I’ve been cheap this year, so I haven’t had my highlights redone at all until today. The last time I had my highlights done was in December of last year before leaving for our annual Christmas trip to Australia. Since then, I’ve had two trims which, including a generous tip, cost about $35 each. I texted my hairstylist to let her know I was coming, and she gave me her usual quote: cut plus wash plus highlights would be $160 for a full head (don’t ask me what “a half head” is). And once you add in a 25% tip, that’s $200 total. Note: you cannot get highlights and NOT do a wash, so don’t even try to ask her if you could skip the wash, because that’s not an option with any kind of hair dyeing.

That means that for 2019, I’ve spent $270 on hair maintenance. If I were good to my hair (and, apparently, my few new grays), I would have gotten highlights twice this year, which would have meant about $450 spent on my hair this year. Given that I had never gotten highlights or any real hair treatment until after I turned 31, I kind of think I shouldn’t feel so bad about spending this much on my hair now. Then, I quickly looked up how much the average woman spends on her hair; in the U.S., she spends about $960 per year. That’s a crap ton of money!

Then, I thought about how I used to only get two cuts per year. That means I spent about $60-70/year on hair prior to age 31. Wow, I really “saved” a lot of money next to the average woman, then!

It’s expensive being a woman. Add to this that when my hairstylist saw the length of my hair, she exclaimed about how long it’s getting. “Bella, to be honest, I usually charge $200 for a length like yours, but don’t worry, I will honor what I told you and charge you $160,” she said with a smile.

A $40 “discount”? I guess that was nice of her. Or, it’s just another way that women get penalized for being women and feminine.