The Cost of Looking Good

                I was strolling down the shopping strip in my neighborhood on a sunny weekend when I began to notice all the women running to and fro'. Many of them had roller sets in their hair or were freshly wrapped up with pins tucked in. I have not set foot into a hair salon for a while since returning to my natural texture, but I knew full well the amounts of money I had to spend to keep up my looks. I knew that for women, keeping up with your looks was way more expensive than it is for men, but why is that?  I decided to venture out and see some of the price ranges for women and men in hair salons.

   The first beauty salon I went to was a few blocks away from my home in Brooklyn. My neighborhood is a mix of blacks, Hispanic, and middle eastern.  Though the shop was technique a beauty supply store there was a section parted off as a salon. The name of the place was called Cityline Beauty Supply, and the stylist were most black women tending mostly to other black female customers. The women were charged on average 23-25 dollars for a wash and roller set depending upon the state (course, thin, thick, etc) of their hair. The price for a woman’s hair cut was an extra 10 dollars and an extra 5 for a trim. However if a woman was getting a relaxer or highlights they will be charged equal to or over 55 dollars for both. Installing hair extensions would cost about 15 dollars for every weft of hair (sown or glued in); however this does not cover the cost of the hair it’s self, that is bought separately. The men who came to this hair salon usually asked for a wash and braids, which would cost about 55 dollars if they wanted a certain braid pattern.

The second salon called African Hair Braiding, is located in Flatbush, Brooklyn and specialized only in hair braiding. This salon catered mostly to women again, and the pricing was much more expensive. The standard micro braid extensions cost between 100-150 dollars ($100 if your head is smaller). However if one wants them to be long the prices were increased  Any type of intricate braiding as simple as zigzag cornrows, may range from 100-130 dollars once again depending on how thick the braids are, your head size, and the length of the braids.

The final salon was more of a barber shop it was mostly run my Hispanic men.  The name of this shop was called Unisex Barber and Salon. Unlike the first two salons, this place had prices posted up. The standard hair cut (no fancy designs) cost about 8 dollars! One can choose to trim a little or a lot and the price would remain the same. A more intricate designed cut at this barber shop would range from 15-18 dollars. I noticed that there were not as many men waiting in line for hair cuts as there were women waiting to get their hair done. It also took men very little time in the barber’s chair as opposed to women who were waiting 3 hours or more to be finished. 

When I asked some of the women why they felt the need to have these services done, many of them replied that it made them more pleased with their appearance. Others believed that they were more attractive towards members of the opposite sex, and that they felt pampered after a long week of work. It made them feel more feminine. One man proclaimed that he would often pay for his wife to go to these hair salons because he felt as if it was part of his job to take care of her. "I want my wife to look good, a woman is a reflection of her man. So if my woman is busted then I'm busted, that shows badly on me." 

Although I observed that in the matters of hair care men tend to spend less time and less money than women. However  some of then men I have spoken to believe they have to spend more money on clothing and shoes than women do to look good. So do women really spend more money than men to look attractive? Or are the expenses inflated in certain areas that one is trying to enhance?