A good cut and colour doesn't have to break the bank.
You may think you have a fabulous hairdresser, but first let me tell you about mine. For my last haircut, she came over to my house, cut my boys' hair, coloured my hair, got in my bath, washed my hair and gave me a head massage. She then tried to clean my bath before I shoo-ed her out, gave me a completely new style which I love, and charged me $100 for the whole lot.
So you can imagine my disappointment that this paragon, who trained at Rodney Wayne, then owned her own salon, has sold her business and returned home to Hong Kong.
So here I am in search of a replacement and I do not feel like getting back on the horse again. It's like looking for a new partner after a divorce. But I am doing my research and am astounded by what people are regularly paying for their "hair therapists".
I've lost count of the number of people who have said to me: "Going to the hairdressers is my one indulgence."
Auckland businesswoman Sarah Trotman has been "seeing" her hairdresser, Raymond Henderson, for around seven years and wouldn't dream of looking at another.
"What I like most about him is that he is the funniest person I know and he will always lift my spirits," she says. "He can read my moods. He really gets the customer service angle and treats every single one of his clients like a princess."
Henderson, of Raymond Salon de Coiffure in Parnell, charges $60 to put hair up, and around $230 for a colour and cut.
"Raymond could move to Huntly and I'd drive down there," says Trotman, who simply texts him when she wants an appointment.
Henderson says that coming to a hairdresser is like going to see a doctor or a dentist - it's a professional situation and there is a huge amount of trust involved.
Henderson remembers a psychologist explaining that hairdressers have a licence to touch. And with that touch comes great trust.
"For some women that's the only time that they are touched," he says.
But why do people pay the huge prices? I talk to Grant Bettjeman, who owns Bettjemans in Orakei, one of the most expensive hairdressing salons in Auckland. A demi-deluxe foils and colour is about $250, a cut and blow wave from $95 to $150. He has customers who come into the salon dressed to the nines with nice shoes and bags, and he knows they are just working in a $20-an-hour office job. But it's just "really important for them to come and have their hair done" he says.
There is plenty of "value-add" at Bettjemans, the favourite haunt of a number of Auckland socialites. Not only are there the usual nice coffees, but all the latest magazines, and the buzz of the salon. His clients look to his stylists for style tips.
Bettjeman says the intimate relationship hairdressers have with their clients should be taken seriously. When a Bettjemans' stylist with a following goes off to start up their own salon, he sends out a letter to all their clients with the details of the new business.
"We are very aware that your hairdresser is part of your personal culture. We give all the new details because it's a service for the customer," he says.
Raymond and Bettjemans both sound fantastic, but they are well out of my league and don't even try to win my custom - they know a cheap customer when they see one.
One friend, Susie, who has a nice short haircut not dissimilar from mine, recommends Affinity in Grey Lynn with her stylist Sabrina Prossler. A cut, she thinks, last cost her $50 - not bad for Grey Lynn. My friend Pip raves about her hairdresser, Libby Baxter, manager of Servilles Ponsonby. Pip keeps her costs down by getting her cut done with Baxter and then going to Hue for her colour in Balmoral. A cut and colour will cost her $165 - $105 for the cut with Baxter and $60 for a colour at Hue. This is a growing trend for the cost-conscious.
Pip gets all she needs from Libby - the nice coffee, the head massage - and she's in and out in an hour. "I say, 'I want to look 10 years younger' and she understands and delivers," she says.
Libby, by the way, offers me a free haircut to see if I want to start a relationship with her but I know in my heart I can't afford her long term. A cut and colour will cost me between $200-$300 and a cut ranges from $87 to $115. But the salon is definitely hip - the free 42 Below cocktail evenings on Friday nights do sound tempting and I'd be in there if I were young, free and single.
But back to my budget. After interviewing many women friends, those getting a better deal have been the persistent ones who have followed their hairdressers around for years.
Kate found her hairdresser of eight years, Chantelle, at Takapuna salon Oblique and now goes to her house in Glenfield. In the early days she had to put up with Chantelle's portable basin. As the hairdresser puts it: "At the end of the day people are so terrified of what could be, they put up with this kind of torture!" And her prices are tempting. The Glenfield-based hairdresser charges $40 for a cut and blow wave and from $100 to $150 for a colour and cut.
At half the rate of stylists who have less experience than her, she thinks those are pretty good prices. "My prices are the equivalent of higher profile operators, except I've got 100 per cent more training than they have had," she says.
Chantelle, who has also worked with Servilles where she taught and recruited the top stylists, says the efforts by the salons to win awards and new clients is one of the reasons for the high prices they charge. There is a distinct "keeping up with the Joneses" mentality going on among women, she says. And she thinks people get addicted to expensive colour treatments.
It takes a certain alertness to keep a good hairdresser - always make sure they have your current contact details. Debbie found her stylist of eight years, Shareen at Rodney Wayne in St Lukes, and has now followed her to the Me and Mrs Jones salon in Glen Eden.
"She has such a nice manner and listens to me. She always does what I want," says the mother of two. Her prices are good too - the last time she went she had a full hair colour and some foils, an excellent reshaping cut and a blow wave and straighteners, totalling $137.
A lot of it depends on what you want from your hairdressing experience. Justine finds her hairdresser, Kim, at Blondies in Milford, understands her completely and she doesn't see the difference between her friends' hair and her own despite the squillions they spend.
"I like the natural look and Kim is content to do that. It's a comfort - I don't want a way-out and wonderful hair-do." For a cut and colour, Justine pays around $125-$130 compared with a friend who is into experimenting with colour and pays upward of $380. Now, that's where madness lies.
Affordable hairdressers
1. Blondies Salon Milford, (09) 410 5204
2. Me and Mrs Jones Glen Eden, (09) 813 1023, www.meandmrsjones.co.nz
3. Affinity Grey Lynn (ask for Sabrina), (09) 376 9394
4. Toogees Hair Design Birkenhead, (09) 480 5385
5. Chic Hair and Beauty Westgate, (09) 833 3156, www.chichair.co.nz
6. Pret-A-Porter Hair Howick, (09) 534 8973, www.pret-a-porter.co.nz
Those you won't mind paying top dollar for
7. Servilles Ponsonby (09) 378 9799, www.servilles.com
8. Raymond Salon de Coiffure Parnell, (09) 308 9415
9. Gareth & Co Grey Lynn, (09) 378 0031, www.garethandco.co.nz
10. Bettjemans Orakei, (09) 522 8030, www.bettjemans.co.nz
The perfect hairdresser - born or made?
How to make one
Communicate! Tell your hairdresser what you liked about your previous hairdresser and see if they make an effort to do the same.
It's the little things - if you like the magazines, the coffee, the chat, talking about the latest fashions, tell them that's what you like.
A quickie please - if you're a quick in-and-out sort of person, make that clear.
Makeover! If you're are the kind of gal who wants a major style change now and again, say so and see what they come up with.
Stand in their shoes - if they do something you don't immediately like, ask them why they did it and try to see yourself through their eyes. That slightly shorter cut or darker colour might actually suit you if you give it a chance.
How to find one
If you see someone with a haircut you like, be brave and ask them where they get it done.
Go for a consultation first with your recommended hairdresser and get a feel for this person. Then make an appointment.
Bring a picture in of a haircut you might like. If you are being unrealistic, they should get points for telling you it's not possible.
On the other hand, don't get bossed into a new cut by someone who doesn't know you.
If you have difficult hair, ask if the salon has someone who specialises in your kind of hair.
Personality matters - when asking your friends about their hairdressers, don't just look at their haircuts, ask about their style. Are they chatty, do they listen, do they come up with good fresh ideas, or are they bossy? How to make one
