Beauty spending is one of those things that can look very different depending on where you go and what you want.

Take hair.

At Studio 74 in Peterborough, current prices include:

• cut and blow-dry from £55
• full-head colour from £60
• full-head highlights from £75
• balayage from £85
• toner at £20–£30
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Put balayage, toner and a cut and blow-dry together and you are looking at around £160–£170 before adding any extra treatments or products

That sounds like a lot.

But there is another side to it.

You are paying for an experienced stylist, commercial salon overheads, products, consultation, time and the expectation that you can book in, sit down and get the result you are asking for.

Now compare that with a very different option.

Revive at Peterborough College operates as a training salon.

Its published prices are much lower.

A shampoo, cut and finish starts from £7.

Full-head colour starts from £25.

Full-head foils start from £30.

The reason for the difference is obvious.

Students are developing their skills under supervision, so you are trading some of the speed and certainty of a commercial salon for a much lower price.

Neither option is automatically better.

They are just different.

And that is where beauty spending gets interesting.

Some people will happily pay more for the stylist they have trusted for years.

Others are perfectly happy to use a training salon for straightforward services.

Some will spend on colour but do their own nails.

Others will pay for nails and cut back on hair appointments.

Then there are the things people will not compromise on at all.

A stylist who understands curly hair.

A colourist who knows your history.

A salon that takes allergy testing seriously.

Someone who listens when you say:

“Please do not cut too much off.”

Beauty is one of those areas where the cheapest option is not always the best option.

But the most expensive is not automatically the best either.

The better question is:

What are you actually paying for skill, convenience, trust, speed, products, experience or all of the above?

So we want to know:

Which beauty treatment do you happily pay more for and where are you perfectly happy to save?