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Wow, I got a wide range of responses to my post yesterday. Some people were shocked to hear that any salons charge extra for blow drying, and other people were shocked to hear that any salons don't! That is very interesting.
I have only been going to "real" salons for a few years, and my primary experience with "real" salons is at Judy Jetson. I started going there when I had short hedgehoggy hair. The short hair was new for me, and I needed to know how to style it. If Linda hadn't blow-dried it, I would never have known how to do it myself. The salon my mom goes to, where I got my short haircut to begin with, also did not charge extra for a blow dry, so I was shocked to hear of a salon that does.
It's possible I'm misreading their prices on the website. It says $42-55 for a haircut. Maybe that range includes the blow-dry? I just feel like, if I'm paying $55 for a haircut--half an hour tops of the stylist's time--that ought to include the blow dry and styling. If it doesn't include it, I would feel ripped off. There were times when Linda didn't blow out my hair (for example, it's pouring rain out and I'm going to get soaked anyway), but I always want the option there.
Most of the people who replied that they expect blow drying to cost extra happen to have very long, thick, and/or curly hair. That's the kind of hair that would take a stylist extra time and effort to blow dry. I'm not saying they charge only *you* extra, but maybe some salons have a length policy with regard to blow drying? Or maybe you seek out the salons that work well with such hair especially, to the extent that the salon expects and allots for the extra blow-dry time and charges accordingly.
I'm not worried about getting a new style. What I've got right now is fine, it's just messy and needs to lose an inch or two and have the layers cleaned up. I'm not worried about the stylist giving me a bad style--it's just the principle of this blow-dry thing that bothers me.
I found the salon, Gravity Hair, based on a recommendation from Kathy the morning show chick on my favorite radio station. That's as a good a recommendation as any; I didn't just pull a salon out of a hat. Gravity Hair is also conveniently located, only maybe 20 minutes from my apartment. There's at least one or two salons in my immediate neighborhood, but I don't know anything about them, so I picked Kathy's salon.
There are a few problems with consulting friends for salon advice.
1. Many of my work friends live in New Jersey. I am not driving to New Jersey for a haircut.
2. My boss, and several other women in my office, go to a salon in the old city that they found a few years ago when our office was still located over there. The old city neighborhood is kind of a far walk from where our office is now (from 16th to, say, 7th, but I don't know the exact address). I couldn't do it on a lunch break without taking a really long lunch, I have enough shit to do after work without adding salon time, and I don't want to have to drive into the city on a weekend to get a haircut.
3. Lisa goes to a little cheap salon on South Street. I met her there once, and the stylists all look tough and have lots of tattoos; it's an edgy place, and it doesn't seem like a very friendly place where I could develop a relationship with my new stylist. Besides the whole "having to drive downtown" issue.
4. Lauren has good hair, but her stylist is out in the burbs somewhere near her and my mom. I was really hoping for something closer.
For this specific situation, I have decided to keep the appointment at Gravity for Saturday. I'll see what they're like, if I like them, what the deal really is with the prices. Based on that info and how much I like the cut, I'll decide whether I want to stick with them or keep looking. There's a salon in my neighborhood that looks nice that I might try--that one has the added bonus of being right near a liquor store should things go badly.
I have only been going to "real" salons for a few years, and my primary experience with "real" salons is at Judy Jetson. I started going there when I had short hedgehoggy hair. The short hair was new for me, and I needed to know how to style it. If Linda hadn't blow-dried it, I would never have known how to do it myself. The salon my mom goes to, where I got my short haircut to begin with, also did not charge extra for a blow dry, so I was shocked to hear of a salon that does.
It's possible I'm misreading their prices on the website. It says $42-55 for a haircut. Maybe that range includes the blow-dry? I just feel like, if I'm paying $55 for a haircut--half an hour tops of the stylist's time--that ought to include the blow dry and styling. If it doesn't include it, I would feel ripped off. There were times when Linda didn't blow out my hair (for example, it's pouring rain out and I'm going to get soaked anyway), but I always want the option there.
Most of the people who replied that they expect blow drying to cost extra happen to have very long, thick, and/or curly hair. That's the kind of hair that would take a stylist extra time and effort to blow dry. I'm not saying they charge only *you* extra, but maybe some salons have a length policy with regard to blow drying? Or maybe you seek out the salons that work well with such hair especially, to the extent that the salon expects and allots for the extra blow-dry time and charges accordingly.
I'm not worried about getting a new style. What I've got right now is fine, it's just messy and needs to lose an inch or two and have the layers cleaned up. I'm not worried about the stylist giving me a bad style--it's just the principle of this blow-dry thing that bothers me.
I found the salon, Gravity Hair, based on a recommendation from Kathy the morning show chick on my favorite radio station. That's as a good a recommendation as any; I didn't just pull a salon out of a hat. Gravity Hair is also conveniently located, only maybe 20 minutes from my apartment. There's at least one or two salons in my immediate neighborhood, but I don't know anything about them, so I picked Kathy's salon.
There are a few problems with consulting friends for salon advice.
1. Many of my work friends live in New Jersey. I am not driving to New Jersey for a haircut.
2. My boss, and several other women in my office, go to a salon in the old city that they found a few years ago when our office was still located over there. The old city neighborhood is kind of a far walk from where our office is now (from 16th to, say, 7th, but I don't know the exact address). I couldn't do it on a lunch break without taking a really long lunch, I have enough shit to do after work without adding salon time, and I don't want to have to drive into the city on a weekend to get a haircut.
3. Lisa goes to a little cheap salon on South Street. I met her there once, and the stylists all look tough and have lots of tattoos; it's an edgy place, and it doesn't seem like a very friendly place where I could develop a relationship with my new stylist. Besides the whole "having to drive downtown" issue.
4. Lauren has good hair, but her stylist is out in the burbs somewhere near her and my mom. I was really hoping for something closer.
For this specific situation, I have decided to keep the appointment at Gravity for Saturday. I'll see what they're like, if I like them, what the deal really is with the prices. Based on that info and how much I like the cut, I'll decide whether I want to stick with them or keep looking. There's a salon in my neighborhood that looks nice that I might try--that one has the added bonus of being right near a liquor store should things go badly.
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no subject
Date: 2008-08-07 05:20 pm (UTC)From:Aha, best idea ever, liquor stores next to salons. :)
Good luck!
no subject
Date: 2008-08-07 05:21 pm (UTC)From:I think the range is for ranges of hair. When I was in high school I called up a real salon for an appointment and they said it would be one price but then they charged me $15 more because my hair was past my butt and they said that wasn't normal and so they had to charge more. WTF? I've always been of the opinion that the longer my hair is the less styling and special cutting I need. When I had short short hair it took a long time to get it to sit right and style it properly. So I don't know why they price it this way.
no subject
Date: 2008-08-07 05:40 pm (UTC)From:My mom had this happen to her once... her very short hair had grown down past the bottoms of her earlobes, so she decided she needed to get a trim and went to one of those places that does the $10 haircuts - and they charged her $25 because they said she had long hair! It wasn't even long enough to graze her shoulders. Then again, you're going to a $10 hair salon, you can't expect much in terms of quality of service.
no subject
Date: 2008-08-07 06:18 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2008-08-07 05:49 pm (UTC)From:-K
no subject
Date: 2008-08-07 06:20 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2008-08-07 06:19 pm (UTC)From:Now I go to Supercuts and they do charge for it. It doesn't bother me. I don't blowdry my hair at home anyway. So, I ask for it if it is really cold, wet, and gross out. Otherwise I don't bother. But I think that only works if you know the stylist, otherwise you can't just trust that it will look fine dry.