Hairdresser accused of ‘preying’ on clients for charging £1,400 for cut and colour

Trips to the salon can be notoriously tough on the purse-strings, especially when it comes to hair.

Many of us balk at the thought of spending more than a tenner on a trim, but some people are willing to fork out a bit extra for their favourite stylist.

That’s certainly the case when it comes to California-based hairdresser Jasmine Policarpo, who readily charges more than £100 ($150) an hour to treat her clients’ locks.

Sure, this might already sound like a lot in itself, but when the whole process lasts 13 hours, you’re looking at a pretty hefty price tag – £1,400 ($1,950) to be precise.

Policarpo, who goes by the username @bprado_ on TikTok, shared a video of one of her recent customer transformations, leaving viewers appalled at how much it cost.

The clip shows a woman getting the Policarpo treatment, with her hair turning from long, straight and brown to shoulder-length, wavy and ash-blonde.

In a voiceover, the hairdresser explains: "I did not think my last post was going to make so many people mad with how much I charge, but I think this one’s going to make you madder.

"I charged $150 per hour and I believe this whole transformation took 13 hours, we did two separate days." Hence, the $1,950 price tag.

For reference, in her previous video she changed $130 per hour for an eight-hour service, meaning the total was a still-staggering $1,040 (around £745).

A before and after of the client who forked out £1,400 on the 13-hour process@byprado_/TikTok

Her more recent clip racked up more than 1.4 million views and 168,000 likes in six days, with fellow TikToker’s branding her fees “insane”.

One suggested the woman’s look could have been achieved in five to seven hours rather than 13, while another said: “When I went from black to blonde in about six hours it cost me $400. It looked exactly like this, even better to be honest. You’re over-charging.”

A third commented: “Her hair wasn’t even black or super-dyed. You prey on people with that price.”

Other eagle-eyed viewers pointed out that in the process of dying her hair, Policarpo had managed to get bleach on the customer’s top.

“$2,000 to get bleach all over someone’s shirt? No thank you,” one critic wrote.

Another said: “Charge what you want next time but make sure the client wears a cape!”

Responding to the backlash, Policarpo argued: “No one is forced to book. There [are] plenty of stylists that charge less.”

In a separate reply she said: “Some clients wait months to save up and I give my best every time to achieve what they’ve never been able to.”

Continuing her self-defence, she added in a follow-up clip: “Everyone chooses to spend their money differently, my clients choose to spend it on their hair and they leave happy, so I don’t know why so many people are mad, but OK.”