In a few fraught months, the city's beauty scene has been turned on its well-coiffed head. Manicures and facials have been deemed fripperies, hair highlights are a luxury, and regular waxing can be delayed thanks to forgiving layers of winter clothing.
But pedicures and haircuts remain an absolute must, even if they are postponed for a week or two.
A year ago, Toronto firefighter and natural dark-blonde Susie Opie thought nothing of dropping $200 every eight weeks to maintain the hair she admits "takes a beating," opting for whatever salon was handy.
Lately, though, she's been researching downtown salons in a bid to scale those costs back to $150 every 10 weeks.
Yours truly stopped frequenting hair salons years ago, affordability being the issue. Have been cutting my own hair ever since. At first, it was a difficult adjustment - I'd bought into the notion of professional hair cutting as a basic "need" -, but one does get used to it.
Can't imagine myself ever spending precious dollars again for a hair cut, even if my fortunes did turn around.
Which brings up the matter of the long-term effects of an economic downturn. The longer a recession lasts, the greater likelihood of certain new behaviours, such as less consumption, becoming permanent.
Recommend this post
