From pink razor blades to salon haircuts, women regularly pay more for items and services that are nearly identical to those for men but marketed differently, a German watchdog said Tuesday.

In the country's largest such study to date, the federal anti-discrimination agency (ADS) singled out hairdressers and dry cleaners as the worst offenders, though it found that overall, the price gap for gendered products was relatively small.

"If a person is charged more purely based on their gender, then in principle this violates the law against discrimination," said Christine Lueders, the head of Germany's federal anti-discrimination agency (ADS).

Her agency compared the prices of nearly 1,700 products that targeted a specific gender -- often by using the colours pink and blue -- but were otherwise similar.