I can’t speak for all stylist, but personally I started my hairstylist journey in college, where a lot of girls only wanted the install and they would do the rest in an effort to save money. So I was always conditioned to offer the cheapest price possible for those who did not mind washing and blowing out their own hair in an effort to save money. However washing hair and blowing it out has never been a burden. But I do make it optional, considering the girl that might not be able to afford the entire process. And for those that don’t mind paying and don’t want to deal with their own hair at all; they can just add the service on.
Another reason why I allow people to add on wash services, is because I've been frequently home-based (which is not a crime). Everyone doesn’t want to be washed in the sink. Sooooo.. I give them the option to make that decision. For people that have upcoming events, some request to come already prepared to beat time for other appointments or priorities for the day. I wouldn't dare still charge them the full service price, because they'd prefer to wash their own hair.
But let’s keep it real people coming already washed and blown out allows stylist to fit in more clients in a day. And for many stylist, this is the goal to boost income. I don’t like to work like this because it compromises quality, and eventually clients become overlapped with longer wait times, while the stylist becomes overwhelmed and burnt out for a few extra dollars. And of course, we have some stylist that specialize in protective styling and aren’t comfortable washing hair (generally their prices will reflect this).
A lot of people reflect on the “good ol days” when stylist did it all. But I too remember, being 11 going to the African braid shop and they never washed my hair, and still charged 200+. But because of the work ethic, precision and skill, I paid that because I desired the service that many full service salons don’t provide because it’s a time consuming process.
I like to think about it like this, stylist are humans with preferences and specialties. You can’t really force someone to offer a service in the manner that you like however you can decide who you choose to spend your coins with. If you love a stylists work, but that's a dealbreaker for you... You gotta let them go. There’s a large misconception that stylist are lazy, but it really depends on the environment, the audience and what the stylist feels comfortable doing. If she washes your hair, blows it out and kills your curl pattern, you’ll want to fight. But because she’s not experienced in washing that means she can’t do a sew in or other service (that she’s actually good at doing).
I really enjoyed reading this. It definitely allows people to see the perspective of stylist. I definitely remember going to the hair salon and the wash was included. However, times have changed. Nevertheless, I think it’s great that you allow your clients to choose the wash service as an add on without jeopardizing the quality of your work by trying to style as many heads as you can in one 1 day. Great job Slim!