that I can get away with going WAY beyond what I should between colorings. I don’t think stylists judge when you do your own color – unless it’s bad, of course!
Personally, I opt for a simple/flattering hair style that no one can mess up. But I am also fine with having the same hairstyle for eternity. (Sometimes cut it shorter in the summer or grow longer in the winter but is always the same cut). I just go to Great Clips. (Super Cuts is probably fine, but they messed up my hair enough when it wasn’t so simple than I am not keen on SC). It beats gambling on coupons, dealing with beauty schools or being dissapointed with a ridiculously expensive cut. I am not into the hair coloring thing so that saves a lot of money and hassle I guess. (I think part of it is I am blessed with beautiful hair. & part of it is I just don’t really care. But time will tell how I feel about my greys).
P.S. Also beats cutting my own hair. I like a way more nicer style than anything I Can do myself. 😀
Ask around for an acquaintance who will do your hair at her or your house. It will be way cheaper. Your experience made me laugh.
I think this is such a unique situation that the answer is different for every woman. Personally, I’ve always been blonde, but I’ve experienced the same thing as Scarr with my hair darkening to a dark blonde/mousy brown. When I was still in HS, my mom paid to take me to get my hair highlighted, but that changed in college once I was using my own money 🙂 Anyway, since college I’ve been dying it myself (a good 8 years now), and I love the results. I use Garnier in an Ashy Blonde, and it looks so natural and even gives some highlights (even though it’s just a blanket color).
On the flip side, my friend recently wanted to slash her salon bills from >$100 for highlights and cut by doing the dye job at home…with not so fantastic results. Her hair went from brown to orange, and when she attempted to fix this herself it turned Ronald McDonald’s pants yellow (not exaggerating, unfortunately.) Ultimately, she ended up going to the salon anyway and having to pay $20 extra just to have the color fixed on top of the $100+ fee!
Moral of the story: I would say if you’re already a blonde and you just want to go lighter, you may have pretty good success. However, as it seems you had some work done recently that you’re trying to cover up, I would get your hair done professionally this time to fix the last person’s work. The time after this, once your hair has been fixed, I’d say you could try the DIY at home dye. Best of luck, and keep us updated!
OH NO!!! I cannot imagine having Ronald McDonald pant yellow hair!!! YIKES!!!
I have actually colored my hair myself before, but its when I used to dye my hair dark brown. I soon discovered that I’ve started getting random gray hairs, which more easily “blend” with blonde hair. When I was dying it dark myself, I had to do it much more frequently to cover up the grays. I’m still trying to decide what I want to do….get a professional to fix the bad color job or try an all-over myself? I feel lucky that I don’t have any big interviews or important events on the horizon right now so I may just ride it out another month and see how it goes. I do have a friend who does color (but she owns her own chair in a salon, so not expecting to get a price break since she has to pay the salon for her chair space), but maybe she can help me fix the color and figure out a super low-maintenance way to maintain it at home.
I do not color my hair as I am too cheap to spend $$$ on hair, plus I don’t have time to spend that long at the salon every 6 weeks or however often I would need to go.
However, having said that, I think you should go to a professional THIS time and have him/her even out your hair color to match your natural color. This way you can get rid of the strange platinum color. Once that is done, I would focus on finding a place that will give you a good cut and forget about professional hair coloring. You are so young! You really don’t need to worry about coloring your hair until or unless it turns gray or a horrid shade too early!
I agree with some of the posters on your other post about increased water and cable; your budget items are all increasing willy nilly and this hair expense can certainly be lowered if you forego the highlights for a while.
Perhaps you could find a hairdresser who works from her house? That is what I have been doing for the last 10+ years. I go every six weeks and get my foil done every other visit. In general a cut is about $35 and a cut and color [foil two colors] is $80. I ALWAYS tip her at least $5. She has a little studio that connects her house and garage. She is a single mom which is another reason I like to support her as opposed to a big chain. I found her through word of mouth {actually my ex MIL} and live in WA or would totally give you her information. So, perhaps that is a route you could go? Start chatting to your friends and see if you can get recommendations. A side note, this gal worked in salons and went to beauty school but when she had her daughter working from home made more sense to her. Hope this helps and I completely understand about spending on hair maintenance! 🙂
I used to have highlights (lowlights) but decided to go, mostly,back to my natural brown. The salon I go to has their prices for an all over color clearly indicated on their web site. I spoke with the stylist about how I am frugal and want the color to last a while. She gave me a color that is darker than my natural but changes as time goes on and at 6 months still looked great (so close to my natural I could barely find the growth line) and then I rode it out another 3 months and it was still mostly passable. I’m fortunate that my grey is mostly buried so that buys me some extra time.
The salon I go to also has students. The stylist told me that all her notes are in my record so I should come back and see a student for cheaper the next time. If I wanted a change I can go back to her, and then see a student for repeat treatment. It was $60 for the all over color, and it lasted 9 months.
One last note. Because I went to the all over color, fixed up by a professional. I have often thought about doing a box all over color. Why the heck not? I chose not to because my salon is easy to get into, quick, and for $60 (without tip), I feel like I can do that splurge. (I don’t have kids so the babysitting factor is not a factor for me.) Who knows, next time we might be tight on our budget and I’ll either wait a little while or go get the box.
Whatever you end up doing, I would fully endorse go getting the mess you have going on fixed! 🙂