NZhairdressers
New Zealand Social Network for Hairdressers (BETA)
Join the Community Today 
or Create an account
Home 
News Latest News The hairdresser and the ultimate blonde joke
News Latest News The hairdresser and the ultimate blonde joke
The hairdresser and the ultimate blonde joke |
| News - Latest |
| Written by Jillian Whiting |
|
WE'RE often told blondes have more fun. But I can tell you I've discovered no joy in maintaining my chemical enhancement. I'd been on the lookout for a new hairdresser. I was in desperate need of a hair overhaul after a few weeks at the beach over the summer holidays.
 Quite simply, I had a hair emergency as I'd been asked to read Channel 7's weekend news. You have to have nice hair on television.
Let's be honest about this. For a TV presenter, appearance is always the first thing you, the viewer, notices and comments on. Just ask Jessica Rowe. Bad hair is bad news in this industry.
Now maybe I'm naive and out of step with current hair costs charged by your hairdresser, or maybe I've been totally ripped off, but to me $425 is a ridiculous amount to spend on a hair-do, even if it's for the TV.
Yes, I stupidly paid $425 for a new do. Let me make this clear, I did not fly to Sydney for a celebrity snipper to give me a new look. There was no appointment with Joh Bailey at Double Bay. I did not buy any product. I didn't get a perm or extensions. I didn't even go to a fancy city or New Farm salon.
I paid almost as much as the average worker takes home a week -- for a trim and foils by a suburban hairdresser. And, to add insult to injury, my husband didn't even notice the difference.
OK, so it's my fault for not asking the hairdresser the whole price upfront. But, in my defence, I doubt anyone would have believed the bill would top $200, let alone $400 in a suburban salon.
Of course the hairdresser only broke the news after I'd spent 3 1/2 hours in her salon. Not only did they gouge me for more than $400, but they sucked up half of a very valuable child-free day.
Some people love the hairdressing experience, the pampering, the head massage, and the endless fashion magazines. The hairdresser can be a mini-retreat from everyday life.
But for that kind of money I spent with my hairdresser I could have checked into a five-star hotel for the day, ordered a bottle of champagne and had a massage. I could have paid childcare bills for a week or bought a pair of killer, imported heels. That's also a little extravagant, but at least the shoes last longer.
Instead, I now have ``lovely creamy highlights and some lowlights'' that should last six weeks, if I'm lucky. Plus, there was the hand massage and cappuccino. A pleasant treat, but it would have saved me a hundred dollars or so if they weren't included in the package.
Because my hairstyle is so expensive, I now feel obliged to point it out to everyone, so I at least feel I've got my money's worth.
So who would pay that much? No one I know. Most women are gobsmacked, and the men practically pass out after passing on their sympathies to my husband.
It seems the reason my not-even-shoulder-length hair cost so much is because I'm blonde. Hairdressers say blondes are more work; more product, more foil, more gullible. Really, it's the ultimate blonde joke.
I did ask the hairdresser in question how much I could expect to pay, and was told the haircut and blowdry was $100. I'm still trying to work out where the other $325 came from: $100 for the colour; $100 for the foil; another $100 for the hair wash and massage . . . and a $25 coffee. Of course, it makes sense now.
The mining industry is shedding thousands of jobs, the finance sector is haemorrhaging and retail is struggling, but the hair industry, it seems, is thriving. Success built on blondes.
I know I only have myself to blame. At each step of what seemed to be a never-ending process, I should have asked the hairdresser: ``What are you doing and how much will it cost me?''
Perhaps I have been too cloistered in my hairdressing history. My former employer, Channel 9, simply brought hairdressers in every five weeks to ensure all the presenters were always neat and well-coiffed.
That works both ways. The presenters can get on with their lives blissfully unaware of the true cost in time and money of lovely locks designed by a professional hairdresser.
And the station can control how their talent look and circumvent any whimsical desire a newsreader may have to do a Britney Spears and shave the lot off. Perhaps this is the real reason Britney went over the edge last year. She was forced to churn out all that trashy pop to pay her hairdresser bills.
Related articles about hairdressers and hairdressing Terms related to hairdresser, hairdressing salon, hairdressing cutting, hairdressing colouring |
| Last Updated on Friday, 21 May 2010 12:03 |
Newsletter
Short Hairstyles
Curly Hairstyles
