Reply With Quote£30 for a haircut?
I don't even pay that in London.
Does it come with a happy ending?
Anyone live in Leeds and regularly spend £30+ on getting a gents' cut and finish from a decent stylist?
Yes, I know I could buy a pair of Wahl clippers and do it myself. Or go down a local barbers and get them to blade 0 me, but I prefer a more civilised look.
On the off-chance anyone here has a recommendation for a city centre salon I would be most grateful. I've just moved up from Sheffield and it's too much hassle to go back every 5-6 weeks for a chop.
£30 for a haircut?
I don't even pay that in London.
Does it come with a happy ending?
Depends how clearly you pronounce "blow dry".Originally Posted by guinea
You can pay more than that in the provinces. £30 will get you a middle-ranking stylist in a good salon here believe it or not...
Crikey. 9 out of 10 cuts I do on myself using clippers. For the tenth I treat myself to a trip to the Turkish bloke - £8.50 cut, absolutely no small talk whatsoever, ideal. A mate swears by a 28 quid cut place as he says it makes him feel young and cool and he gets a bottle of becks thrown in. I pointed out that the cost of his cuts over a more modest approach would add up to a nice overnight stay somewhere pleasant with real beer :)
I guess it depends on how difficult it is to get a decent cut. I use a particular barber where the staff have been trained by someone that used to cut my hair - they do a good job and charge £10 - I regularly tip, if I'm particularly pleased with the cut.
In the past I've both grown my hair long, and shaved it off myself. I think if a cut was much more the £25 then I'd go back to shaving it off myself.
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Why do you need to go to a salon?
It's just a matter of time...
I have exceptionally thick hair that needs serious thinning and trimming to get it to look anywhere near decent. I've found from past (painful) experience that salons might be a bit poncy and expensive, but they do have people who know what they're doing compared with your end-of-the-road barbers offering short back and sides or undercuts to the masses.
I look at it this way - £30 for an hour of the time of an experienced stylist who is self-employed and has all the costs of renting a chair, products etc. to pay versus £50 an hour for garage labour or £40 an hour for a tradesman isn't actually that bad going.
If you must use a salon, my architect chum who is painfully fashionable uses a place in the old arcade (Thornton arcade?) off Briggate. I've walked past and never used it but he swears by it.
I pay £7.50 and get a coffee and biscuits with that. I always tip them the extra £2.50 though.
£30? That's a post op price surely!
Great - I'll take a look when I go into town tomorrow or Sunday :)
30 quid?
For a bloke?
For a haircut?
In Yorkshire?
Are you MAD????
There are several places in Sheffield that'll charge that amount and some. I was a regular at Creator on West Street before my stylist moved to a new salon in West One about 5 or 6 years ago, and those were and are the going rates for a middle-rank stylist gents' cut and finish.
I have the same problem with my hair, usually pay £20 every 3 weeks.
If my employers would allow it I'd just have a number 2 all over. Job done.
Why is that any of their business?
CaptainSlow:
If my employers would allow it I'd just have a number 2 all over. Job done.Because he's known for his unkempt barnet. Clarkson and Hammond would have nothing to wind him up about.
I've been found out.
I get my hair chopped by a great chap called Michael at Cameron Matthew in the city centre opposite The Conservatory. He used to work in The Loft before it closed down. Anyway, he is a good guy, gives a proper consultation and is always bang on trend so I can't speak highly enough of him. The salon isn't the most modern looking of places but Michael is a top guy. Comes in at £25 a go.
I think that is fair enough. One of my ex's runs a gents barbers and is very good, but not quite as good as the place I currently use - charges more as well - but, states that a straight forward gents cut in almost any style could be done in under 20 mins, and usually much quicker. But they take their time when things are quiet. My current barber takes around 20-30 mins, and I wonder what they are doing for half of that time! Salons are used to long treatments and the whole experience, so charge accordingly. At the end of the day, if you are happy with the end result £30 isn't a crazy amount of money, it just sounds a lot for a haircut to me, as I'm not used to paying it.
It's just a matter of time...
As a hairdresser of 30 years though not a 'barber' will chip in here...
Most 'barber' cuts I see & I do always look in when walking past are... well... when my vet neutered the cat the clipper work was better!
I don't use clippers on guys hair the problem with clippers is the guard follows the contours of the head so if your head has a ridge so will your hair cut! they are so 'mechanical' and that's exactly how your hair will look also, think the difference between watching the second hand of a quartz watch & then compare to a Rolex!!! but theres also where the 'extra' time needed comes in.
If cut 'bespoke' everything will be done by hand, no thinning scissors to 'blend' in lines, no picking up the hair with a comb whilst chopping with the other hand, and the shape will last 5 weeks, put another way most of my male clients know value for money, know what they want & like, and have been down the £10 haircut route but now pay 3x that & won't go anywhere else.
The overheads, vat registration, nicer environment ect are another factor for another time but a barber will be a 10 minute 'job' for a £10, For guys I'm a 45 minute appointment for £30 & that makes the barber 'per minute' more expensive...
Last edited by MrSimba; 27th June 2014 at 23:03.
Yes there are. And anyone that goes there. Well...
Each to their own and that.
Ten pound. No more. Women pay over that and are just daft. Blokes? ??
Mine takes 15 mins. Have a good chat and it does the business. 8 quid. I pay 10. .
Maybe I'm not the target audience but if anyone tried to say I'd get better for 3X more then forget it.
I was engaged to a hairdresser many moons back.
And for the most part I'd agree - but they are all very experienced senior hairdressers that have decided to concentrate on gents hair. And yes, it is more expensive and that is why they are doing quite well - it's either that or deal with chemicals and colours etc. etc. - I guess they made their choices on either being their own boss, or working environment - personally I'd rather work in a barbers and do a damn good job but maybe that's just me.
A good cutter is a good cutter - it matters not which place they work or the prices charged - the same goes for the truly awful hairdressers that charge a fortune - and there are many!
It's just a matter of time...
Hairdressing advice? This must be a new low on TZ...
Funnily enough this subject came up in the pub yesterday. Leeds isn't very big, I suppose a ten minute amble from the center and the outskirts would have been reached. Yet I have never seen such a concentration of hairdressers, at least fifty including four teaching acadamies. From Vidal Sassoon and Nicky Clark to the £2.50 for OAPs in the market.
Are any of them to be recommended? I don't know but my next door neighbour is great with a pair of scissors, and she is a dog groomer by training!!!!!!!
I'm always amused by the irony of the 'how much!' threads on TZ, given out love of overpriced luxury goods yet spending £30 on a personal service is OTT.
My hairdresser operates his business from a smart city centre premises, he's bright, experienced, qualified and good at his profession, his charge is £35 for a cut, approx a 45min appointment.
How does that stack up to the hourly rate of any other profession city centre profession with similar years of experience? Pretty well I think. Ofcourse there are many willing to work for much less, but there's a market for all.
Turkish fellas round our way are brilliant, £10, takes his time, massages head, applies retro aftershave, and burns ear hair off with a flaming swab. Perfect every 2 months or so
RIAC
My Mrs does mine, she's done the training.
I always give her a tip.
Cheers,
Neil.
£30 for a haircut seems mad to me.
Best advice I`d give is to find a traditional barber's shop away from the centre. Going to an up-market salon doesn`t guarantee a good haircut.....I learned that the hard way many years ago when I took my hair more seriously.
I don`t know of any close to Leeds centre, but a friend of mine has a shop in Mirfield (Mr Listers); he's a good old traditional barber and he won`t charge £30. Only reason I stopped going was the travelling distance when I stopped work. Well worth a try if you're out that way.
Most of the bad haircuts I`ve had over the years have involved unisex salons, with the hair cut wet. The 'stylist' didn`t get chance to look at the hair before it was washed, and I think that was the problem. After washing, everyone's head resembles a drowned rat so there's no way of knowing what type of hair they have.
According to my ex-wife, my hair looked like it had been cut with a knife and fork on one such occasion!
Paul
Last edited by walkerwek1958; 29th June 2014 at 11:29.
There is a hipsterish barber in that arcade, do you mean them? It's £10 or so a cut and they are really good. 15min in and out, no hassle and very pleasant.
I've never had my hair cut in a salon, but £30 for a 45 min appointment actually strikes me as very cheap compared to the prices my wife has paid for her hair. I know there is less work on a bloke, but when you consider all of the associated costs of running such a business, I don't think they are getting rich from it.
As a hairdresser of nearly 40 years in the trade culminating in the ownership of a chain of salons and a school I have to point out a few items that need evaluating in the above
Barbering is a completely different skill to hairdressing and any practicing barber currently working will point out to you that to achieve a fade from even a grade 1 to 2 let alone the current trend of 0 to 1 is not achievable with scissors and as for "the grade just following the head contours " Well…of course it will in unskilled hands .
Hairdressers have fought for years to achieve professional recognition and to malign another related art just serves to prove our detractors correct.
I also own a few barbers shops and the level of skill these guys show never ceases to amaze or inspire me .
Many years ago, when there was no search fee, I used Vidal Sassoon in Leeds. Probably a lot more than £30 these days though.
(Your bragging about having extremely thick hair that need thinning out doesn't endear you to me at all!)
My mate has just qualified as a Barber and will do your hair for less than a tenner,and he will spend some time discussing prior to doing it.He has set up a great place in his home for now. He's over in Bradford so not far for you to go.
He is also qualified to do shaves/head massages and boy is that worth having done.
With many awards on display to show his commitment to his work which he IS passionate about,not your average in the seat and out barber cut with Eddie.
Last edited by P9CLY; 29th June 2014 at 16:28.
Thanks for all the comments chaps.
To be honest I am surprised at some of the comments concerning the cost of a hair cut at a salon. £5,500 is probably a bit steep to pay for a watch like I did with my last one, but hey ho, that's what butters my sprouts etc.
I've just got back from town and scoped out a couple of places based on the recommendations above. I shall head in later this week on my day off and get a chop. Thanks again :)
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