Having been a hairdresser and a consumer, I see both sides. Just something to consider: First you get your hairdressing license. States vary on the amount of hours necessary to begin with. However, for many that is just the beginning of education. A top notch hairdresser most likely served as an apprentice for an additional 6 months to 2 years after completing beauty school. Then they take additional classes on a regular basis for more training. The classes they take aren't cheap, in fact some are quite pricey. Sometimes you need to travel to other parts of the country to get them as well. These are the people that deserve to charge these kind of prices in my opinion. After all it is our choice to pay these prices. If a hairdresser is exceptional they will be able to demand the price, and deserve it. They are also paying their medical and retirement out of their wages. The only salons I am aware of that pay benefits are the chain salons that pay minimum wage. People that are professioanl are paid accordingly, and I think that is right. It is kind of like a plastic surgeon with a great reputation. They can demand more because they have earned it. I personally pay a high price to get my color done because I know not everyone is capable of doing what I want and I am very particular. However, I get my hair cut elsewhere save money on that because I can't afford it and am happy with a cheaper cut...I get a basic cut for that very reason. I dry my own hair too. I don't care if I dry it, I do care about the results in the end and that is what I'm paying for. I budget for every six weeks, and it isn't so bad. I could spend that much on coffee each week! Just offering another perspective, so don't blast me!

I love the salon that I've been going to since DH & I moved to the county we live in (over 20 yrs). The owner does my cuts, and I have had a few different stylists over the years that apply my color. I've found that the best thing you can do is to take pics of what you like, or want done to your hair (both color and/or haircut style). You can find lots of pics from all sorts of magazines, they don't have to be "hair style" magazines per se. You may see a cut or color that you like in any magazine. The internet is another good source for images or the internet to give your stylist(s) something to work from. My idea of what I want isn't always easy to explain. I have a couple of pages of copy paper with pics stapled to them that I keep at the salon. When I go in for an appointment, the gal at the front desk gets them out for me. When I want to change something with regard to my cut or color, I print a few pics to take with me. That way there is no way that what I "think" I want being lost in translation. Have to say this has been the single best thing I've done to improve getting what I want. There have been times when I've taken in a picture and my colorist or stylist will reel me in with the reality of changing to that particular style. They explain why they feel that the something I see that I want may not work for either my hair texture or shape of my face. Luckily, the people I work with at the salon have a pretty good idea of what I will or won't like, or will or won't be able to deal with on a daily basis:).

My nail salon recently changed their practice and charges $1 per transaction. It is annoying as I do most of my transactions by credit card and I do not want to pay an extra dollar. Using a credit card helps me easily track my spending and of course, I love those points. When the salon moved to adding a charge they started out treating it as if it was a punishment for using a credit card, all the signs in the salon were based on them charging a fee - $1 fee for credit card use. The nail techs became very negative about customers using their credit card. I considered changing salons over this. Although there are many nail salons finding a good one can be a challenge so I kept going to them. Trying to remember to bring cash. Someone obviously helped them change their presentation of the charge, now the signs indicate that a discount is given for cash and all the nail techs make sure to mention the discount in a positive light. They did up their price so it evens out to an additional dollar for credit cards but it a much more positive method of making the additional charge. If they had used this approach in the beginning I probably would have not felt so negatively about it. Amazing what a diiference the presentation will make. Do I think the change was related to underreporting their income, no. Could it be happening, of course. A lot of people paid cash before the change, so I am guessing this change was driven by the credit card fees.

With the amount of lotion moisturizing my feet receive post-showering, I'm not sure it would be terribly safe to go without socks and slippers, even if my feet didn't get terribly cold without them. @watchmelol Makes sense that you and DD would have similar habits for keeping your toenails as short as possible due to skating and the footwear requirements. My ballet instructors always told us these horrific stories, I'm guessing because they thought that it would ensure nobody took class or performed wearing pointe shoes with the ribbons safety pinned on, or without making sure they cut their toenails brutally short...unfortunately there were a few people who had to learn through experience. And I thought the blisters were bad enough, I have vivid memories of daily rehearsals for two weeks and after the final one before the weekend performance everyone was packing up to go home and get a good nights sleep...then seeing another dancer had been bleeding through her shoes; later the same year a different dancer ended up with the giant safety pin she'd used to attach the ribbons to her point shoe stuck into the Achilles tendon area. That was ample motivation to not follow that route, and why our teachers had told us those awful stories in the first place - they did have our best interests in mind. I'm certain that a major part of why I don't have much feeling in my feet (haven't had much for most of my adulthood either) is because of the pointe shoes. Even if I could go back and do things over I'd still get involved in ballet, but my feet have definitely been affected in not-so-awesome ways. :P