by Cyndi Frost

Created on: March 02, 2009

Salon, beauty shop, style center, beauty school or barber shop. Where do you go for the best cut at the least expensive price? We have all seen the different names and wondered if they make a difference in the quality as well as the price.

I was the owner of a hair salon for over 15 years and can tell you that in most states the title means very little. Although in some states a barber license is no more than a business license. They require no training or skills to obtain the license or to open one. Another catch to this is that as long as it is not called a salon or beauty shop they can operate as a barbershop. They can open under the names of style center, family haircare etc.. and are allowed to do all services on your hair that a trained cosmetologist can.

As terrible as this sounds it does have some good qualities. The prices are usually alot less, due to not having to buy expensive permits and license that salons are required to obtain. Some style center owners just got tired of being harassed by the state boards and became barbershop owners instead. But use your best judgement when choosing one of these establishments.

The best way to get the best prices is to pick up the phone and call. Find a few of the establishments that are in the price range you feel comfortable with. Then do two things, one ask people you know that have great cuts if they have used one of the salons you have found. Two go to them take a few minutes and sit in the waiting room and observe . Tell the receptionist that you are shopping for a new stylist and would just like to watch for a few minutes. As a salon owner I can tell you that I had no problem letting someone do this. If they do, then you probably would not want them to do your hair anyway.

Beauty schools are a really last resort in my opinion. Yes you can get a hair cut really cheap but in most cases these people have no real world time experience. They have not learned how to compensate for different types of hair. Doing hair on paper and on a mannequin is a lot different than real world hair cutting.

New stylist often work in salons or barbershops that are open late and on Sundays. This is because most stylist who have been working in the industry for a long time don't like to work nights, Sundays or holidays and have enough full time clients to make this choice. So if you go during those times to a chain salon you will probably get a newbie. There are a few stylist who are natural born hair dressers and cutters, but not many come straight out of school with the real world knowledge that you would prefer.

How can you tell if someone has been cutting hair for awhile? Watch them while they work. Do they have the ability to hold more than one tool at a time? Can they hold the scissors and the comb or do they have to put one down to use the other? This is almost a sure sign that they have not been doing hair cuts very long if they can't hold both.

Remember if all else fells......pick the person in the salon with the worst haircut to do yours..the reason...at least whoever gave her that horrible cut will not be the one cutting yours.

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