So you've heard about London stylist Nicky Clarke charging up to £500 for a cut and consultation, and his colleague, Daniel Galvin Sr, billing about £450 for a colour. You saw the piece in American Vogue about New York City's Orlando Pita and his new salon where he charges £425 for a cut.
Maybe you've even heard that London stylist Lee Stafford has established a new high by charging £1,000 for what he calls a "couture cut", one where a snip in his home is accompanied by champagne, nibbles and a follow-up trim.
However, did you know there's an industry backlash going on?
"£1,000? For God's sake, it's just hair!" says Richard Stepney at the London salon Fourth Floor, when asked his opinion of the astronomical prices "celebrity stylists" have started to charge.
Stepney charges about £70 (recently raised after hovering at the £60 mark for several years), and he's not alone: indeed, he is part of a group of quietly competent hairstylists, including Paris's Christophe-Nicolas Biot, New York City's Paul Podlucky, and London's Larry Friends (who says £1,000 for a cut is "extortionate"), who have been building powerful word-of-mouth reputations by delivering chic cuts that don't cost the earth.
"That whole celebrity stylist thing is just rubbish," says Stepney. "A hairdresser isn't better because they cut Kate Moss's hair. That's great PR and marketing, not necessarily great haircutting."
"I used to pay a fortune at the Daniel Galvin Salon," says financial administrator Linda Abergel, who now goes to Larry Friends and pays no more than £49, "but I stopped going after a few hair disasters. I think these high-end salons are used to doing models and stars who look good with avant-garde or experimental hair, but that doesn't work on me.
"I like to look stylish, but I go to a fairly conservative workplace and need a sensible cut that grows out well and doesn't cost me a week's pay cheque. That shouldn't be too much to ask for."
Even those with industry connections or no shortage of money are turning their backs on outrageous prices for hair. Plum Sykes, author of Bergdorf Blondes and international socialite, says New York City's relatively unknown and inexpensive Podlucky is not only her first choice, but also favoured hairdresser to billion-heiress Aerin Lauder and society author Brooke De Ocampo.
"Paul cuts hair in his house on 67th Street; you've got to get past his three dreadful dogs, but he charges only about £160-£240 for a cut and colour. He is a secret kind of cool hairdresser who does very sleek, New York hair. All the bright young things go to Paul."
"Only chavs and desperate housewives go to big celebrity hairdressers," says Podlucky. It makes them feel great that they are sitting in a chair that Sarah Jessica Parker sat in three days ago. Let's face it, a haircut is like a blouse, there are only about 10 really great cuts; after that it's just variations on the same theme. Orlando Pita is an excellent hairstylist and has got those 10 cuts down but, no doubt, part of the reason he gets away with charging £425 for just a cut is because, for example, last week he spent the whole week with Madonna, and people want that shtick."
There's no question one of the reasons for the eye-watering prices of some stylists is these hairdressers have achieved a certain notoriety by cutting famous people's hair. Like Pita with his connections, Clarke counts Liz Hurley, Jemima Khan and the late Princess Diana as his clients. Podlucky is not impressed: "Really chic women with nothing to prove know better: I have really wealthy people as clients who can afford a lot more, but want to avoid the three ring circus of a big expensive salon."
So when is an expensive haircut worth it, if at all? For Ralph Lauren model and muse Saffron Aldridge, who uses Michael Charalambous at the Mayfair salon Nyumba almost exclusively, it's not whose hair he has cut, but how. "Yes, at £250 I suppose that Michael is relatively expensive, but it is an investment: he does a superb base and you don't need that done more than once a year. After that, any of the lesser expensive stylists can easily maintain that base.
"It's Michael's approach that is worth it. Before he even cuts a strand, he examines the angles and arches on your face, as well as your body alignment. The result is almost scientific and in fact looks more like you've had a vacation or cosmetic surgery rather than a haircut. Think of it as botox for the barnet," she says, "but a lot less expensive."
