COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (KMTV) — Hair salons are grappling with rising costs as tariffs on imported beauty products force difficult decisions between maintaining profits and keeping loyal customers.
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At Salon Extasy in Council Bluffs, longtime stylist Shawna Anderson has watched the cost of hair coloring products climb since December. A single tube of hair color, primarily manufactured abroad, has increased by about $2 due to tariffs, in other words — an import tax. And it takes more than one tube to color someone's hair.
"I kinda saw it coming for sure," Anderson said.
The Italian-made hair color products Anderson uses represent a growing challenge for salon owners. She estimates the tariff-driven price increases mean a typical hair coloring service could cost customers an additional $8 to $15.
In a statement, the Personal Care Products Council wrote, "We are concerned about trade policies that could result in higher prices for personal care products and impact our industry’s growth and global competitiveness...Our industry directly contributes over $300 billion to our nation’s GDP, and our products are essential to the daily lives of all U.S. residents, with millions of consumers using about six to 12 products each day, including sunscreen, toothpaste, shampoo, moisturizer and fragrance."
Despite the rising costs, Anderson has waited to pass the full price increase onto her clients.
"Well, because I know a lot of costs across the board, just for life in general are going up and I love my clients. I don't want to price them out," she said.
It's a financial dilemma.
"Either way, I think it's cutting into my income because if I don't raise my prices according to what my costs are raising, I'm losing income, obviously, and if do raise my prices, and I start losing some of my regular people, that obviously affects my income as well," Anderson said.
Anderson acknowledges she will likely need to raise prices eventually: "The realization that I won't be able to retain all the people that I love to see is probably what prevents me from doing that because, like I said, these people turn into your family. They're an extension of your family."
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