What’s the difference between an $80 haircut and a $20 haircut? As far as I can tell after my experience this weekend, I would say exactly $60. And that’s it.
One of the things that has bothered me most about New York since I moved here is how hard it seems to be to get high quality things at reasonable prices. Restaurants and bars are bad in this regard, but hair salons seem worse. Since I’ve moved to New York, I’ve only gotten two haircuts: one very, very expensive one in Manhattan that was so terrible I cried (both for my hair and for my wallet) and one free cut from a friend of a friend who cuts hair for starving artist types. It seemed impossible to find some middle ground between a snobby place called Tangle or Strands that charged me two day’s pay (plus tips) and sitting in a kitchen chair in an alley with a stranger bending over me with office scissors.
So my hair got longer and longer – and I looked frumpier and frumpier. More than that, I started feeling bad about how it looked. I didn’t look or feel like me.
It got to a point where this weekend I bit the bullet and went into one of the super-sketchy hair places in my own Queens neighborhood. We’re talking about a place that doesn’t sell salon products, a place with stains on the walls, a place with exactly two chairs and two people working there, one of whom was definitely underage. A place where you can just walk in and sit down and they start cutting away at whatever is on your head. It wasn’t called Tangle or Strands – it was called Physique Unisex Hair. I was terrified.
But everything was more than fine. Even though there was a bit of a language barrier (knowing how to say “bangs” in Spanish would have helped) I showed the woman a picture and she cut my hair to look like the picture. It was modern, detailed, and super cute. I looked and felt like myself again, I had a good time, I didn’t have to make small talk, and it all cost me $20, tip included.
It really made me wonder about the expensive salons in the city. Why do they charge so much more? And why do you have to schedule an appointment a month in advance? Sure, when I went to the expensive place in Manhattan they offered me raspberry tea while I waited my turn and a white English-speaking woman cut my hair while asking me an endless string of shockingly personal questions, but was that the end to the differences? I mean, I don’t even like fruit flavored tea and I certainly don’t like talking to people. In fact, I didn’t even have to wait at the other place, so I didn’t even need any stupid tea.
Perhaps this is an entire industry making money over women’s fears of getting their hair cut. It’s horrible to get a bad cut, so do women think that if they go to a more expensive place that they’ll be less likely to get one? Or do they pay extra for the tea and new age music and no stains on the wall? I think I was more affected by the first part – that paying more would assure that I would get good results. But just like most things, that’s not necessarily the case – like how the best burritos in our area come from a place that I normally wouldn’t walk into without wearing a surgical mask and paper hospital footies (we get it delivered).
I’m calling out the beauty industry on this one: I don’t care how many more clever salon names or flavors of tea you come up with. I’ve discovered your ruse and I won’t be tricked again.
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October 29, 2007 at 5:04 pm
bpd
I walked past that place the other day where the ancient Romanian gave me the “Reservoir Dogs” haircut, just so I could get the name down in my memory for when I wanted to go back.
Honest to Tom Waits, the place was called “Barber $hop”.
October 29, 2007 at 5:11 pm
Jen
Yeah, you’ve nailed it, I think. Boug-y hotels run on the same principle, like restaurants, as you already mentioned. I’m thinking this is also linked up to the chain phenomenon…you know, the “we’re-in-Italy-but-I’d-rather-find-a-Starbucks-for-espresso” tendency? It’s the ease of not having to think twice, which is really enjoyable every once in a while, but so many people just pay to protect themselves as the default. It’s awesome that you made a gamble and found a good place! I hope I can do the same where I am…
October 29, 2007 at 6:50 pm
Lindsay
I once picked a place out of the phone book for a haircut, it was called Shampers of London, it had a full page ad saying their staff had been trained at Vidal Sassoon and when I called, the guy that answered the line was speaking with a british accent it semmed great. Until he cut my mid back length hair into what is commonly known as the mullet, 3 11, kentucky waterfall, business in the front party in the back. I had asked for cascading layers. I now trim my own hair.
October 29, 2007 at 7:30 pm
bpd
Linsday, you should be aware that said look is also known as an “ape drape”, a “shlong” and my favorite, “The Missouri Compromise”, which is both apt and reminds us of our nation’s racist history.
Who says fashion no-nos can’t be educational?
October 29, 2007 at 10:14 pm
Lindsay
Yup I looked like a real “shlong” alright!
I’m sad to say that is the one thing I’ve learned today that I will actually retain.
October 30, 2007 at 3:58 pm
Beth from Avenue Z
After I quit my well-paying corporate job to start writing for a living, I switched from the $150 haircut-and-color to the $20 walk-ins-welcome cut and Clairol’s brunette-in-a-box. I’ve gotten more compliments in the past month than I did with a year of Ms. Stylist 2005.
October 30, 2007 at 4:12 pm
jeremy
My inability to communicate clearly without pictures or some kind of hand drawn chart usually means I get a terrible haircut no matter where I go. Until I started bringing my wife along.
October 30, 2007 at 4:21 pm
melmagjon
Oh my goodness, I am laughing! This was a great blog!
I can totally relate. I feel that if I go to a expensive place, I will get a better hair cut. But I have been to cheaper places aka SuperCuts, etc. and have had hellish cuts. I don’t know though… I have had good and bad luck with the expensive places, so this is just a matter of where you go, no matter what.
I guess with us paying a lot for a new hairdo though, we are paying for that crappy tea and new age music. It is all a facade….
November 30, 2007 at 8:51 am
Nicole
Great point. We pay more to be more comfortable, whatever that means for each individual. I think we do the same thing with beauty products. Check out http://thebeautybrains.com/–two scientists blog about the science behind beauty products’ claims. Because of them, I will never again buy an expensive salon product for its “scientific” benefits. (But let’s be honest, I will if it smells and feels good enough.)
February 28, 2008 at 7:26 pm
Vanessa
Great blog-essay! Nice to know I’m not alone in my feeling that NYC is *the* worst place to get a haircut. I love it for so many other (less superficial) reasons, but I have to admit, that whether upscale or downscale, the haircuts here simply suck.
It also appears to be mullet-happy. I’m with Lindsay. Someone just took the painful process of growing thick difficult hair out to a beautiful, versatile length (all I needed was a clean, delicate trim, with a few feminine layers)–and hacked it into what can only rightly be called “The Hiroshima” Cut! In addition I was told (ever so tactfully) by my stylist that this was the best look for my *long* face. I guess along with the tea, the ‘tude and the hole in the wallet, comes the need for Guantanamo-esque intimidation tactics.
Your brave, however to try low-end salons. I tried once (I too am a starving freelance writer) and an aggressive Russian woman proceeded to rip out chunks of my hair with a brush fit for Edward Scissorhands. Then she soused me with aquanet quality hairspray.
I’m commuting for my hair cuts from now on. Start spreading the news….New York, New York.
Anyway, brava, bravissima, for your spot-on blog!
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