There are unwritten etiquette rules about virtually every life situation and your visit to your favorite salon is no different. To ensure you become a valued customer, whom your stylist looks forward to seeing, make sure you keep the following unwritten rules you should know about your next visit to the salon.

Yes, You Should Tip

According to Elie Camoro, a high-end stylist at Frederic Fekkai and Tahnee Seiler, who is a student services coach at the Aveda Institute, of course, you should always tip. This is a no-brainer. However, determining what percentage you should tip along with whether or not you should tip other people in the salon, like the person who shampoos you if that is different than your stylist, can be a bit confusing. In bigger cities, the trend is to tip more than 20%, while small town salons say that 15% is pretty common. If you have an added complication, like you bring along a small child and therefore, your stylist has to stop frequently throughout your visit, make sure your tip is a higher percentage.


Also, if you have another person performing a specific service during your visit, like your shampoo, these experts say you should tip them separately from your stylist. A good rule of thumb is to tip between $3 and $5 for a shampoo.

Be on Time!!!

There is likely no other salon visit faux pas that will aggravate a stylist, and subsequently a salon, more than a client being late to their appointment. This is because stylists have their day set up like a well-organized jenga tower. If you are late, this will either cause your stylist to have to skip their break or prevent them from eating lunch or will throw the rest of their day off kilter. Be respectful of their time. Be on time. Even be a bit early. Of course, life happens. You get sick, the sitter cancels, things happen and your salon and stylist understands this. Just ensure being late or canceling without at least 24 hours before your appointment doesn’t become routine.

There are other rules to remember when visiting a salon like it’s okay not to make small talk during your visit if you just want to veg. Also, stay off of your phone when possible, stylists need you to keep your head up so they can properly cut and style your hair. Not to mention the fact that it’s rude to stay on your phone throughout your appointment. Remember these rules and you are well on your way to becoming your stylist’s favorite client.