The Ultimate Hair Salon Equipment List – With Prices!
Are you planning to open a salon and are wondering what equipment you’ll need?
Then you’ve landed in the right place.
Today I’ll show you all the hair tools, hairdressing equipment, and accessories you need to succeed with your salon.
You’ll get a complete hair salon equipment checklist with prices that you can use as a starting point when planning your salon. In fact, this article is part of my step-by-step guide for opening a salon business that covers everything you need to know when starting a salon.
I you haven’t done so already, I strongly recommend you check out my free salon startup guide when you’re done with this article today.
I’ll share all my favorite salon tools and hairdressing equipment as well as advice to help you avoid making expensive mistakes when acquiring equipment for your salon. Because, let’s face it, salon equipment is one of your largest expenses when you’re starting out.
To help you manage this, I’m including a lower-priced alternative for each of the more expensive salon items.
Sounds good?
Before we get to the list of salon equipment, there’s a few resources that can help you save money and make your salon equipment procurement easier that I recommend.
Recommended Resources to Save Money on Salon Equipment
The below resources help you save money as you invest in your hair salon equipment.
Get a FREE Amazon Business Account
You’ll likely be purchasing a lot of accessories and equipment for your salon from Amazon. If you take 5 minutes to register for an Amazon Business account, you’ll get access to lower prices that you won’t have with a regular Amazon account.
→ Create your FREE Amazon Business account now ←
Get a FREE Salon Equipment Insurance Cost Quote
As you start purchasing salon equipment, you’ll need to make sure you have the right insurance for your salon. This is to protect you against loss or damage. Hiscox offers a free service to calculate an exact insurance cost for your salon for free.
→ Request a FREE salon insurance cost quote from Hiscox ←
Find the Best Salon Equipment Loans with Fundera
Salon equipment is one of the largest up front expenses your salon has. Fundera allow you to discover salon financing options you didn’t even know you had and compare your options.
It’s free to use Fundera and it won’t affect your credit scores.
→ Compare financing options for FREE ←
Hair Salon Equipment List:
Salon Software & Marketing Tools ($300)
Service Accessories ($150)
Scissors/ Hair Cutting Shears ($150)
Hair Styling Station ($600)
You can click on any of the above links to navigate directly to the relevant product.
Best Hair Salon Software & Marketing Tools
It doesn’t matter how good equipment you have in your salon if you don’t have a good clientele to serve.
So let’s start with my recommended tools to market and grow your salon business.
Hair Salon Software and Appointment Scheduling Apps
A good hair salon software can be your salon’s best friend. It can help you with appointment management, marketing, client management, inventory management, and be your fully fledged point of salon system.
But there are hundreds of solutions on the market which makes it really difficult to understand what’s best for you.
Square Appointments is free for individuals and is an extremely powerful appointment booking solution that allow you to drop a booking widget on your website, send reminders, and much more.
→ Give Square Appointments a try here, it's free ←
Hair Salon Brand & Marketing Design Tool
When you run a hair salon, you run a premium (even luxury) business. And your brand and image need to reflect this.
The most popular tool for designing brand materials, like your logo, posters, menu, social media images, and business cards is Canva.
You can create your designs using their predefined templates and even order professionally printed designs directly to your doorstep. It’s awesome.
I’m a big Canva fan and use it for pretty much everything. They offer a free and pro plan. When you’re on the pro plan you also get access to professional photography and design assets that will make your work look awesome.
This is why I always recommend you sign up for a 30 day free trial of the pro plan and decide later if you want to downgrade to a free account.
→ Start using Canva for free ←
Salon Website Builder
Having a good salon website is critical to the success of your salon.
Your website helps your salon show up in search when people look for salons in your area. It’s many times also the first interaction that people have with your salon. So you want it to be as beautiful as your salon is.
Creating a website can seem like a daunting task. But you can in fact create one yourself without any previous web design experience.
If you’re in need of a website, I recommend you check out my review of the best of hair salon website builders.
For more salon marketing tools, visit my recommended tools page here.
Service Accessories
You need several different service accessories for your hair salon. I’ve collected the more common ones in the hair salon equipment list below together with the specific products I recommend.
Best Hair Salon Aprons & Cutting Capes
You want your staff to wear aprons that fit the image of your salon and your staff to have fresh, comfortable, and good looking capes. Good quality cutting capes doesn’t need to be expensive. I recommend the below because of good quality at fair price.
Hair Cutting Cape With Stripes
A personal favourite. Works both in the barbershop and beauty salon.
Black Hair Cutting Cape Sometimes simplicity is the best. You can never go wrong with a black cutting cape in good quality.
Premium Salon Apron in Leather This apron gives a real premium feel to your staff and is available in black, brown and blue. Cost is actually surprisingly low for this hand made apron in durable long lasting leather.
Simple Black Salon Apron
Just keeping it simple is sometimes the best way to go. This apron fits the clean image salon is also a good option if you’re on a limited budget given the low price.
Best Hair Salon Towels
Keeping a good supply of towels is essential for any salon. Ensure you get good quality bleach and chemical safe premium towels that lasts. Below are the ones I recommend.
Black Salon Towel
Premium bleach and chemical safe black towel.
White Salon Towel
Premium bleach and chemical safe white towel.
Best Salon Hand Mirror
The tool you need for the most important part of the salon service – when you show your client the result :). There’s not really a right or wrong here but go for one that is practical and fits the style of your salon.
Unbreakable Salon Hand Mirror
My personal favourite, the unbreakable hand mirror from Deatti with edgy design. Get Best Price
Elegant Salon Hand Mirror
An alternative for salons who want a more elegant style mirror. Also the most popular one on Amazon. Get Best Price
Other Salon Service Accessories
There’s a few other things you’ll soon notice that you need.
Hair Water Spray Bottle
A nicely designed water spray bottle that help you evenly distribute water. A must-have for any hair salon. Get Best Price
Salon Hair Clips
Good quality hair clips, at good list price. Get Best Price
Salon Retail Shopping Bags
Professional retail brands are premium brands and you don’t want your client who just purchased a shampoo for $25 in your salon to not get a premium bag to put it in. Here’s a good price and quality option. Get Best Price
Money Saving Tip: Ask your product supplier for shopping bags. They may give them for free when you purchase a certain volume of products.
Salon Latex Gloves
Another good value for money item. Black Reusable Latex gloves from Salon Care. Get Best Price
Combs & Brushes
You need a variety of combs and brushes for your salon. There’s many different types of brushes. Below are the six most common ones in the hair stylists toolkit.
Paddle Brush
The paddle brush is ideal for de-tangling and smoothing naturally straight hair. I recommend a natural wood paddle brush with boar bristles like the one below which help take oil down to the ends of hair. Get Best Price
Round Barrel Brush
Round brushes are often made with metal and heat up during blow dry and give a curl want effect. You use it to tame frizz and to create natural bounce to the hair. My favorit is the ceramic round brush from ghd. Get Best Price
Vented Brush
Vented brushes has space between the bristles to allow for air to flow. This brush is designed to make hair dry quickly when used with a blow dryer. You just need a basic brush for this. If you have budget, I’d rather invest in a high quality round brush and keep this one simple. The Conair brush below will do the job at a very low cost. Get Best Price
Cushioned Brush
The cushioned brush typically has a rubber cushion with boar or nylon bristles and are used on dry hair for smoothening. I would prioritize a good paddle brush first. If you still have budget, I recommend the cushioned brush from Philipps. Get Best Price
Rattail Comb
The rattail comb has a narrow handled that is used for styling the hair. The tail is used for separating and sectioning the hair during the hair styling process. Below is a high quality, heat resistant comb for professional styling that I recommend. Get Best Price
Wide Toothed Comb
The wide toothed comb helps separate the hair without adding much friction. This help detangling the hair without hair falling out. Get Best Price
Professional Scissors/ Shears
Your scissors are arguably the hairdresser’s most important tools and a central item in this hair salon equipment list. Let me take you through a few things to consider before getting a pair of new shears first and you’ll then also get my personal recommendations.
Straight Shear vs. Blending Shear: What to Consider When Buying
What is a straight shear? The straight shear is what you’ll use most of the time when cutting hair. You should ideally have two different sizes of a straight shear. A longer one (above 6 inch) are good for the basic trims and for achieving clean cut. When cutting a bob for example, you’ll want to have a longer scissor. A good reference when buying a long scissor is that it should be about the same length as your hand.
You’ll need a shorter scissor (4.5 – 5.5 inch) for detailed more detailed cuts. For example when cutting around ears and back of neck. You’ll typically cut using the “scissor over finger” technique with a small scissor while you’ll cut over comb with the longer one.
What is a blending shear? A blending shear (also called thinning shear) has a straight blade on one side and an evenly spaced teeth on the other. This is the scissor you need if you want want to remove weight from the hair in a fast and easy way. You can also use it to add texture to the hair depending on the technique you use.
There are two common types of blending/thinning shears: The 40-44 tooth blending shear is used for blending, tapering, and texturizing which are common cutting techniques for men. There is also the wide tooth scissor which generally has 28 teeth and is used when texturizing very thick hair.
How Much do Professional Hair Scissors/Shears Cost?
Professional hair scissors cost around $100 but can range all the way from $20 up to $600. Below you have my recommended scissors – one pair at the lower end and another at a good price/value level.
My Recommended Professional Shears
Best Professional Shears: Centrix Roc-it Dog Shear 5.75 The Roc-It dog™ line offers a versatile collection of cutting tools at promotional pricing without sacrificing Centrix® performance and creativity. Here you get real value for money. Get Best Price
Best Alternative Under $30: Equinox Professional Shears High quality Japanese steel at a very low price. No wonder this is one of the most popular professional scissors. Get Best Price
Save Money on Duo Kit If you’re in need of both a straight shear and a blending, you can get the kit with both scissors at a value price.
Electronic Hair Styling & Grooming Equipment
One of your bigger expenses in this hair salon equipment list will likely be the electrical styling and grooming tools. In this section I’ll show you what you need to know. I’ll also recommend both a high quality and value optiocn for each tool as I understand it can be difficult to afford the best if you’re just starting up your salon.
What You Should Consider When Getting Your Styling & Grooming Tools
For all grooming equipment you want to make sure you get something from a quality brand that also offers a product warranty as it’s common that they break – even if you buy good quality.
You should also think about if you should re-sell the tools to your clients and in this case get the same brand for you as the one you’ll resell. It’s much easier to recommend a sale to a client that they’ve seen you are using it yourself in the salon and that they also experienced during their service.
In fact, re-selling electrical tools can be a great source of revenue for your salon as they typically have a high price (compared to care and styling products) which gives you a good cash margin on the products.
Blow Dryer and Diffusers
You’ll for sure need a blow dryer for your salon. This is probably the electrical tool you’ll work with the most – so get something good :). Consider the weight of the hair dryer as well as the sound. This is something that can easily be overlooked and in the end be the thing that will annoy you the most.
How Much Does a Professional Hair Dryer Cost?
A professional hair dryer costs somewhere in between $70 and $200 but there are also brands that charges up to $450 (e.g Dyson Super Sonic). I honestly don’t think you should spend that much – you’ll get something very good for around $150.
My Recommended Professional Hair Dryers
I recommend two different hair dryers in this hair salon equipment list. One top notch option (at a higher price) and one if you want good quality but is on a budget.
Best Professional Hair Dryer: ghd Air
My favourite hair dryer is the ghd Air. The price is on the higher side but you get a really great product that will last you a long time. And on top, it does not have the high pitch sound that many hair dryers have and design is good. Get Best Price
Best Alternative Under $70: MHU Professional Hair Dryer A good but more basic alternative. It offers adjustable heat and airflow and also noise reduction. Perfect if you’re just starting out. Get Best Price
Professional Hair Straightener
After blow dryer, the hair straightener is probably what you’ll use the most. With the right product you can do a lot more than just straightening hair but you can also use it to shape great curls. What’s important when you select the right straightener is the temperature which should be at 185 celsius/ 365 fahrenheit for good styling temperature that does not damage the hair.
How Much Does a Professional Hair Straightener Cost?
You should be ready to pay around $120 and $250 for a good professional hair straightener.
My Recommended Professional Hair Straightener
There is one straightener that, in my opinion, is the absolute best you can get and this is the Platinum+ styler by ghd. But it’s also quite expensive. Below you’ll find my recommended stylers that also include a lower cost alternative in case you’re on a budget.
Best Professional Hair Straightener: ghd Platinum+
What’s unique about the Platinum+ styler is that it automatically adapts the temperature depending on how you use the tool. This way you always have the optimal styling temperature for best result without damaging the hair. Get Best Price
Best Alternative Under $70: Furiden Professional Hair Straightener A good value-for-money styler that is easy to use and give smooth silky hair result. The most popular styler on Amazon right now. Get Best Price
Professional Hair Curlers
Similarly to a straightener, when selecting a curler you should make sure it operates at the right temperature and comes with good warranty. If you’re good at curling hair using your straightener, you could potentially save some money here and just invest in a really good styler/straightener instead.
How Much Does a Professional Hair Curler Cost?
A professional hair curler costs somewhere between $50 and $200.
My Recommended Professional Curler
Also when it comes to curlers, I would recommend ghd and their Curl Iron and Curl Wand. They are built using a similar heat technology as the Platinum+ hair straightener I shared above so it delivers the optimal styling temperature and result. However, if you’re on a budget you could try to learn how to use your styler for curls or go with a lower cost option like the one I recommend below.
Best Professional Hair Curler: ghd Curl Tong Simply the best. If you have the budget. Get Best Price
Best Alternative Under $30: Remington Pro Curl Wand One of the most popular alternatives after ghd. Get Best Price
Hair Clipper
You’ll need a good hair clipper to cut, shape, and design your clients hair. When buying a clipper you want to make sure it has a powerful motor and self sharpening stainless steal blades. The benefit of a cordless clipper is obvious but you often find the engine in cordless clippers is not as good. Good ones are typically also a bit more expensive.
How Much Does a Professional Hair Clipper Cost?
A good profession hair clipper will cost you between $120 and $220.
My Recommended Professional Hair Clipper
There’s two hair clipper brands that always deliver – Wahl and Andis.
Best Professional Cordless Clipper: Wahl Professional 5-Star Cordless Magic Clip If you’re like me and prefer a cordless clipper, I’d go for the Wahl model below. Here you get good value for money with a clipper that’ll stay with you for long. Get Best Price
Best Value Alternative: Andis Professional Clipper and Trimmer Kit Andis offer a good combo kit with both clipper and trimmer at a good price. If you’re ok to work with a cable, you’ll be very happy with these. Get Best Price
Salon Chairs
There’s a few different types of chairs that you’ll need in your salon. Picking the best salon chair comes down to design and what will be practical for the type of service you perform in the salon.
The different types of salon chairs are:
Styling chairs
Barber chairs
Shampoo chairs
Dryer chairs
Reception chairs
Stylist chair & stools
If you’re starting out a new salon, you’ll most likely not need all of the above chairs. Where I’d put my money first is on a good styling chair and also a stylist saddle stool as you’ll not be able to run a salon without those. If you’re planning out a barber salon you’ll of course also need a chair that supports your shaving and beard trimming services.
You’ll not necessarily need a dryer chair or specific reception chairs, this can you wait with and get at a later stage as you can use any chair you can get hold of that you find acceptable in the meantime.
What to Consider When Buying Salon Chairs
Is Product Quality Good?
You want to your chairs to look good also in a few years from now. If you cannot afford good quality because you’re just starting out, I would rather not buy anything and instead try to work with a temporary solution until you can afford a chair of descent quality.
You and your client will spend a lot of time in the chair so they will get worn quickly. In fact, you’ll save money by picking one with good leather material from start that will be much more durable and you do not need to replace it in just a years time.
Poor chair quality also adds negatively to the experience you want to give your client as it will be less comfortable and stability may be compromised.
Is it Practical to Use?
The salon chair is a working tool for you and the stylists working in your salon. Thus, you want to make sure the chair has the features you need to perform your services. You’ll need a hydraulic styling chair so that you can effectively adjust the position of your client when working.
If you’re offering barber services you’ll also need to be able to tilt the chair. Make sure you think through the different usages you may have before you select the right chairs for your salon.
Does the Design Fit Your Salon Image?
There are many different types of chair designs and you should pick something that goes with your salon. Similar to when choosing the right styling station, I’d not get too creative here. I would focus on timeless quality here vs. what’s trendy right now. This will last you longer and also maintain its value better.
How Much Does a Salon Styling Chair Cost?
The cost for a good salon styling chair range from $300 to $700 and costs on average $500. The cost for a good stylist chair or saddle stool is on average $250 and ranges from $150-$300. For a good basic setup you should expect to spend about $750. Reception chairs, shampoo chairs, dryer chairs would then come on top of this.
My Recommended Salon Chairs
The chair that is right for your salon is very individual. I have summarized here the two client chairs that currently hold the highest rating for salon and barbers as well as the best rated stylist chair with matt.