When you pay a hairdresser, they aren't getting all the money. Same with when you're tipping a hairdresser you're not just giving the tip to them (in most cases), it's generally the same as when you tip in a restaurant. In a restaurant when you tip a waitress the tips are usually broken up at the end of the night, some goes to the bus boys, some to the hostess, some to the bartender or kitchen hands, etc (or at least, in the places I've worked).

In a hair salon it's the same thing depending on the size and type of staff - the tip is broken up for the person who dyes your hair, who washes your hair, who sweeps the floor, cleans the tools, the person who schedules appointments, etc. Now, of course not all hairdressers have all these people helping, but that just means they have to put in extra hours throughout the day cleaning, disinfecting equipment and such themselves and that time has to be factored into their work hours. At salons where they don't have all these people, it's much more likely that they hairdressers are only making an hourly wage and the rates you're paying aren't going to them at all.

If the salon is one where the hairstylist has to rent a chair, chair rental alone can cost $400+ a month. Then on top of that some hairstylists still split the profits with the salon owner or have to pay for supplies and such. Plus, if you figure most hairstylists don't have clients everyday 8 hours a day, they're not making that much. Some hairdressers are also only paid hourly and basically make the equivalent of waiters. Salary.com says the average yearly income for a hairdresser is only 24,655.. So while it seems like they're getting paid a lot, the money is most likely going to a lot of places and the only way to really know, is to look into how the salon is run and what their policies are.