Business Segments and Geographic Area Information (Details) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2015 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2015 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2014 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2014 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2014 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2013 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2015 USD ($) segment	Sep. 30, 2014 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2013 USD ($)
Segments
Number of operating segments | segment									2
Net sales:
Total net sales	$ 964,230	$ 967,890	$ 937,755	$ 964,468	$ 944,288	$ 949,275	$ 919,471	$ 940,464	$ 3,834,343	$ 3,753,498	$ 3,622,216
Identifiable assets:
Total assets	2,094,351				2,004,319				2,094,351	2,004,319	1,924,493
Segment operating profit:
Total segment operating profit									495,326	506,996	520,362
Share-based compensation expense									(16,778)	(22,107)	(19,201)
Interest expense									(116,842)	(116,317)	(107,695)
Earnings (loss) before provision for income taxes									378,484	390,679	412,667
Depreciation and amortization:
Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization, Total									89,391	79,663	72,192
Capital expenditures:
Total capital expenditures									106,532	76,814	84,879
Capital expenditures incurred not yet paid									11,600
Operating segments
Identifiable assets:
Total assets	1,952,321				1,928,884				1,952,321	1,928,884	1,887,159
Segment operating profit:
Total segment operating profit									643,544	648,626	637,510
Corporate
Identifiable assets:
Total assets	142,030				75,435				142,030	75,435	37,334
Segment operating profit:
Unallocated expenses									(131,440)	(119,523)	(97,947)
Depreciation and amortization:
Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization, Total									15,141	11,862	10,151
Capital expenditures:
Total capital expenditures									23,794	14,521	8,570
Sally Beauty Supply
Net sales:
Total net sales									2,329,523	2,308,743	2,230,028
Sally Beauty Supply | Operating segments
Identifiable assets:
Total assets	976,152				959,210				976,152	959,210	913,395
Segment operating profit:
Total segment operating profit									412,393	431,655	437,018
Depreciation and amortization:
Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization, Total									45,572	41,019	37,077
Capital expenditures:
Total capital expenditures									65,983	43,114	60,565
Beauty Systems Group
Net sales:
Total net sales									1,504,820	1,444,755	1,392,188
Beauty Systems Group | Operating segments
Identifiable assets:
Total assets	$ 976,169				$ 969,674				976,169	969,674	973,764
Segment operating profit:
Total segment operating profit									231,151	216,971	200,492
Depreciation and amortization:
Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization, Total									28,678	26,782	24,964
Capital expenditures:
Total capital expenditures									16,755	19,179	$ 15,744
Executive management transition plan | Corporate
Segment operating profit:
Share-based compensation expense										(3,500)
Germany | Restructuring charges | Sally Beauty Supply
Segment operating profit:
Total segment operating profit									5,300
Data Security Incidents | Selling, general and administrative expenses
Segment operating profit:
Unallocated expenses									(5,600)	$ (2,500)
Insurance recovery									$ 600