The cost of being a "wealthy" hairdresser

In my last post I wrote about how some people seem to have the notion that cosmetologists, hairdressers, barbers, whatever you want to call us, rake in the big bucks.  Don't get me wrong, there are some very famous, very rich hairdressers.  However, most of us aren't lucky enough to get a celebrity or two in our chair on a monthly basis.  And if you stick it out, there is definitely some money to be made in this industry.  But it takes time, and patience.  And with the face paced life we are conditioned to live, patience is not a virtue that most hair dressers are blessed with.  So sadly, many of the people that devoted a few years of their life to breaking into this industry let it end after a few short years.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average income of a cosmetologist $22,770, or less than $11 an hour.
The average cost to attend 1 year of beauty school is $18,000.
The average career length of a cosmetologist is 5 years, which means that the education of a cosmetologist costs approximately $3,600 per year that they are practicing, which brings the average income down to less than $19,200.
For the rest of these estimations, I am going to use personal/ professional experience, and I have picked the brains of the girls that work for me to see how much they guess that they spend each year.
A good pair of shears costs around $200.  And trust me, that is an underestimation.  This cost can go through the roof.  But most hairdressers have at least 2 pairs.  Plus a pair of thinning shears, another $150.  All three of these shears need to be sharpened around four times per year, costing around $30 per pair.  That's $90 four times a year ($360 a year) just to maintain your shears so you can work.  Also, you need a good pair of clippers, about $150, a razor, around $40, and blades that need to be replaced after only a couple of uses, costing about $15 a case.  There are curling irons that cost around $50 apiece that get replaced every couple of years.  Brushes, combs, and clips that get replaced about once a year due to wear and tear, costing roughly $75 a year, and blow dryers that if you are lucky last a year, coating about $100.  Factoring those costs into the average career length, that takes the annual salary down to approximately $18,375.
I am lucky enough to work for a company that provides continuing education at no cost to its stylists, however, most of my other stylist friends try to go to at least one hair show a year to stay up to date on trends and techniques.  A cheap weekend for one of these shows would be around $500, and that's if you can share expenses with someone else.  Then you have licensing fees, around $100 a year.  Then you have our cost for our personal appearance.  At my job, hair, makeup, and wardrobe are a part of the dress code.  You show up without all of those done up, I send you home.  It. Is. Required.  No exceptions.  You don't want to walk in to a place your appearance into the hands of a girl that doesn't look like she knows how to take care of herself.  So let's aim LOW on this, between the cost of makeup, clothes that are constantly being ruined due to hair color, and a couple of pairs of GOOD shoes because of being on our feet all day, the average spent per year is probably around $1000 for personal appearance/ hygiene cost (don't tell my husband it can be done for this low, I don't want him getting ideas about my shopping budget).  These numbers bring the approximate average down to around $16,775.

There are a lot of other costs that I could factor in, but let's call it good there.  Federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour.  Figured at 40 hours a week, which is considered full time, the average person working for minimum wage in America is making $15,080 a year.  That is only $1695 less than the average cosmetologist.  Not much difference in the scheme of things, huh?

Then why, you ask, does it cost so much to get your hair done?  Let me run some figures there too.  If it costs around $100 for you to get a haircut and color, your stylist is by no means taking all of that home with her.  The average stylist only brings home either a percentage of what she charges, around 50%, minus taxes, or you have to remove the cost of all of their product.  For a stylist that is self employed, when you break down their cost on a average color client, they are really only bringing home an average of 50% after all of their costs as well.

So like I said, the average stylist doesn't get rich.  Not in money anyways.  But I consider myself very rich in relationships, knowledge, and my heart is pretty full because of the career I chose.  Not very many people can consider themselves that lucky.  And I would take that kind of wealth over money any day.