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Stylist: 15 - 20% of the service.
Colorist: 15 - 20% of the service.
Stylist’s Assistant: $10 - $20 (Is the stylist’s assistant the front desk person? Or do these so-called “assistants” actually cut hair?? The cheapie places I go to don’t require this.)
Shampooer: $3 - $5 (I always tip $3. I guess I should’ve tipped more that time I got a nice scalp massage.)
Blow-Out Person: $10
Coat-Check Girl: $1 (Once again, I’ve never come across a salon coat-check person… but good to know.)
Now I’ve got to research the etiquette on how much to tip my wedding hair stylist. Anyone know off-hand how much to tip?
(Article Source: Women’s Health Magazine, September 2008, pg. 76, Image source)
Glad to hear you are thinking about tips in advance! They can really add up!
I tipped the hairstylist 20% for the total cost of all her services (hair trial, bride hair, and 2 flower girls).
I tipped our makeup artist about 17% (slightly less) because she came with my hair stylist and I had no contact with her before the wedding day (trials, emails, etc).
$10 seems like way too much for an assistant.
I had a stylist a few years ago who refused tips and here’s what she said: She is a professional. She has been trained in hair styling and I am paying for that service. It’s not like a restaurant where I’m paying for the food and the service is tipped. She basically compared it to any other trained professional and how you would never tip them.
Thanks for this super helpful post Miss Glitter!! Also, if your hair stylist is the owner of the salon, you do not need to tip.
One question: do you tip on the hair/makeup trial right after the trial?
But this still confuses me. I’ve gotten my hair cut at places with an assistant. Typically, they’ve done the shampooing and sometimes finished up the styling of my hair (if I’m just getting a blow-dry). Does that mean I tip both hairstylist and assistant 20% of the total cost of a haircut? (For example, if you get a $50 haircut, then $10 goes to the hairstylist and an additional $10 goes to the assistant?) I still don’t get it.
@Mrs. Pinot Noir: THANK YOU!! This helps me!!
@Gina: I know! What the heck? I’m less likely to follow that particular guideline. Although I kinda feel bad if I’m breaking some cardinal tipping rule…
My roommate was a cutting assistant until she got her chair… She did the shampooing and finished up styling sometimes - not the front desk girlie. For her, I know people often tipped her for shampooing and then her stylist tipped out to her (some were better about this than others) — I am a chronic overtipper as well, my whole family has put in time as food servers, so… yeah. 
my hair dresser does the shampooing cut and coloring all himself and is the owner of the salon (he has other stylists that work for him but I always go to him specifically). I typically tip him about 10-15 percent of my total cost…should I not be tipping since he is the owner? It just would not feel right to not tip him at all but I have heard that owner rule before, what is the rationale?
@Miss Snapdragon: See, this is why it is good to bring questions to the hive! Thank you for clarifying who a stylist assistant is! In the past, I’ve been such a cheapo that I never went anywhere with assistants. Just last month, I finally treated myself to a stylist who had (what felt like) a whole entourage of people helping her. I gave my stylist a big ‘ol tip and asked her to divy it up. I wonder if I shouldn’t do that again?
@Miss Glitter: I can only go off of my stylist assistant roommate (maybe there are some stylist assistant Bees out there to chime in too?) but she was pretty lowkey about the whole tipping thing - she knew it was a cr*pshoot as to what her tip-out would look like at the end of the day. One thing that I had NO idea about was that the assistants make pretty much minimum wage for a period of about 2 years or so (at high-end Chicago salons, anyhow.) My current hair stylist doesn’t have assistants, but once I learned that, I’ll always tip the asst. separately, if I am at a new salon! Some stylists are great about tipping out fairly, but others were not so great to my roomie.
oy… all of this is so confusing! what about hair and makeup on the wedding day… if it’s done by two girls (who are not trained professionals) who run a “business” on the side. since they’re the “owners,” do i tip them?
i always tip the main stylist (the one who cuts and colors my hair) 20% (even the time i cut a sucky haircut from one years ago) and then give $5 or $10 to any assistants. I do NOT tip the receptionist as I do not think it is necessary in any way. And I asked my cousin in law who is a hairstylist- she agreed.
Ok I have never been to a salon that had that many hands working on my head. Just one stylist who does everything. So if and when I ever go to a salon like that, do you hand out their tips as each one is finished with their duty? How do you keep track of all that cash and percentages?
Being a receptionist at a busy upscale hair salon in the boston area, i wouldnt mind a tip! Haha, but that is certainly not necessary, because receptionists typically earn more than the apprentices, unfortunately!
At our salon, we assign the assistants to a couple of stylists a day. They will do the shampoos, conditioning treatments, apply a one process after the stylist, prepare color tables, among a million other things.
I’d say if you were just getting a cut or a blow dry, give the assistant $3-$5. If he/she shampooed you after color, or helped apply it, definitely closer to $10. It’s a lot of work, and lots of care has to go into that process!
As for the stylist, just like any other service: 10-15 %
And people always ask me whether or not to tip the owner, really its up to you, but it’s still a service….
Also, it’s holiday time! Typically clients give extra, or gift their stylists. You can tell when it has been a rough year financially when tips are on the lower end this time of year … boohoo
Thank you! I tried to ask two different stylists (at different times) about how much to tip and both said “It’s how much you feel like.” Well, that’s sweet, but not helpful at all!
I generally tip 20 percent or so on my haircuts, which run about 100 or 125, but I am still confused about hair and makeup tipping for the wedding day. They each agreed to charge $100 which I thought was pretty fair and I am not sure whether or not to tip on top of that. In this sense they are probably equivalent to the owner because they are professionals who decided what price to charge me. However, they are not coming to me—rather I am going into the salon which confuses me. Should that affect how I tip? If they were coming to me I would assume that their price factored in transportation time to and from, etc so I probably wouldn’t tip because they are like independent contractors. But if I am going to their normal place of work should I consider that they still might need to pay rent on their chairs?
Do you tip the hair stylist and the makeup artist on the day of your consultation as well, or just on the wedding day for the overall price. We were quoted $590 for the entire wedding party which included makeup and hair updos. When should we tip them and how much should we tip each person?
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Mrs. Glitter, Los Angeles Age and Occupation: 27, Research Consultant/Writer Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Accounting Engagement Date: May 6, 2007 Wedding Date: June, 2009 Venue: Millenium Biltmore Hotel About Me: I was born and raised in West Los Angeles, California. I spent eight years in the Northeast working and completing my education. Having split time between two sides of the country has given me a true appreciation for both coasts. It has also provided an overabundance of cross country drives, flights and long distance relationship fun/misery! I love my family, my doggy Emma, fabulous wine, Anthropologie, politics, reading, being outdoors, exploring new cities, and good movies! My fiance and I are complete opposites, but somehow we have managed to fall completely and hopelessly in love.
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