Thread: Major burn after first straight razor shave at Barber

Aloha!

Very old thread and sorry to Necro this, but it may be a good thread for newbies that go to a barber for a shave these days and are less than satisfied.

I travel extensively worldwide and have had barber shaves from many barbers in many countries. Let's stick with North America, and especially the US for now. Young barbers graduate with very little straight experience. When thrown into a shop and asked to shave, indeed, their first few dozen gentlemen will be Guinea Pigs for their blades. Very few shops I have visited in the US have barbers with the skill level to properly shave a gentleman correctly, without inflicting major razor burn or several cuts and nicks. Let me give you some examples of what I've been exposed to, good and bad since about 1990 ish;

I was at an airport in the Midwest before 9/11 when security was much more lax and there was a barber shop in the concourse gate area. I stopped in for a haircut on a barber that was (at that time) about 55-65 years old. While he was cutting my hair I asked him if he shaved. He said "Of course, I'm a barber". He proceeded to strop a true straight razor (not a Shavette), hot towel me and put on hot lather. As he was doing this a security guard walked in and said something like, "Walter, are you actually going to SHAVE this guy?" Then the guard looked at me and rolled his eyes. I should have taken this que to stop the process. After all his prep, the barber (no joke) wiped off all the lather with a dry towel and started dry shaving me with a very odd back and forth scraping action like he was removing paint. Hurt like crazy. I complained and he said that he was getting close and it was supposed to hurt. Can you imagine? These days I would have stopped the shave immediately, but I was young enough to foolishly take the pain. He finished and started putting on styptic for all the cuts and burn he subjected me to. It was a horrific shave and I looked a mess when I boarded my plane. I should have stopped him in his tracks. Definitely the worst barber shave of my life. My face was raw for days and it took the cuts a while to heal.

Barber shop in the Southeast advertised they were "old school shaving" so I stopped in and took a shave. Nice prep, three hot towels, lather, face massage, the works. Young gal shaving me (said she was a recent barber graduate) using a shavette. WAY too much pressure, WAY too many passes over the same area after the original later was gone. 2nd worse razor burn and cuts I ever got. Anyone else whose skin was not used to a blade would have walked out of there raw as a side of beef. My skin was not happy but it was not the end of the world. She didn't get much of a tip, believe me. I actually told her that she had razor burned me quite extensively and that she needed to work on her skill. I told her to let the razor blade do the work, not brute force. I also told her not to shave the same area multiple times AFTER she had made the first pass without putting on more lather. She admitted she was new and I was one of her first customers. Yikes.

Barbershop in upstate NY had a strop hanging from a chair and I asked the barber if he shaved. He said yes but with a shavette. Turned out to be a fairly good shavette shave. Probably the best I have had outside of my shop in Hawaii. No burn, smooth, good skill level. Very simple prep. One hot towel and lather, then cleanup with a DE and aftershave and balm. But it was an inexpensive shave and socially acceptable for the price.

Chicago barbershop specializing in shaves. Went in, paid BIG BUCKS for a wet shave. What did I get? A disposable Bic type multi-blade razor, one pass shave. No hot towel, no hot lather. Just a quick brush on from a mug of some cold lather then a quick one pass disposable razor shave as I was sitting upright in the chair. Horrible. I've gotten closer shaves in my athletic club while showering with a disposable razor. Biggest rip-off ever. I was in such shock that I had paid such big money for a simple one-pass disposable razor shave that I remember standing at the checkout shaking my head when the person asked me, "Do you want to put your tip on the credit card?". I wanted to say, "Tip? I have a tip. Stop claiming you are professional barber shaving shop!".

My shop in Hawaii (see my Avatar) is probably the best barber shave I have had to date in the US. These guys know what they are doing. Smooth as silk. Great prep, multi-pass, BBS result. Asian shop (most of Hawaii is) and there is an Asian "Zen of Shaving" vibe in the shop where they seem to take great pride in being a shop that specializes in not only gentlemen's hair cuts but superior shaves as well.

So it's 80 percent very bad, 15 percent fairly good and 5 percent good on my luck with barbershop shaves while traveling.

Anyone else had the same or different experiences?

-Zip