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What makes the price at a Casablanca hairdresser

Of the thirty-six establishments surveyed for this site, only a minority publish a price list online. Here is what is actually listed, the five items that make up the total, and the trap in the words “starting from”.

Very few Casablanca salons publish their prices. That is the first finding of this site: of the thirty-six salons, beauty institutes and barbershops surveyed for it, only a minority show a price list online, and they are almost always barbers or neighbourhood centres. The name-brand salons of Anfa and Maârif work by quote or over the phone. That does not make them suspect — but it does mean that the question of price has to be asked before you sit down, and not afterwards.

What is actually listed

Recorded in October 2026 on the published price lists of two Casablanca establishments.

At a centre in the Hôpitaux district:

• cut: 100 DH
• blow-dry: from 50 DH
• steam treatment and blow-dry: 160 DH
• colour: from 200 DH
• highlights or balayage: from 400 DH
• updo: from 150 DH
• keratin treatment from 500 DH, protein from 700 DH, hair botox from 800 DH

At a barber in Racine who also does colour and straightening:

• men's cut: 100 to 180 DH, child's cut 100 DH
• full beard: 100 DH, beard colour 150 DH
• keratin straightening 600 DH, Brazilian straightening 900 DH, protein 1 000 DH
• full colour or highlights: 1 000 DH
• cut in the VIP room: 400 DH

And at an afro salon in Maârif: braids from 300 DH, cornrows from 50 DH.

The five things that make the price

<b>The length.</b> It is the most underestimated item and the one that causes the most disputes. On the Racine list quoted above, the same treatment goes from 900 DH to 1 400 DH between short hair and long hair. Always ask for the price for your own length, never the price on the board.

<b>The area.</b> A root retouch, a half-head of highlights and a full colour do not have the same product cost or the same application time.

<b>The actual time.</b> This is the hidden unit of the trade. A dry cut on curly hair, micro-braids, a colour correction: these are measured in hours. Ask the question in hours; it tells you more than the rate does.

<b>Who does your hair.</b> In many salons the owner, a senior stylist and an assistant are not the same price, and that is normal. What is not normal is only finding out at the till.

<b>The brand of the products.</b> A salon that works with a professional range charges for it. That is a defensible choice, provided it is stated.

The trap in the words “from”

A price advertised “starting from” is the price of the simplest case: short hair, the smallest area, a single pass. It is not a deception, it is a convention of the trade — but it works badly when nobody explains it. The question that settles everything, asked before you sit down: “for my hair, what does it come to in total, treatment and styling included?”

What to ask, in this order

• the total for your own length, everything included
• what is included: shampoo, treatment, styling, drying
• how long it is supposed to take
• whether a second appointment will be needed to reach the intended result, and at what price
• which payment methods are accepted: many neighbourhood salons are still cash only

Comparing usefully

Comparing two prices without comparing what they cover is pointless. A salon at 400 DH that includes a treatment and the styling is cheaper than a salon at 300 DH that bills both on top. In the same way, a dearer balayage that needs touching up every four months costs less over a year than a cheaper colour that has to be redone every five weeks. Think in years for anything to do with colour.

One last marker

Price is not an indicator of skill, but the way a salon talks about it is. A salon that states a total clearly, says what is included, warns you about a length surcharge before starting and turns down a service that would damage your hair tells you more than any price list in the window.

Also worth reading

• Looking after your hair in Casablanca: water, salt, sun
• Coily and curly hair: the routine, the braids, the cut
• Colour, balayage, highlights: what gets decided before the chair