How Often Should You Book Each Beauty Treatment — and What Each Schedule Costs Per Year

There's a strange gap in how beauty advice works. Every article will confidently tell you to rebook your nails every three weeks or your colour every eight — and none of them mention what that schedule costs over a year. Which is odd, because the frequency is the cost. A £46 treatment isn't a £46 decision if you're committing to it seventeen times.

So here's every major treatment with its realistic maintenance cycle and the annual figure attached. Not to talk you out of anything — just so you're choosing with the real number in front of you.

Nails

Treatment Rebook every Annual cost
| Gel manicure  | 2–3 weeks  | £780–£1,200
| BIAB  | 3–4 weeks  | £550–£800
| Acrylic (set + infills)  | 2–3 weeks  | £600–£900
| Pedicure  | 4–6 weeks  | £250–£350
| Gel pedicure  | 4–6 weeks  | £350–£500

Worth knowing: BIAB costs more per visit than gel but stretches a week further, so the annual figure lands lower. And pedicures are the cheapest habit on this list purely because toenails grow slowly — the same gel lasts roughly twice as long on toes as on hands.

Lashes and brows

Treatment Rebook every Annual cost
| Lash extensions (infills)  | 2–3 weeks  | £775–£1,800
| Lash lift  | 6–8 weeks  | ~£400
| Lash tint  | 4–6 weeks  | ~£200
| Brow lamination  | 6–8 weeks  | £400–£500
| Henna brows  | 4–6 weeks  | £200–£350
| Microblading  | 12–18 months  | ~£290 (after initial £200–£600)

The standout: lash extensions are the single most expensive recurring habit in mainstream beauty — a lash lift delivers roughly a third of the annual cost, though it can't add length or volume.

Hair

Treatment Rebook every Annual cost
| Cut & blow dry  | 6–12 weeks  | £150–£500
| Full head highlights  | 6–8 weeks  | £1,100+
| Balayage  | 3–6 months  | £540–£720
| Keratin smoothing  | 3–6 months  | £440–£880
| Hair extensions  | Refit 6–10 weeks  | £1,200–£1,400 (year one)

The counter-intuitive one: balayage costs more per appointment than highlights but roughly half as much per year, because it grows out softly rather than showing a root line at week six. The expensive-looking option is the cheaper habit.

Skin and waxing

Treatment Rebook every Annual cost
| Facial  | Monthly  | £400–£700
| HydraFacial  | Monthly  | £900–£1,500
| LED therapy  | Course, then monthly  | £400–£900
| Full leg wax  | 3–4 weeks  | ~£450
| Brazilian / Hollywood  | 4–6 weeks  | £400–£600
| Spray tan (weekly habit)  | 7–10 days  | £1,000–£1,800

Aesthetics

Treatment Rebook every Annual cost
| Anti-wrinkle (3 areas)  | 3–4 months  | £900–£1,200
| Lip filler  | 6–12 months  | £250–£400
| Profhilo  | Course, then 6-monthly  | £600–£1,200

What this actually adds up to

A UK survey of 2,000 adults found 80% of Brits spend around £1,200 a year on beauty treatments. Run the tables above and you'll see how easily that's passed: gel nails and a lash lift alone gets you there. Nails, lashes, brows and colour together comfortably clears £3,000.

None of which is a judgement. Plenty of people spend more than that on a gym membership they don't use, or a car they could have bought cheaper. The point is simply that most people have never added it up — and a recurring cost you've never calculated is the one most likely to be the wrong size for your budget.

Where you can stretch, and where you can't

The useful distinction, since not all frequencies are equally flexible:

Genuinely stretchable: haircuts on long hair (10–12 weeks is honest maintenance), pedicures, facials (6–8 weeks still delivers), and colour if you switch to a grow-out-friendly technique.

Not stretchable without paying more: lash infills (most salons need 40–50% of lashes remaining or it's a full new set) and acrylic or BIAB infills (past four weeks it becomes a rebalance at premium pricing). Stretching these costs money rather than saving it.

Not stretchable at all: lash lifts, brow lamination and tints simply grow out. Leaving them longer doesn't save anything — you just spend more weeks not looking how you wanted.

The single most effective change

If the annual figures above are uncomfortable, the highest-leverage move usually isn't cutting a treatment — it's swapping to the version with the longer cycle. Gel to BIAB. Highlights to balayage. Extensions to a lash lift. In each case the per-visit price goes up slightly and the annual cost drops meaningfully, because you're buying fewer appointments rather than cheaper ones.

Our pricing calculator can run your own combination with local prices, and our piece on rising salon prices covers the savings that don't compromise the result.

The bottom line

Frequency is the cost. Before committing to any recurring treatment, multiply the price by how many times a year you'll actually book it — and if that number surprises you, look at the longer-cycle alternative before looking for a cheaper salon.

Compare current UK prices on our Beauty Price Index, or find a verified professional near you in our directory.