How much do you tip your hairdresser?

[Chancellor]

I go as little as possible. I have a very easy hair style. One length long hair and bangs in front. I get it colored to cover the greys. I never know how much is appropriate to tip. So, how much do you guys tip?

[KathyK]

I tip 15% to 20%, depending on how complicated and/or time-consuming the job is. But that's only if the operator is not the owner of the shop. Tipping etiquette says you don't tip the owner.

[Chancellor]

She is not the owner of the shop. I tipped 25% last night but wondered if that was enough.... I never know.

[DJR]

I usually tip around 20%.

[piedmontfields]

20%, but then I really like my stylist and what she does with my hair!

[amygdala]

about 20%. i asked her what percentage of her customers tipped, and she said "roughly 50%. but some of the non-tippers gave her a good-sized bonus as xmas."

[WheresMyWhite]

15-20% usually leaning toward the 20%.

Even if the cut is simple, there is still the color - I do a lifting color so still not simple

50% - I might do that for a holiday tip...

[TeresaB]

20% for a cut (just a trim really) and weave (highlights).

[Cookie]

20% max.
I can't imagine a 50% tip each time I get my hair cut!!

[Sunshine2Me]

I think what she means is 50% of her customers tip her "something", and the other 50% do not tip her at all?

[gee]

20% and mine is just whacking off about 4-5 inches every 6 months and I pay cash for both the cut and the tip.

[WheresMyWhite]

I had also gotten the impression that tipping the actual shop owner was "different" (i.e., no tip) than if it was the non-shop owner.

[Koolkat]

How much do you pay for your haircut? I have a very simple bob that costs $80. . . . although she IS very good at it. I also get a hand massage from the elf that hangs around, so I assume my skinflint $5 tip goes to help them.

[Moutaineer]

Mine is a one-man band who works out of a salon in her home. I still do tip her, usually works out at about 15%.

However, she will always make the effort to fit me in if I'm in urgent need.

[M&M]

I tip the owner (20%) for two reasons. Although I also believe that one isn't expected to tip the owner, as a person who has often worked in a tipped position, it feels weird not to do so. The other reason is that whenever I covered the bar at my restaurant, people always tipped me, knowing I was the owner. So don't feel bad if you aren't tipping the owner, but if you do, don't feel bad about that, either.

[Code3]

I've been with the same woman for years, through several of her moves. She is wonderful and with my short, curly hair I need someone who can cut curls and not fight them because they fight back. She charges $25 (she works in a town with a population of 8,000) and I tip her $5. I go every four weeks like clockwork. In fact I think we're scheduled through the end of the year.

[pawsplus]

I just go to Great Clips to have an inch or so whacked off the ends. I do my own bangs and color my own hair. The cut is $12 and I tip $3. It's never the same person twice.

[WheresMyWhite]

Cut (short) and color (lifting) I think I pay $80-$85.

I went to the owner of a salon for many years and yes, I did tip her

[hoopoe]

I tip 20% to the owner of the salon.
The cut is very good and is very underpriced. No frills place, right next door to where I live.

[Mareless]

I cut my own (I'm very low-maintenance in the hair department: long, no bangs, natural color), but I was always taught that you should tip 20% to your hairdresser. Hmm, now that I think about it, I've been doing hubby's hair for over 20 years; what he 'owes' in tips ought to cover the cost of the new winter blanket I've been eyeing for my horse.

[StraightForward]

My hairdresser owns her shop, so often I don't tip. However, she's grandfathered in my cut and color rates, so sometimes I add some on just because, or because I was a PITA and had to reschedule or whatever (She charges me $42, so I'll just round to $50 about half the time). If she upped my rates to whatever she charges new customers, I probably would not tip. She makes a handsome living and has a nicer house and car than me (and a boat, which equals a horse, right?).

OTOH, my cousin is a stylist at a shop and makes crap even though the salon's not a cheap one. In that type of situation, I think tips are well justified. Or maybe a reason to stay away from places that charge you $50 for a haircut and pay the stylists $12 and hour... Maybe a 50% tip at one of the cheap chain places would be totally warranted. My husband goes to those types of places and tips a high percentage of the cost of the cut.