You might have seen over the past 24 hours that #CoiffeurGate has been trending on Twitter and Instagram, and wondered what the heck was going on. Well, French newspaper Le Canard Enchaine has revealed the monthly bill for French president Francois Hollande’s hair. Spoiler alert: it isn’t a quick €9 job down at Paris’ equivalent of Mr Toppers. The French president pays €9,985 a month.
In Holland’s defence, this isn’t just for the cut and upkeep alone - this includes the cost of having his preferred stylist (only referred to in the article as "Olivier B") travel with him almost everywhere. And, let’s face it, this isn’t the first time the public has given a politician heat for his lifestyle costs. Just look at when Andy Burnham revealed to us that he liked an Armani suit when he was running for Labour leader, or when George Osborne Tweeted a picture of his £6.95 Byron burger during a late night shift at 11 Downing Street. Social media was not kind.
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Thing is - while we would in no way recommend a man spend the equivalent of a small, Citroen hatchback on his hair, we see where Hollande is coming from.
Hear us out.
The more you pay for your cut, the more you get. We know it’s easy to head down to your local barbershop and grab a £5 short-back-and-sides, but with guys' increasingly stressful lives, we should leap at the chance to get some escape time wherever we can.
Set aside £20 and you could test out the full grooming experience at Aveda Men’s Grooming Station, recently opened in London’s Fitzrovia. This includes a cut, as well as a head massage and use of products from high-end brands like Tom Ford and Ermenegildo Zegna.
£50-£60 will get you a haircut with the main men at many of London’s coolest barbers, such as Joe & Co, Ruffians or Murdock. And if you’re willing to go full-on Hollande, £70 and up will buy you some time with a top session stylist - these are the guys who cut and style models’ hair at the men’s catwalk shows, such as Matt Mulhall (the chopper behind the sleek styles at Burberry and Paul Smith).
Essentially, paying a little extra not only gives you the time to relax in the barber’s chair, but it also gets you access to the stylists who get it right first time, every time. And, as anyone who has ever experienced a bad haircut will attest to, the cost of coming out of a hairdresser’s without that sinking feeling that you’re going to have to wear hats for at least two weeks is priceless.
