Update On My Cheap Haircut
I know it’s totally uneven on the bottom. But my girlfriends didn’t even notice I cut it until I pointed it out to them. It’s still long hair. Though as soon as I took my ponytail down, they saw how badly I had it hacked off. Since I wear my hair up most of the time in a bun on ponytail, they agreed that I can get away with this. However since it was craft-day, they offered to trim it up for me. It’s nice when your friends are frugal with you.
I have noticed immediately that I use less shampoo and conditioner. I am trying to stretch out this expensive bottle of salon conditioner which I bought to rescue my hair from the damage of a cheaper silicone-based hair product. (Silicone is very bad and dries out the hair, though it’s marketed as a way of making it smoother and sleeker.) I can tell already that I use at least one third to a half less every day.
This hair experiment is definitely a keeper. I know if I have a fancy event or wish my hair to look really good, like for my cousin’s wedding this summer, I’ll go to a salon for a real trim, but at this point, I’m very happy that I’ve put off spending $40.00 for another few months.
There was a commenter on the previous post about getting a cheaper cut from national chains. Well, I’ve gone to Haircuttery many times for a cheap blunt cut. It’s about $12.00 for a cut now. Add on a long hair charge or two for the length of hair, tax and tip, it’s easily still a $35.00 cut. My hair was so long, that it’s been dry cut before and I’ve received a double long hair charge at establishments like this.
What’s interesting is that one of the girls at craft-day has naturally curly hair and her boyfriend (who was in attendance) cuts her hair for her. She says that the curls tend to hide any mismatched lengths, so it’s more forgiving than poker-straight Asian hair. Give it a try! What’s the worse that can happen? You have to go to a salon for another cut.
Mike wrote:
I’m not quite ready to give up my 25$ haircuts (30 with tip) but when I couldn’t afford the luxury of having someone do it for me I bought some clippers.
That worked pretty well. They paid for themselves and the hair wasn’t too, too bad.
Posted on 28-Mar-06 at 3:55 pm | Permalink
Miserly Bastard wrote:
Hello Mapgirl. Thanks for the comments on my blog. If you havent already, you should check out the “Metrosexual haircut costs” thread over at Make Love Not Debt, for somebody who takes the opposite view as you. (I would link to it, but I dont know how to in a commnet.)
Personally, I’m with you–haircuts are a waste of money, particularly women’s haircuts. Interestingly, however, my wife (a salon devotee) spends less on haircuts than I do, because even though I use a barber, I cut my hair once a month whereas she cuts hers twice a year.
When I lived in Houston, one trick I found to get a decent haircut at a fair price, was to go to the Vietnamese section of town. There were always lots of good deals to be had (e.g., men’s haircuts for $8). Now that I’m here in New York, there are enough good deals in my neighborhood, that I just use the barber around the corner.
Posted on 28-Mar-06 at 4:25 pm | Permalink
mapgirl wrote:
Hey MB! That’s a good point. If you go to different neighborhoods, you can probably find a cheaper haircut in a lower-rent district. My only hesitation to that is the communication barrier. It’s one thing for a manicure or pedicure, and another thing to ask for a layered spiral perm with highlights in a specific color. Capisce? (No, no dismissive Sicilian hand gestures here.)
Posted on 28-Mar-06 at 4:49 pm | Permalink
udandi wrote:
Craft day?! I wanna be there
Posted on 28-Mar-06 at 5:55 pm | Permalink
SingleMa wrote:
This post and the comments made me chuckle. I’m sitting here trying to imagine your hair all rugged and uneven with your home made ‘do. LOL
I envy you honey. Oh how I wish I could cut my own hair, then wash, blow, and go. I mean, I love my hair, don’t get me wrong, but it’s just so high maintenance.
I know what you mean, there’s a big difference between where you can get your nails done and where you can get your hair done. Go ‘head and try your luck…they might give you some locks when you asked for a perm and a rinse. LMAO!
Posted on 28-Mar-06 at 8:54 pm | Permalink
lpkitten wrote:
in my old neighborhood there was a shop that charged only $5 for a cut (no shampoo, no blow out but i can do that myself). now that i have moved i can’t find any place that even compares. i went to a super cuts type place and ended up being charged $35 for a hair cut. man, was i mad because my hair didn’t look any better than if i had paid $5.
but i do have a great colorist, my boyfriend!
Posted on 28-Mar-06 at 10:54 pm | Permalink