What materials should I include?

Include everything consumed during the service: colour tubes/bowls, developer, foils, gloves, aprons, towels (laundry cost), cotton wool, barrier cream, clips, comb covers, shampoo/conditioner used, styling products applied, and any treatment products. Even small items like cotton and clips add up over hundreds of services.

How much do gloves cost per service?

A box of 100 nitrile gloves costs approximately £8-£12. At 1-2 pairs per colour service, that is £0.16-£0.24 per service. While this seems small, over 20 colour services per week it totals £200-£250 per year. Every consumable should be tracked and costed into your pricing.

How much does foil cost per service?

Professional foil rolls cost £5-£15 per roll. A full head of highlights uses approximately 30-50 foils. Pre-cut foils cost more per sheet. Budget approximately £1-£3 per highlights service for foil alone. Some salons use reusable meche strips which reduce ongoing cost after the initial investment.

What percentage should materials be of the service price?

Material costs should ideally be 10-20% of the service price. For a cut and blow dry (minimal materials), materials may be only 3-5%. For a full colour service, materials are typically 10-15%. If materials exceed 20% of your price, either your pricing is too low or you need to find more cost-effective products.

CutCalcs

Material Cost Calculator — Itemised Service Costs

Add up all material costs for a service including colour, foils, gloves and sundries.

Colour Product Cost

Colour tubes used

Developer Cost

Volume strength of hydrogen peroxide developer

Foil / Meche Cost

Cost in your local currency

Gloves

Value for gloves

Towels (laundry)

Value for towels (laundry)

Sundries

Cotton, clips, barrier cream etc.

Service Price

Optional — shows % of price

How We Calculate This

This calculator itemises all material costs for a single service, showing the total and what percentage of the service price goes to materials.

The formula

Total materials = Sum of all individual material costs

Material % = Total materials / Service price x 100

Frequently Asked Questions

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Last updated: February 2026

All calculations are estimates. Always perform a strand test before chemical services.