Beauty salon prices UK: what salons charge, and how to price your treatments

TL;DR: Four UK salons we checked on 1 October 2026 charge £5 to £16.50 for an eyebrow wax and £32 to £49 for a gel manicure (salon price lists, linked below). Set your own prices from what each minute of your diary costs you, then check them against local salons. Don't start from the competitor's list.

This is four salons, not a national survey. Before you set prices, check five or six salons near you that offer a similar setting.

The spread is wide. A gel manicure costs £17 more in a Surrey club spa than in a Stoke salon. That's not because one is "right". It's rent, setting, products and how long the appointment takes.

Two of the salons list how long each treatment takes. Divide the price by the time and you get what that slot earns:

• Gel manicure, Stoke: £32 for 1 hour 20 minutes = £24 an hour.
• Gel manicure, Weybridge: £49 for 55 minutes = £53.45 an hour.
• Eyebrow wax, Stoke: £5 for 15 minutes = £20 an hour.
• Full leg wax, Stoke: £20 for 1 hour 10 minutes = £17.14 an hour.

The same salon can earn very different amounts per hour from different treatments. That's the most useful thing a price list can tell you. Some treatments pay for the room. Others just fill it.

Step 1: Add up a month of costs. Include everything the business pays, before your own wage:

• rent or room hire
• products and consumables (wax, strips, gel, cotton, couch roll)
• insurance
• booking software and card fees
• laundry, electricity, cleaning
• training and CPD
• marketing

Step 2: Decide what you need to pay yourself. Write down a monthly figure. Add money for tax, and for weeks you'll be on holiday or ill.

Step 3: Count the hours you can really sell. Not the hours you're open. Take off time for cleaning, admin, stock, gaps between clients and no-shows. Be honest. Most quiet Tuesdays don't fill themselves.

Step 4: Divide. (Monthly costs + your monthly pay) ÷ sellable hours = the least each hour must earn. Divide that by 60 and you have your cost per minute.

Step 5: Price each treatment by its whole appointment time. A 30-minute facial isn't 30 minutes. Add the consultation, room reset and payment. Then:

(appointment minutes × cost per minute) + product cost = your floor price for that treatment.

Step 6: Compare with local salons. Now look at the competitors. If your floor price is well above theirs, check your time and costs. If you're well below, you're probably undercharging.

Step 7: Decide which treatments are "door openers". Some salons keep a cheap brow wax to bring people in. That works if those clients book other treatments. If they don't, the cheap treatment just uses up your diary.

Prices aren't only numbers. They're also rules. The salons above show a few worth copying:

• Patch tests. St George's Hill requires an allergy test 48 hours before a client's first tint. Put that step in your booking flow and keep a record.
• Removal as a separate line. St George's Hill charges £13 for gel removal without re-application. Stoke prices gel with and without removal differently. Removal takes time, so charge for it.
• "From" prices. H:Room shows "prices start from". That's honest if longer hair, thicker brows or extra time cost more. Tell clients what moves the price.

Look at your price per hour every few months. Signs your prices are too low:

• Your diary is full but the bank balance isn't growing.
• The treatments you like doing least are the ones booking out first.
• Product prices have gone up and your menu hasn't.

When you raise prices, give regular clients notice. Update your booking page, your printed menu and your confirmation messages on the same day, so nobody sees two prices.

The Beauty Salon Pricing Calculator — Premium (£14.99) is an Excel workbook with ten services pre-loaded, from express facials and waxing to lash lifts, spray tanning and massage. Each has editable treatment time and product cost. Enter your hourly rate once and every service updates, with the margin shown next to it. It also has a quote builder for packages, a booking log, an expenses tracker and a monthly dashboard.

When your menu is set, the Beauty Salon Business Documents — Premium (£19.99) includes a Patch Test Record, Cancellation Refund Policy and Gift Voucher Referral Terms among its 18 templates.

Work out your cost per minute (all costs plus your wage, divided by the hours you can really sell). Multiply by each treatment's full appointment time and add product cost. Then check local salons.

The four salons we checked charged £5 to £16.50 in October 2026. A members' club spa in Surrey was the highest.

£32 to £49 at the four salons we checked. Reading's H:Room lists its gel polish manicure from £40.

(Appointment minutes × your cost per minute) + product cost = your lowest price. Your cost per minute is your monthly costs plus your pay, divided by sellable minutes.

No. Their rent, speed and costs aren't yours. Use their prices as a check after you've worked out your own.

All accessed 1 October 2026.

• The Beauty Room, Stoke-on-Trent (ST3), Booksy listing (eyebrow wax £5, 15 min; eyebrow tint £5; gel manicure £32, 1h 20min; full leg wax £20, 1h 10min; gel nails with removal £26 vs gel polish without removal £21)
• M4Glam, Cheetham Hill, Manchester M4, "Services" (eyebrow wax £10; eyebrow tint £9; gel manicure (Shellac) £32; full leg wax £35)
• H:Room Beauty Salon, Reading RG1, "Price list" (prices "start from": eyebrow wax £10; eyebrow tint £12; gel polish manicure £40; full leg £24)
• The Spa at St George's Hill Lawn Tennis Club, Weybridge KT13 (eyebrow wax or tweeze £16.50; eyebrow tint £18; gel manicure 55 min £49; full leg wax £43; gel removal £13; allergy test 48 hours before first tint)

This article is general information. Prices were checked on the salons' own websites on 1 October 2026 and can change.