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From managing our finances to cooking, arranging a trip or learning a new hobby, maths is everywhere. Most activities and careers have a mathematical element to them in ways that aren’t obvious.

Think about a trip to the hairdresser. The majority of people associate it with taking care of themselves. Someone massaging their head while they apply shampoo… Customers view it as a moment of wellbeing – one where they can almost sense their problems being washed away.

Behind some lovely-smelling products and relaxed conversations, though, hairdressers are doing some mentally intense work – including calculations.

It is not only about having an eye for style. The world of hairdressing encompasses some complex techniques.

Bristol-based hairdresser Emma Claire Beresford told The Mirror about how maths is used in the salon: “There’s plenty of ways you use mathematics within hairdressing. Personally, I use angles and ratios in every single haircut and colour I do.

“I’m so glad I listened in school, as it’s helped my hairdressing knowledge progress quicker and also helps with diluting oxidants and making the perfect tone for my customers’ new fresh look down to the finest detail.”

Amanda Lodge-Stewart, Vice-President of the National Hair & Beauty Federation (NHBF) and owner of the Link Training in Huddersfield, says maths has a crucial within the industry: “It’s more than just the arithmetic to calculate the total price of a service, add up your takings for the week and subtract the costs of products used to work out if you’ve made a profit.

“As a stylist, you need to understand angles, which will determine the weight of the cut; measurement so that you cut to the length the client requests, and symmetry to ensure balance in the finished hairstyle.”

A hairdresser can’t go without maths skills: “For colour services, you need to understand weight, ratios and percentages to ensure you use the correct quantities to get the desired effect and to calculate the time it will take to apply the colour and allow it to develop.”

To make the most out of staff’s time, hairdressers need to calculate how many clients they can fit into their shifts. And, of course, they need to be able to tell their clients how long treatments will take.

“Salon owners use statistics to understand which days and times are busiest to organise their staff rotas,” Amanda explains. Owner and managers also need to know “which services are more popular, and to compare the effectiveness of their team members”.

“Many of our trainees come to us with a poor sense of their own abilities in maths, having struggled at school,” Amanda says. “We show them why maths is relevant and important in hairdressing so that we can get them to the GCSE standard within a year of starting with us.”

From admin tasks to cutting and styling, maths seems to be all over a hairdresser’s job – another reflection of how numbers rule the world.

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