So who spends £10,000 a year on cuts and colour – and who spends just £20 doing it themselves?
1 THIS PIXIE CUT GETS LOTS OF COMPLIMENTS
Christina Brazier, 57, lives in Pembrokeshire and works as a receptionist. she has three grown up children and a grandson. THE aspect of my appearance that I’m most proud of is my much admired and beautifully cut silver hair. I’m always receiving compliments. I’ve been unwell recently and put on weight, so it’s really become my pride and joy.
People can’t believe I cut and dye it myself, but I’ve probably only been to a salon six times in my life. It just seems a waste of money, and I can do a better job than most stylists.
Every three weeks I give myself a trim — I like to keep the pixie look very short and neat, using a razor on the sides. Then I apply a little bleach to the roots, using a product by the brand Jerome Russell. It costs £5 and lasts about four or five months.
Finally, I sometimes apply a silver toner. It costs less than £2 a time, and yet I have strangers commenting on my hair.
2 I’LL BE A VERY PAMPERED BRIDE
Fiona Daly, 37, lives with fiance James Kent, a businessman, 32, and her three children, aged 15, 14 and two, in leamington spa, Warwickshire. On my wedding day next month, when brides are expected to be pampered, I’ll be doing the hair and make-up of my mother, sister and my bridesmaids. From the age of 17, I have begrudged spending a week’s wages on a hairdo, so for the last two decades I’ve done it myself at home.
modern hair dye is so good — women are deluding themselves if they won’t consider giving it a go. Salons create an unnecessary air of mystery around the whole process!
I buy a £6 L’Oreal box of dye and colour it myself every five or six weeks, usually just painting the roots so the ends don’t get damaged. I’ve bought hairdresser’s scissors and I trim the ends.
For my wedding I considered having everything done professionally but had a hair and make-up trial. There was nothing left on my face and my hair had collapsed after a few hours.
It was going to cost me £200 and I decided the money could be better spent. my hair will take half an hour to wash, blow- dry and clip in a blonde hair piece which I’ll blend in with my own locks.
3 IT’S QUICK AND SO CONVENIENT
PSYCHOTHERAPIST Maxine harley, 59, lives in Chichester, West sussex, and has a daughter and grandson. I STARTED cutting and colouring my hair in my 20s. I have been to salons now and again since — but I’ve always been disappointed.
doing it myself is a 45-minute job at a time convenient to me. In addition to the two hours saved in a salon, I don’t have to get there and back. It’s a half-day off work which is time and income I don’t want to lose.
neither do I have to have those inane conversations about whether I’ve booked any holidays and if I’m doing anything nice at the weekend!
Every three or four weeks, I buy a box of Clairol nice ’n Easy which comes with a great conditioner — saving me more money and making it cost effective at around £4 a time.
I do my roots first and leave them for 20-25 minutes while I do something else like answer emails, and then I apply the rest of the colour and wait for 10 minutes.
The end result has different tones so it doesn’t look artificial or cheap. Cutting layers into the fringe and sides of my hair is easier than you’d think — though it is a bit strange at first looking in a mirror. I feel good from having saved what must be thousands of pounds over the years.
4 LONG HAIR IS MY CALLING CARD
MICHELLE SEDGEMORE, 45, lives in Berkshire with husband richard, who works in it and their two children, aged 10 and 14. FROM the age of eight, when I was taken to a showbiz party by my parents, who worked at the BBC, and a director’s son admired my looks, my long hair has been my calling card.
I dart from salon to salon, chasing the perfect look — I spend £2,000 a year. I love the salon chain Rush, and there’s a lovely place called the Velvet Rooms in Chobham.
as an actress, my hair and green eyes have always made me stand out in auditions. I do a lot of commercials in countries such as Japan where, of course, my colouring is unusual. I’ve
JOANNA LUMLEY recently admitted her famous blonde hair isn’t — as one might assume — the result of hours at the salon. ‘I’m mean,’ she said. ‘I can’t see the point of spending tons of money when I can just get something off a supermarket shelf and stick it on my head.’ So is this proof a DIY dye-job really can be as successful as a stylist? Here, ALICE SMELLIE speaks to eight women. Half cut and dye their own hair and the other four spend thousands a year in a salon. So can you tell them apart?
always tried to maintain it with a full head of highlights every six weeks as well as updos or blowdries for balls or events — sometimes two or three in a row, such as last year when we went to a party and then the mayor’s ball in London. I was shattered, but confident my hair looked fantastic.
5 TIP-TOP TRESSES ARE SO YOUTHFUL
CAMILLA GLOERFELT-TARP 41, lives in London with her husband, venture capital investor Martin Rasmussen, 49, and their three children, aged 13, 11 and seven. I HAVE three children at two different schools in London and am kept busy ensuring they get to the right location on time with the right kit. I feel like a PA, a driver and a social secretary all at once.
Having my hair washed and blow- dried twice a week by the team at celebrity favourite Hari’s salon in Chelsea represents my me-time, an oasis when I can sit and not think about all the tasks in the day ahead: such as juggling yoga, the ballet, drama and tennis.
I’ve been going to this London salon for about 15 years and with children in three different school years I know lots of mothers locally, many of whom I bump into, so it’s like a social club. I have all my colour done every six weeks and a touch-up in-between.
As you enter your 40s your hair requires time, effort and craftsmanship to remain in good condition — and good hair can perform the same task as Botox or fillers.
Long hair has to look full of life — it can’t be out of condition or full of bad highlights, and I have neither the skill set or patience to maintain it myself.
At 16 I had a disastrous home perm and suffered months of bad hair. I learnt my lesson. I know beauty comes from within. But there are ways of helping it show outwardly. My hair costs £10,000 a year but it’s worth every penny.
6 A DAILY BATTLE AGAINST CURLS
JANET MURRAY, 42, owns a training company and lives in Kent with husband Ed, 43, and daughter, Katy, 11. TO LOOK at me with my straight hair, you’d never know I’m fighting a daily battle against naturally thick curls. I used to like having curls when I was younger but, with a mass of ringlets, a bad-hair day can be twice as awful simply because of the volume of hair.
the first weapon against this is yuko Hair Straightening. I have this Japanese treatment, which is like a reverse perm, twice a year at Windle & Moodie in Covent Garden. It costs about £400 but it’s worth it. the treatment softens the bonds in the hair, it goes a bit like chewing gum, which is disconcerting, and then each section is straightened.
I also have a seemingly infeasible amount of blow- dries. At least twice a week I have a blow-dry at my local salon Antonio & Giovanni in Gravesend. It may not be Mayfair, but they’ve been there 30 years and they know my hair well.
When I ran the London Marathon last month they gave me a free blow-dry beforehand and there’s a picture of me on their Facebook page at the end; exhausted and sweating, but with perfect hair.
I’m so averse to washing my own hair I don’t even own shampoo.
7I NEVER HAVE A BAD-HAIR DAY
TULLIA VITTURI DI ESTELOCHRA, 36, lives in West London and is Head of Luxury & International Partnerships at Spafax Networks. I TRAVEL a huge amount and work extremely long hours, but every fortnight or so I find time to visit the salon of Max Centini, a hairdresser who has worked with celebrities such as Sophie Dahl and Cat Deeley. He looks after my hair himself. I have a cut and lots of scalp treatments.
Short hair is practical, but suits me and my lifestyle. I have a great deal of responsibility in my work. I don’t wear suits — we have to be smart, but not corporate. But I simply don’t have the time to spend doing my hair every day.
everything about me is low maintenance: practical but elegant is what I’m aiming for.
Of course I’ve had the odd Audrey Hepburn comparison — that’s fine by me!
time at Max Centini’s is time out from a busy life, and I pick up his products to use at home. It may sound like a huge indulgence, but it’s a professional investment. I feel more confident and taken more seriously.
the best thing is that I never have a bad-hair day. I don’t have enough hair!
8 IT’S VITAL I LOOK GOOD ON STAGE
HANNAH NORTHEDGE, 42, is a jazz and blues singer from London. AS A performer my appearance is vital to me and I enjoy maintaining it. I study books on recreating vintage hair styles — sourcing accessories to get just the right twenties finger waves or the Forties victory roll.
So it may seem surprising that I buy my beauty products from the poundshop — experimenting with inexpensive, end-of-line products. that’s how I found the pantene serum I use to help make my hair look thicker.
I apply the same austere approach to my hair. I used to go to a salon, but last year I stopped.
I had been going every eight to ten weeks for a trim, costing about £50 a time. It increasingly felt like a waste of time and money.
So now I buy two bottles of permanent hair powder, which contains no ammonia or chemicals. I use a paste brush to apply the lighter shade then, a few days later, apply the darker shade in streaks as it looks more natural than the harsh block colour you tend to get from synthetic dyes.
Cutting your own hair can be scary — I’ve spent hours in the bathroom. I taught myself from youtube tutorials and invested in Superdrug hairdressing scissors.