This is an installment in a multi-part series. 

Walking into HABA Salon on Market Street in Iowa City, the scents of shampoo, sprays, and oils waft through the space as people get their hair washed, cut, and dyed. 

But behind the sound of hair dryers, scissor snips, and cheerful banter lies a growing challenge for small businesses like HABA — rising costs driven by tariffs on imported beauty products.

According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Trump administration is enforcing reciprocal tariffs — a tax or restriction one country places on another in response to similar actions taken by that country — ranging from 15 percent to 50 percent on 65 of the U.S.’s largest trading partners, including Mexico, Canada, and China and 10 percent on nearly every other country as
of Aug. 7.

Higher tariffs are leading to increased costs on imported beauty goods, including products such as hair color, synthetic and human hair extensions, and tools, including hair dryers, curlers, and straighteners. These increases are then often passed on to consumers and primarily impact smaller, locally owned salons.  

Manager Alex DeMartino started working at HABA when it opened in 2014 and said she has seen prices go up for certain products or services, such as haircuts and shampoo, in the past couple of years, which has influenced how much people are buying.

She said the salon tries to stick to a consistent price range, of $45 to $100 for haircuts to keep clients happy and loyal. But the rising costs on products, which can be up to $10 more expensive, caused by tariffs have made consistency increasingly difficult. 

Products the salon relies on, like hair color, shampoos, and styling tools, have become more expensive. A 250 mL shampoo bottle now costs $37 retail, creating new challenges for both the business and its customers. “Clients aren’t too surprised when they come in and [refill] on the shampoo they already use,” DeMartino said. “But with the price increases, I do feel like a lot of it came from material sourcing issues.”

Discussing the financial realities of the situation has been a tough but necessary part of DeMartino’s role.

“It’s a little jarring to have to sit down with my [sales] reps and be like, ‘I’m scared they [customers] can’t afford it.’ It’s just as simple as that,” she said.

DeMartino said despite the quality of the products, the price isn’t always justifiable, which can impact business. 

“These products are really good — they speak for themselves,” she said. “But I’ve had people come in, love a product, and then hear it’s $40 and say, ‘Never mind.’ There’s just this dissonance between how much people value quality and what they can
actually afford.”

Thompson and Co. Salon and Parlor on Washington Street said they have not seen many price increases as their suppliers eat the costs of their imported products, taking on the financial burden of expenses instead of
passing them on. 

“Luckily for us, the only thing we would have an increase on is the hair extensions that we buy, as they all come from Canada,” Thompson and Co. Salon and Parlor Manager Lauren Marck said. 

“It’s not something that has majorly affected us, but we’re hoping it’s going to stay that way for the future. We would rather eat those costs than make our guests take it.”

Salons, however, aren’t the only health, wellness, and beauty businesses seeing tariff-related price increases.

Monica Ferguson, owner of CIELO, a clothing store located on the Pedestrian Mall, said everything in her store, from merchandise bags to the blank apparel they purchase, have gone up in price due to tariffs, which creates a wider gap between large chain stores and local businesses.

“People already pay more to shop with us, and further increasing prices makes our sustainability extremely difficult,” she said. “The margins I had years ago are gone.” 

Ferguson added she is interested in bringing CIELO’s local manufacturing back to Iowa and running a wholesale operation in which the business buy goods in large quantities from manufacturers and sells them in bulk to retailers or other businesses rather than selling them directly to consumers in order to combat price increases. 

“I ran a huge wholesale operation during COVID-19, and although prices for raw materials like fabric are higher, I am passionate about creating my comfort products again,” she said