Jeremy Hava at Hava & Co. Photo: RNZ / Leonard Powell
Hair - it is something we have all got, well most of us lucky ones anyway.
But unless you are Forrest Gump, hair comes with the need to cut, trim, colour, straighen, tint, shave - you name it.
The price varies, but as the cost of living crisis hits people in the pocket, are we cutting back?
First Up went to see if people are still getting their groom on.
In downtown Auckland, everyone had a story about hair.
"I just get like a wash and a trim. I try to look for like vouchers for different places. So something under $100 is good or like there's a place that the student discount down here, so I go there," one woman said.
"A friend does it for me in his garage. He's a former retired hairdresser and he doesn't charge me at all, but I give him $60," another woman said.
"Basically I got the cheapest haircut this year, purely for the fact that I don't spend $50 or $60. The economy is pretty ****, so where you can save money it's best," one man said.
"I used to pay about $15, now I'd say about $30 is the standard," another said.
"Now I try to go every two to three months. It used to be every like one to two months but with the price of it going up, I try to prolong it and try to keep my hair bit longer, so I don't have to get it cut as often," another said.
One Auckland man, Michael, remembered the good old days, when it was not all about the haircut.
"A long time ago I used to go to a hairdresser that was sort of $60 or $70, but it was kind of more of the experience. The last one was keen on the horses, so you'd get betting tips whilst you were whilst you were getting your haircut."
Auckland woman Sarah was not a fan of spending large on her hair.
"My hairdresser that I had seen for 20 years, she was very cheap and lovely and amazing and very good at what she did. And so she was affordable," she said.
"But now, because I have long hair, they always want to $300, and I don't look at myself that much, I don't care, so I just don't worry about it."
Jeremy Hava runs the Hava & Co Barbershop above Barkers on High Street.
He has been a barber for 15 years, worked here for 10 years, and owned it for three.
"So when I started working here 10 years ago, it was around $40, and now it's around $55 to $65 where we work. I think in [the] CBD it's pretty much the same across the board," he said.
Business at Hava & Co has remained steady through the economic downturn. Four or five barbers are usually working, and on a busy day Jeremy will have 18 clients in his seat alone.
"For mens', we haven't noticed much of a drop. I think that that after Covid people have started to enjoy longer hair. So obviously longer hair, maybe less haircuts."
But while business has stayed steady, Jeremy had noticed fewer people in the CBD.
"Probably what impacted the business the most was is people working from home, people not coming in the office. Obviously working from home you don't have the need to look as sharp as you would if you were coming in the office. So that's that's been a big impact on on most businesses in the city, not just us."
Down at Paris Barber Shop on Shortland Street, T walks in the door with a big smile on his face.
He pays $90 for a fade and beard trim every six weeks, and makes other financial sacrifices to make sure he is looking fresh.
"I agree with living cost increases, but at the end of the day, personal healthcare and personal grooming for me is important. I'll just sacrifice other fields to try and compensate to keep this going, maybe like buy one less drink over the course of a month."
Kaleb Pritchard at Salon Blaq. Photo: RNZ / Leonard Powell
From barber shops to hair salons where appointments include anything from a cut, colour, blow waves, highlights, foils - the full follicule.
Kaleb Pritchard runs Salon Blaq in Royal Oak.
"I never thought that I'd come through Covid and my business would be this busy. We're just pumping people out."
Kaleb puts the growth in business down to his affordable prices, where nothing costs more than $200.
"What's crazy is the prices that I am doing now have been the prices that I've been charging for the last maybe 10 years."
And it is not hard to see why Kaleb is averaging 25 new clients a week.
"A lot of people are coming here and talking about $300, $400, $500. It's crazy to know people are charging that. It's nuts."
Kaleb said his approach comes from a piece of advice he was given early on in his career.
"Someone once told me that if it's only good for you, then it's probably not good for the client. But whatever's good for the client will ultimately be good for you. I've always followed that from a mentor that told me that, and that's worked for me. So it's been really, really good."
And while some salon's like Kaleb's are keeping the prices down, some people have given up on it all together.
Rosie used to spend $400 on her hair four times a year, but these days only spends $20 to get her fringe trimmed.
She sees a lot of friends doing the same.
"A lot of people are going to barber shops, which are now offering more sort of unisex kind of haircuts. So it's not just like get a fade or number one or whatever people are like, yeah, not chop me and mullet or something like that.
"So I reckon people are getting unhinged haircuts for cheaper. Or doing it themselves and looking crazy, yeah."
