Am I being excessively overcharged for color? PLEASE READ

cubancurls · 01-04-2013, 08:54 AM

I moved from one of the biggest, most popular cities in the country to a small midwest town. It does have a major university so the town revolves around that financially, just to give you an idea of size. There is only an handful of stylists. I had tried 2 of them with horrible results on my naturally dark brown hair which I keep very blond. I seriously considered leaving my husband and moving back home because I could not live with orange/reddish hair results because no stylist knew how to deal with my hair. I am cuban so I have very dark hair, very pigmented red inside.

I findly found one through a very friend of a friend, etc. who knew someone who did her hair with her. She has 25 years of color experience and is constantly going back for color education in new techniques and products. I went for a consultation and she assured me she could fix and maintain the blond. Well, she did. Wow, better then before. The first time a bit too gold, but the next time she had 'adjusted' the color more, added heavier bleach highlights and got the formula perfect.!!!

Here is the problem she is EXTREMELY expensive, she is more expensive then my previous stylist who charged me $$$ because it was in a big city which was very high-end, expensive realestate/location, etc.

My previous stylist charged $55 for coloring the roots. Then, every other visit she would add full bleach highlights for $110 bringing the total to $165.

This stylist in this small town charges me $70 plus $130 for PARTIAL bleach highlights totalling $190.

She is the owner. When you are in her chair she will not take other clients during your time. Never. She does not use heat to process color so I will sit for an hour letting the color process naturally and she does not take other clients during this time to make more money. She only concentrates on one at a time, it's almost like a 'celebrity experience.' She does let me bring my little chihuhua with me which no other stylist ever allowed.

She has a price chart on her table which states 'color retouch with partial highlights' $130- long hair extra. My hair is very long 3A past bra but above waist. I don't see how long hair affects just doing th roots.

I don't know anyone who does the color process I do with her to ask what she is charging them. I feel I am being descriminated against and charged MORE because I give the impression of 'well-to-do.' I drive a mercedes (the only one in town) designer bags, expensive watch, clothes, my dog carrier is the louis vuitton dog carrier. (All this is normal in a big wealthy city but draws attention in a small town)

AM I BEING OVERCHARGED? Please let me know what other curlies are paying!!!

CurlyB_ · 01-04-2013, 09:26 AM

I dont know how much other stylists would charge, but what about asking a friend or someone else to go there and aks how much she charges for the same service? If the price differ to hard from what you are being charged you'll know that she is charging you to much! Or you can call there and ask (without saying your name) what you want done, tell her a bit about your hair properties and ask how much it would cost on average...
If she's taking that much money only from you, you'll know that definitely by then.

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sdkitty · 01-04-2013, 11:01 AM

sounds kind of pricey to me. Maybe as you said because it's a university town....or maybe this stylist is just very well established and can charge these rates.
If your goal is to be all blonde, would just retouching roots w/o highlights be an option?
Off topic but it seems to me that taking your hair from very dark to very blonde is going to be hard to maintain and maybe damaging. Is there any other option you might llike? I guess blonde highlights with dark hair wouldn't look good.

Possibly lifting your main color to a lighter brown and then adding highlights?

elizard · 01-04-2013, 12:05 PM

I live in Washington, DC, which I understand is an expensive place to live, but from my experience, you can definitely pay well above that price around here. Just for a partial highlight with a reputable stylist, you will certainly pay over $100, and $200 is not unheard of. CurlyB_, you think like me, I would do exactly what you suggested in order to ease my conscience.