One thing about Tiktok... it knows how to create a water cooler moment and man is this a heated one. Among many other things being discussed, one thing Black women are talking about this week is whether hair stylists, Black ones in particular, are finally catching backlash from fed up customers?
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For example, “Come washed” are two of the most dreaded words in the English language. In the good, old days getting your hair washed was one of the best parts of a hair appointment. A “shampoo girl” was a whole job. But, now, many—if not most hairstylists are expecting their clients to show up with their hair washed and dried and ready to be styled.
Not only that, stylists are building in hidden fees. From a fee for special conditioners to even a fee for parting your hair—yes, I’m serious.
On top of it all, prices for styling is getting exorbitant. And in a time where inflation is out of control, luxury hairstyling is out of reach for many of us.
Social media users are sounding the alarm that customers may be pushing back and the scales might be tipping—sending many stylists back into the workforce.
“It’s all over my For You Page where stylists are going back to work… working a 9-to-5. Apparently customers are getting tired of getting ripped off, because paying $300 for a silk press is wild. Especially when the stylist is requiring you to wash your own hair before you even get into the shop,” said FlyGirlSheena who got nearly two thousand likes on her post.
“I’m not one to negotiate anybody’s price… I pay people what they’re worth, but some of these ‘celebrity stylist prices’ is not giving ‘celebrity stylist’ work.”
One popular comment read, “As a retired cosmetologist, I’ve been saying for 5 years to stop supporting that type stylist! They aren’t professionals, just money grabbers!”
In another video, one user named babyjupitter referred to stylists who specialize in weaves and wigs as “Lace Layers,” who have prompted her to do her own wig installs calling it a “blessing and a curse.”
For example, she that “Lace Layers” are expecting customers to come shampooed, conditioned, trimmed and braided down. “Y’all wanna be these luxurious stylists, so you wanna charge us these luxurious prices…” she adds, “We’re not paying to get our hair done. We’re paying your car note, we’re paying your rent. We’re paying for that Mercedes that you got sitting outside that needs an oil change. We’re paying for your vacations. We’re not paying for our hair.”
“On top of that,” babyjupitter said, “Y’all like to act like y’all are doing us a favor when we’re paying you.” She concludes, “Y’all all gon figure it the f**k out when y’all don’t have nobody in that chair and y’all have to go back to work.”
But, of course we have to hear it from both sides.
In a popular video, a stylist in Houston who goes by the user name, topnotch.tresses tries to explain her point of view. This particular stylist says that she is a braider and did not go to school to learn how to properly shampoo hair. She then says that washing and styling hair adds additional time to braid styles which may already be up to 6 hours long. She said that she does have blow drying as an add-on service, but that it is more convenient for clients to come ready.
However, this stylist may not have been ready for the backlash, because she turned her comments off. But, that didn’t stop the video from getting responses with another user stitching it and that video going viral with more than 20,000 likes. In the video, diariesofageorgiapeach said that someone who does not know how to shampoo and blow dry hair shouldn’t call themselves a “hairstylist.”
She goes on to say, “We gotta provide the hair, we might even have to provide the gel… and then we even have to hold the braiding hair. Like, where is the disconnect?”
Then another user, schatzic, made a strong point saying that in a time of a recession that people are looking for “value.” She explained, “You can’t claim to be a luxury stylist without providing people with what they would expect for luxury to be.” She encouraged stylists to consider working on commission, adding in the caption, “Being a cosmetologist is a privilege and should be handled as such by always remembering who & why we serve. At the end of the day any service done by a service provider is a luxury that people work hard to enjoy.”
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