Last December, 29-year-old Jennifer Asimobi, a lawyer based in the United States, had just touched down in Lagos for her annual visit, prepared for a month of parties, concerts, clubbing, beach days and dining with family and friends for what is affectionately known as Detty December in Nigeria. But before she could make her first appearance, she had to look the part, and that meant only one thing: a trip to the hair salon.
Finding a stylist in the U.S. who was well-schooled in hair braiding was challenging enough; finding one who could undertake celebration-ready, knee-length braids and not break the bank was nigh on impossible. But not in Lagos.
Asimobi’s tailor recommended a salon near her hotel — a sleek, upscale place with long mirrors, soft seats, complimentary drinks and snacks, and a veritable army of nimble-fingered stylists who crowded around to coif her to perfection in about four hours. The bill? Just 32,000 naira ($21). Even with a 6,000 naira tip, a hairstyle that would have cost hundreds in the U.S. rang up to about $25. So of course, Asimobi made a TikTok about it.
She’s not the only one. Hundreds of videos have cropped up on the platform showing tourists lounging in salon chairs, sipping a drink and scrolling away as a team of braiders tackles the task of bringing their celebration ’dos to life — all while the tourists brag about the relatively affordable price. But as more and more diaspora Nigerians come for Detty December and spread the word on social media about the services they’re getting for a steal, stylists have begun raising prices for the high season, and locals are being priced out of the salon chair.
December wasn’t always seen as a month-long party. Content creator Morenike Ayo-Vaughan, who was born and raised in Lagos before moving to the U.S. at 18 for university, recalls that it used to be more of a reunion. With many Nigerians migrating to different parts of the world for work and education, December is one of the few times people can be in the same city as friends and family who have returned to spend the holidays at home. This concept led to the creation of the term I Just Got Back (IJGB), referring to those who grew up in Nigeria but have since relocated, returning in December.
“It went from being a reunion of comrades, former friends and people who grew up together, to just one big diaspora meeting festival,” said Ayo-Vaughan.
Now the emphasis has shifted from the joy of being reunited with loved ones to something more materialistic, with conscious consumption on display, including hair services.
Protective styles such as braids or cornrows, which guard naturally textured hair from the damage of heat styling, are notoriously expensive in Western countries. In New York City, a set of knotless braids — where long strands of synthetic hair are placed at the scalp to add the necessary length and volume to the natural hair without creating the bulk of a knot — can range anywhere from $200 to $600, making salon braids a luxury for many Black women. But in Nigeria, where the majority of the population is Black, there is a much wider range of prices with a lower starting point, as getting a protective style done is seen as more of a necessity.
The “getting my hair done in Lagos” hashtag on TikTok has countless videos, many of which have over 200,000 views. Lagos-based content creator Dodo Babs notes that these videos tend to go viral, especially when they include price details converted to dollars or pounds, so an international audience can see just how much cheaper it is to get a great style in Lagos than in the U.K. or U.S.
But discussion of U.K. or U.S. prices misses the local context: The average monthly salary in Nigeria is about 340,000 naira ($220), and 47% of Nigeria’s population lives below the international poverty line of $2.15 per day. Prices that may seem cheap to those jetting in for a set of knotless braids in December are becoming out of reach to those using the services year-round.
Babs said that many hairstylists in Nigeria see this content when it’s rolled out, and that can influence pricing. “December is a very notorious period for raising prices,” she said. “Salons increase their prices by ridiculous amounts to capitalize not only on the festive season but also on the return of the IJGBs and the arrival of tourists.”
This is partly because December is a much busier period for hair salons in Lagos. Blessing Anyiam, head of operations at Lagos-based salon Hikky’s Hair, said that the salon gets much more custom during this period, especially for luxury styles such as long knotless braids, and typically has to plan for extra staff in advance to handle the influx of people. Those additional costs can impact pricing, but the changes are also due to the perceived higher spending power of diaspora Nigerians, as many salons increase prices specifically for those customers.
Asimobi revealed that when messaging a braider on Instagram, she noticed that they watched her story, and she was given a much higher price than expected. To check this discrepancy, she had a friend who was based in Nigeria full time also message the braider on her behalf and found that they were given a much lower price. When stylists see content made by customers describing services as cheap or affordable, knowing that a premium has already been added on, it validates the price gouging.
Ayo-Vaughan explained: “The pricing of Lagos hair services has gone out of control. You have certain hair service providers where you know that Nigerians working in Nigeria and earning in naira are not their target audience. One might even suggest that they are purposely targeting Nigerians who are visiting from abroad, which obviously has raised prices for Nigerians living in Nigeria.”
The nature of hair pricing in Nigeria at the moment goes beyond stylists simply raising their prices to exploit tourists or after watching a TikTok. The Nigerian economy has been rocked this year, with inflation hitting 34% in June and the naira depreciating by nearly 52% relative to the U.S. dollar since November 2023. The impact of these changes has been felt by Nigerians in all areas of life, including haircare.
Blessing, a team lead at The Braiding Vault, a Lagos hair salon, told New Lines that prices at the salon have changed regularly, influenced by inflation and the devaluation of the naira. Other salons peg their pricing to the U.S. dollar rather than the local currency.
However, Babs argues that while inflation has played a role, it simply made the existing price gouging situation worse and is having a larger impact than it typically has due to the economic strain many Nigerians are already facing. When Ayo-Vaughan posted a TikTok complaining about the proliferation of “come get my hair done with me in Lagos” videos, dozens of Lagos-based Nigerians commented that they’d been priced out of their regular salons, where visitors now outnumber local customers. “There’s responsibility in providing context to what you’re sharing, and just being mindful of the economy, inflation and the possibility of exploitation,” she said.
The salons hit hardest are those in affluent areas of Lagos, those with chic decor and little luxuries — drinks or pampering head massages — along with high-end services, which attract the IJGB set flying in for a December visit. Bolaji Awo, a hair entrepreneur who recently moved back to Lagos after living in New York for seven years, said that approach pays off: People are willing to pay a premium for that more thoughtful experience, even if it would be the same quality service as a local braider.
In Nigeria, there are thousands of smaller salons run by local women in less wealthy areas where one can get one’s hair done for even lower prices, but without the slick TikTok aesthetic that IJGBs are looking for. These businesses are often frequented by average Nigerians, with relatively lower spending power.
Awo argued that with the price increases, the salon experience in Lagos is being pushed to two extremes — either the high-end luxury salon experience only affordable for the wealthiest Nigerians and those visiting from abroad, or the local experience used by Nigerians earning much less, slowly eradicating the middle-tier experience.
While the IJGBs post their luxury salon videos, Babs said she thinks social media will likely also be utilized to make the local low-budget salon experience trendy and appealing. She pointed to a TikTok she made getting her hair done at a local salon for 8,000 naira ($5) in Ibadan, which has a much lower cost of living than Lagos. The post garnered over 200,000 views.
The price hikes and economic fluctuations aren’t just impacting who’s getting their hair done where, but what styles are becoming popular among young Lagosians. Ella Ajudua, a recent graduate based in Lagos, explained that the price of long extensions, once seen as the hottest hair trend, tripled due to inflation. As a result, many women in Lagos started getting shorter, shoulder-length braid styles to save some cash.
Now, she says, TikTok and Instagram are awash with bob-length styles. Swingy knotless braids with little whisps dangling above the shoulders have started trending — even if no one is mentioning the economic reasons they’ve increased in popularity.
“Spotlight” is a newsletter about underreported cultural trends and news from around the world, emailed to subscribers twice a week. Sign up here.