A HAIR salon has introduced a code phrase for customers to use to reduce price of a haircut.

The Studio Earlestown announced on Saturday that it will now half the price of a child’s haircut if the parent uses the phrase.

Customers will only need to ask ‘how’s married life treating you?’ to receive the price reduction with no questions asked.

The gesture is in response to the cost of living crisis with parents struggling to have their children’s hair cut ahead of the new school term.

Charmaine Preston, owner of the salon, said: “I just realised everyone was struggling at the moment and as I do people’s hair, their kids are sat there, and their mother turns around and says ‘I can’t afford it’ under their breath.

“It just started making me think, we live in a cruel world and there’s people out there who are struggling and so I thought I’d love to give it for free, but obviously I still need to make money so the best I could do was half it completely.

“I thought some people are embarrassed to say that they’re struggling so I came up with a phrase.

“Because I’m not married, that will trigger in my brain that it was a key for them to tell me that they’re struggling.”

St Helens Star: Charmaine wanted to help struggling families afford their children to have a haircut Charmaine wanted to help struggling families afford their children to have a haircut (Image: Canva)

The salon also allows customers to bring in their own home box dye for £5 and free shaving for those braving the cut for charity.

36-year-old Charmaine added: “I didn’t think it would get as many shares as it did, but it has. I’ve had a few in already and people are smiling and made up; they’re actually happy that there’s people out there helping.

“People come in and they’re struggling; they’re panicking.

“You have your really quiet days, and you have your busy days. It’s never going to be busy all the time with what’s going on, but it pays my wage and that’s as much as I can ask for at the moment.”

The business was set up 13 years ago and is located on Queen Street in Earlestown.