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Why am I being charged extra for my curly hair cut?

Words by Abbir Dib

“There are so many curly-haired baddies out there, so why do I always feel embarrassed, ashamed and othered at the salon?”

“Your hair is so thick and curly!” the hairdresser exclaims as she scrunches my hair. “Where are you from?”

I’m asked this question about four times a week, but there’s something especially jarring about hearing it while I’m sitting in a salon chair, vulnerable, with wet hair dripping down my face poking out of a smock. 

I answer her politely, rattling off a rehearsed script I’ve repeated at countless salons before: My thick curls were inherited from a long line of Arab ancestors. It’s hard to manage. It gets dry. I straightened it every day before school to fit in. Now I mostly leave it curly and slicked back.


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She laughs. “You always want what you can’t have.” But I know her amusement won’t last long.

As the minutes pass, I feel her starting to panic. The small talk fades, replaced by rushed snipping. My hair, once a source of fascination, has now become a burden. She pulls in two young apprentices to blow-dry either side of my head and then rushes off to another client.

I’m being tugged like a ragdoll, my scalp burning as the girls giggle. Other customers glance over, calm and pampered in their chairs, receiving neck massages while their delicate strands lighten under foils. I wince with jealousy.

Eventually, I’m done. At the counter, I can hear them whispering about the cost. And as always, I’m charged nearly double the cost of a ‘normal’ haircut. The curly tax for being too difficult. 

I’ve tried to warn salons ahead of time, providing detailed descriptions of my hair when booking, but the outcome is always the same. There are so many curly-haired baddies out there, so why do I always feel embarrassed, ashamed and othered at the salon?

Am I the problem or are Australian hairdressers not equipped to deal with hair that deviates from the Eurocentric norm?

I spoke with Chelsei Clem, manager and director of Cherry Bomb Hair, a salon that specialises in curly hair, gender-affirming haircuts, and ‘blonde bombshells’. “All of my staff are trained to cut curls, and most of them have been doing hairdressing for at least 10 years,” she says. “So they have a good sense of all textures, and they have the experience for [anyone] that walks in the door.”

Chelsei said clients should never feel blindsided by surprise fees or judgment. “All of our cuts are the same price for any texture or gender that you are,” but prices can vary for how drastic, specialised or time-consuming the haircut is. “Our pricing ranges from our emerging stylists, which we do with training, which are free of charge, up to our master stylist, which can go up to $211.”

She believes curly hair is not inherently harder or more time-consuming to cut; “It’s just learning the technique. But after you’ve learned the technique, it takes the same amount of time.”

I wonder if the lengthy blow-dry is why the curly tax is added to my bill, especially since my hair is usually cut without layers. But often, the stylist starts straightening my hair without even asking if that’s what I want. My haircuts at  ‘regular’ salons can cost anywhere from $110 to $200. These sessions are so stressful I’ve started asking to leave the salon with wet hair to avoid being overcharged.

The cheapest haircut I’ve received was as a curly hair training model at Telleish Hair Studio in South Melbourne, which specialises in blonde hair. Director Teagan Cousins teaches her staff to not be afraid of textured curls, and I happily acted as the guinea pig because it costs $50.

My most expensive haircuts have been at curl specialists, who charge between $250 to $350 for a new client consultation, wash and layering. This is extremely expensive for my budget but I treat myself to it every few years. It’s an opportunity for me to learn about my hair, rather than view it as a burden.

Chelsei points out that clear communication is key, and she’s always conscious of working within the client’s budget, needs and expectations. “We’re never placing blame. We’ll sit them down always and be like, okay, this appointment is going to take a little bit longer, so the price point will go up. Can you do that?”

“The education system within hairdressing needs to change, to include all textures, all people, and to have a broader demographic so that students are prepared in the real world,” she says.

I spoke to Mr. D, the owner of Delilah Hair Studio, which specialises in natural movement, dry-cutting, Afros and curly cuts. He says many of his curly-haired clients come to him with salon trauma. “We have got clients coming from all over Australia. So if people are bypassing thousands of salons to come to us, I would say, yes, there’s a massive problem.”

He speculates that I’m being charged extra at the end of haircuts to deter me from rebooking. He argues that if the hairdresser is cutting with intention, a curly cut shouldn’t take longer than a straight haircut.

“You got charged double for someone inexperienced… People don’t know what they’re doing, so instead of seeking out education, they just go to blame the client,” he says. Haircuts at Delilah Hair Studio range from $80 for an emerging stylist to $225 for a haircut from Mr D himself, if you want to re-stye or you have very long, thick hair.

He also pointed out the discrepancy between salons’ social media marketing and their actual skills. “Everyone wants the curl dollar. So you see a lot of colour salons post every 20 Instagram posts about how amazing they do curls, where you’ll see the over-styled Instagram photo…  Then the second Person of Colour walks into the salon, they sh*t themselves.”

I relate – the hair salon which charged me a curly tax has diverse models with thick curly hair on every page of their website. Mr. D believes salons can stay true to their specialties, but be honest about their scope in a tactful way. “It’s okay for salons to stay in their lane. If you’re a salon that specialises in balayage it’s okay, to do that and be really good at that one thing.”

It’s clear that true curl specialists are rare in Australia, and that’s likely why they’re booked out months in advance and often more expensive. While it’d be ideal to have access to cheaper services, the reality is that most mainstream salons don’t cater to textured curly hair like mine, and won’t put in the resources to train their staff.

I hope this changes, but in the meantime, I’d rather pay a higher upfront price for a specialist who knows how to treat my hair with care and respect, instead of facing surprise charges and a rushed service.

For more on curly hair specialists in Australia, try this

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