A typical treatment starts with an electric nail file, then a non-electric nail file, as well as a cuticle trimmer. Then, the base coat, 3 coats of colour, and top coat are applied, using a blue light nail dryer in between each coat. Afterwards, the cuticle oil and lotion are applied.
Let's assume that I get my nails done exactly once every two months. If I did my own nails and followed these exact steps once every two months, would it be cheaper? If someone were to do all of this at home, how much would it cost?
First, the electric nail file costs about $50 on Amazon and lasts around 4 years. This means that one use for me would cost around $2.08. Next, a 10-pack of non-electric nail files is $6.99 and the salon uses a new one per customer, so one use for me at home would cost around $0.7. The most popular cuticle tools on Amazon cost $17.99, and assuming it lasts about 3 years, one use for me is about $1. As for the nail polish itself, one bottle can coat nails 147 times, according to "Nail It!" A base coat bottle costs $17.99, so one use is $0.12 for me. The colours cost around $20.99 a bottle but one use is 3 coats, so it would be $0.42 per use. A bottle of top coat is $17.99, so the price is the same as the base coat, with $0.12 per use. The blue light machine is around $40.99, and can be used up to around 10 years. This makes each use worth $0.68 Cuticle oils are around $9.99 and assuming it can be used 150 times, one use is around $0.7. Finally, hand lotion is $10.99 for 3 oz, and each ounce lasts 60 times. Therefore, each use of this hand lotion is $0.06, which brings the total up to $5.88.
One round of nail treatment at home costs less than 1/6 of what nail salons charge us. Of course, this excludes electric and water bills, but that wouldn't make a significant difference. One factor that might be bringing nail salon prices up, however, is the variety of colours they have. Nail salons usually have 200+ different colours stocked, and some are more popular than others. A typical bottle of nail polish lasts up to 2 years. It is unlikely that every single bottle will be empty by the time its expiration rate comes along. In these cases, the salons actually lost money for keeping these bottles around. Therefore, a lot of the $35 that we pay may be compensating for these losses. Other fees we are indirectly paying include water and electric bills, workers' salaries, profit for the company, and equipment such as chairs, tables, and register machines.
Every time we pay to have something done that we could have done ourselves, chances our, we are losing so much money. This applies to industries outside of manicures. Doordash is a common example. It would be interesting to see how much our laziness is costing us on a monthly basis.
Sources:
Prices - amazon.com and walmart.com
https://www.nailsmag.com/390467/ive-got-an-electric-file-question
https://www.nailitmag.com/nail-polish-bottle
This model is similar for most other service industries. Ingredients for the $30 meal might cost $5, but you're paying for the equipment and labor too. The equipment professionals use also cost more than the consumer grade stuff. I don't think that this laziness is inherently a bad thing since the same thing could be said for the food we eat or the products we consume. Why don't we grow our own food or make our own tools? It's best to leave these things up to the professionals, so everyone can use their time as efficiently as possible.
ReplyDeleteThis makes a lot of sense. The restaurant model is an interesting example (I think I saw a YouTube video somewhere about someone making a sandwich completely from scratch (growing the plants and everything themselves)), where the restaurant gets ingredients in bulk whereas they serve only a small portion. This is the difference between restaurants and nails, since nail products can last for longer than perishable food items.
DeleteThis is definitely interesting! I usually get acrylics 4-5 times a year because each times its around $65 which is expensive. However, the only reason I'm willing to spend more money is because after experiencing nail salons that charge me $20 less, I realized it's just not the same quality. I do agree it's part laziness, however, it's more about the experience of the service and wanting to have lasting, quality nails.
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