Service Worker Tracks Tips To Reveal Which Hairstyle Makes the Most Money

It’s no secret that tips are absolutely essential for hospitality workers, but what if your hairstyle could hinder or help the amount you walk away with at the end of a shift?

Ellie Rose, an 18-year-old from Missouri, knows this more than most: she has been running an experiment to see which of her hairstyles leaves her with the highest amount of tips—and which leaves her empty-handed.

Her challenge has since gone viral, gaining millions of views across her “hair theory” videos as she keeps track of how much money she makes with each style, like the clip below, which amassed over 16.5 million views and 1.6 million likes since it was shared in mid-May.

Hair theory isn’t a new concept, with the term referring to how hair impacts the way one is seen and treated by others, as well as affecting self-confidence and social perception, and holding cultural significance for many.

Rose’s content (shared on @ellarynrose) takes this theory and applies it to real life through her work. Her experiment revealed some interesting insights into how strangers subconsciously react to different hairstyles over a week of work in the form of monetary tips. However, it is unclear if hairstyle was the only factor affecting the decision of how much to tip the worker.

Day One: Messy Bun With Bows

Total tips: $0

Although she did add to the style with the addition of a bow in the back, Rose didn’t make any tips whilst sporting this hairstyle, although this was out of her control after being sent home by her employer.

When asked why the bun got her sent home, the service worker explained, “I’ve gotten this quite a lot, the power went out for three hours so I was sent home,” meaning the jury’s still out on the impact of this particular hairstyle.

Day Two: Half Up With Bows

Total tips: $138

Her second style saw her hair in loose curls, with the front half pulled back into two space buns at the top of her head, accessorized with the addition of two black bows.

The style proved popular with both viewers and her customers, pulling in $138 in extra cash as well as comments like, “Half up with bows is SO CUTE.”

Day Three: Double Space Buns With Bandana

Total tips: £135

Space buns proved to work as Rose walked away from her shift with $135 in tips and wearing the style with a black bandana.

Day Four: Claw Clip Bun

Total tips: $83

For shift four, Rose combined two of this summer’s biggest trends: claw clips and a slick back bun.

Whilst this style is a favorite of TikTok’s fashion community, pulling in comments like “that claw clip bun is SO PRETTY,” Rose’s tables that evening didn’t seem to agree, as the style left her with only $83 in tips.

Day Five: Braided Pigtails With Bandana

Total tips: £103

Bringing the bandana back out for the second time did seem to help with her intake on day five, with Rose applying the ‘pigtail theory.’ This was the original TikTok theory that sparked the hair theory debated amongst service workers after user @aliveandwellandsixy claimed that the hairstyle helped her bring in double her usual tips.

The style was a definite improvement on the last day, with Rose’s tips totaling £103 for the shift.

What Do the Comments Say?

Whilst many were intrigued by the hair theory, the video also sparked debate in the comments as to how much hair theory can really have an impact—especially when it comes to tips.

One user asked, “Ok but do ppl really tip based off their servers appearance?”, to which a second explained, “Sometimes it’s an unconscious bias! appearance plays a huge role in person perception because it’s easily accessible info for the brain.”

Another wrote, “I don’t think I’ve ever tipped bigger based on appearance or looked twice at a waitresses hair.”

Newsweek reached out to the original poster for comment via Instagram. We could not verify the details of the case.