It was a Sunday evening before I had a big national television appearance the following morning. The producer at the station told me clearly “come with clean, blown hair and we’ll take care of the details when you arrive.” It was cold out, so instead of throwing a coat on and heading over to Dream Dry or Dry Bar (the two blow dry bars in my neighborhood), I called for a GlamSquad appointment. GlamSquad, if you’re not a city girl, is an on-demand beauty styling app that lets you call a hair stylist or makeup artist with little or no advanced notice. About an hour later a cute, thin guy named “Mark” (name slightly altered) arrived at my apartment with his kit of hair tools and products.
We got to talking– small talk mostly– while he laid his brushes out on my counter and started to comb through. He was a sort of warm personality from the start, and his southern accent made me feel comfortable enough to ask him real questions beyond the normal ‘what’s the best shampoo you’ve seen lately’ or ‘how did you start doing hair?’ because frankly, who cares? I asked him instead if he liked working for GlamSquad. Immediately I got an exuberant “YASSSSS!” I asked why, I mean, isn’t lugging all that equipment around on subways kind of hard? Wouldn’t it be easier to be in a stationary salon?
“I worked for Dry Bar before this and just couldn’t make ends meet. That place is a factory I couldn’t do it anymore.”
Really? A factory? The fun yellow decor and mimosas had me fooled, I guess.
“We basically survived on tips, and a really big portion of the clients would only tip like two or three dollars on a $40 blowdry. The average head doesn’t take the 45 minutes they tell us to finish in, it’s usually about an hour. We make a few dollars in cash per hour, and our base salary is only $9… and taxes come out of that. We all scrape together to basically pay rent. We’re not skinny ’cause it’s fashion.”
From a business angle, sure, $9 an hour salaries make sense. Get clients in for 45 minute appointments. Hopefully stylists will get 20% or better tips and average 1.25 clients per hour. If all is going well, stylists can earn a living (not great, but living) wage. Sadly, Mark and four other stylists I spoke to at both Dry Bar and Dream Dry (the main competition for Dry Bar in NYC), told me that tips averaged closer to $5 per appointment, and that included a wash, blowdry, and full styling that would often take around 60 minutes. And there are frequently significant time gaps between appointments.
“On a good day, I could do 9 heads in an 8 hour shift. But I would probably only make about $50 in tips from that, and then the rest of my pay was not much beyond minimum wage. And the customers think because it’s a discounted hair service that tips don’t even matter. They pretend we aren’t even there. They read magazines and ignore us, but wake up to yell at us at the end when one wave is going in the wrong direction,” says M.W., a stylist for nearly 2 years at blowdry bar Dream Dry.
Mark’s story was no different, and he got to a point where he wasn’t able to make ends meet in his Spanish Harlem share until he found out about GlamSquad, where the base pay is roughly $15 an hour, and tips are guaranteed (the app itself calculates tips in at a guaranteed rate, although clients can choose to go above and beyond).
“I guess what’s so nice about the clients is that they’re comfortable, too. They’re in their own homes so they can wear sweatpants and be relaxed and not be all high-strung New York crazy lady on us so when we are done with their hair, they’re genuinely happy people and feel pretty. Believe me, when a woman is calm and pretty she tips way better. My tips have gone up significantly, and now I can pay my rent. Also, I’m even saving for my flight to London for next year.”
The difference is pretty impressive because the average Dry Bar or Dream Dry appointment is $40 plus tax and tip. If you take a subway or cab there, obviously the price of that hairstyle only increases. GlamSquad, Priv, and any of the other on-demand services are typically about $50, but you don’t need to leave your home, wait restlessly on a velvet sofa for an appointment, or argue over what shampoo to use– you use your own. It doesn’t really matter which way you go for your blowdry, though, as long as you tip well– it’s just the right thing to do.
“I don’t care as much now that the app takes care of my tips. And the customers know exactly how much they’re paying and tipping. It’s just easier. No stress.”
If you’re heading to one of the blow dry bars, Blo stylist Laney (name changed) offers the following advice, “just remember we survive on your tips. We’re usually the one who is washing and drying and styling… we aren’t full service salons where you have a different person for each, so please consider all the tasks we take on and the time we devote. If you like our work, $8-10 is great. If it’s just OK, consider $6-7. If you don’t like our work at all, just chat with the manager or something because we all try our best to make you look great.”
Editorial note: I didn’t work with the PR teams from any of these salons, these were real employee accounts of their work experiences and I do like and frequent all of of the businesses mentioned– I just tip more consciously now.
Tipping is HUGE. My sister was a waitress and came home after working a double shift with only $20 in tips. Ever since then I’ve always tipped at least 20% and always try to do about 25-30% during the holidays.
If I love my blowout, I tend to tip very well. The time and effort lasts me a few days and I know the task is not an easy one.