Locks, chops – and smoking hot prices as RBA warns of ‘local inflation’

Hairdressers say they have increased prices by up to $20 over the last year, as the RBA governor warned higher costs and strong demand for services was now the driving force behind inflation.

Stylist Maddison Stewart, with Tiarne Cooney at the EdwardsAndCo salon in Sydney’s Surry Hills. She says demand for high-end service has grown. Picture: John Feder

Hairdressers say they have increased prices by up to $20 over the past year, as the Reserve Bank governor warned higher costs and strong demand for services such as haircuts, as well as trips to the ­dentist, were now the driving force behind inflation.

Michele Bullock’s comments about “homegrown and demand-driven” inflation have been met with derision by hair stylists who say they have had to raise their prices like everyone else to offset increased rents and pay staff more in a cost-of-living crisis.

Based on ABS data, the average price of a trip to the hairdresser has gone up 6.7 per cent over the past year, slowing down between June and September 2023. This is compared to an increase of 5.4 per cent across all goods and services.

Numerous hairdressers who spoke to The Australian said they had raised their prices about $5 to $10 over the past six months. Higher-end salons said they had increased the price of some of their treatments by up to $20.

Co-owner of Headcase Hair in Sydney’s Paddington, John Pulitano, said the comments from Ms Bullock about hairdressers felt like they were being “singled out”, and accused her of “ saying we’re to blame for inflation when it happened before this and everyone had to make adjustments.”

Mr Pulitano said they had raised some of their services between $10 to $20 in line with the extra costs they had incurred.

“Everybody increases their prices annually. The cost of our products has definitely gone up. Shampoos, conditioners, colours, all the products that we use. Everything comes from overseas, so freight costs have gone up.

“Cost of living has gone up so we’re paying our staff more … people can’t survive on the money they are making with mortgages, rents, and day-to-day food costs,” he said. Yet hairdressers say their clients keep coming back and are willing to pay top dollar for premium services.

Owner of high-end salon chain EdwardsAndCo Jaye Edwards said the best and highest-charging stylists were the first to book out.

“We actually have not raised our prices in two years, we have rather focused on progressing our stylists up to their next level, for example from a senior colourist to a master colourist. This means their services cost more but the ­client has the option to move over to a different senior and pay the same amount.” But he added that many still chose the highest-charging stylists.

EdwardsAndCo stylist Maddison Stewart, who sees four to five clients a day in the Surry Hills salon, said demand for a high-end service was increasing year on year. “It’s not going to be a priority for everyone but there is absolutely a market for it,” she said.