Thread: Argument with a Barber

I posted exactly about this a couple of years ago.....:-)

My old local barber, and Italian gentleman, was an absolute master. As BobH says, they're not allowed to use straight razors anymore, shavettes only.

I chatted with my him frequently about straight razors, and eventually, I started bringing mine in for him to use on me, and show me some tricks.

By that point, I thought I was pretty slick with a straight, but this guy shaved me so close with one pass I was amazed. Used to tell me how when he was a kid his father made him shave balloons without popping them and in the dark, he said he could shave anyone in pitch darkness, and I believed him.

I brought 5/8, 8/8, 6/8, Tiers Issard, Wade and Butcher, lots of different blades in, and he never like the big blades, he said it would make his hand tired, but he knew others who liked them, he preferred a 5/8 with a coticule hone in his pocket.

He literally made me almost stand straight up in the chair when he did an ATG pass on me, not a nick, not a drop of blood, but it felt like with one iota of angle change, he'd slice my head off, that's how much pressure I felt - but one pass, and I was pretty clean, he just then did a few clean up areas and for my benefit, one WTG pass over my face.

Guys waiting in line were entranced, of course I brought the strop with me, never seen anything like it, total expert, and he didn't like my strop either, not worked in enough.

He liked the edges on my razors, but said they were very fine, but wouldn't last a day.

Took one of my razors that could use a touch-up, some lather on his coticule that he still had, literally 15-25 laps, couldn't tell, and he was done, razor was perfect.

Guys retired now, his shop sold, his son wasn't interested in it, but man, what a master, it's sad all this has gone.

Travelling around the Mediterranean, the Near and Middle East, where getting a shave from a barber is still quite common, I sometimes go and experience a shave from the sort of professional barber who has been doing this every day of his career.

This is not a fashionable “in thing” with 14 passes, this is just an ordinary morning (if I travel usually mid-morning ) 2 pass plus touch-up routine, usually with well worn boar brush and invariably a shavette type of razor (due to local health regulations) unless I bring along my Feather AC.
Barbering is a trade and I take it that the economics of barbershop shaves don’t support spending money on high-end silvertip brushes or Feather AC replaceable blade razors the way we amateurs do.

It has taught me a few things:
1.) After years of daily straight shaving my own shaves are invariably closer than what the professionals achieve.
2.) I believe this is mainly due to the simple fact that we are aficionados and take a shave more serious (than maybe necessary), take more time, know our face better than any barber in a strange town, and have adapted our shaving routine to our face.

In a nutshell, I don’t say this to disparage barbers, but because I know now that it’s much easier to get an optimal shave when you know a face since you happen to be the owner.



But straight shaving has also some “macho” connotations and attracts some individuals just because of that. That creates a market niche that is filled by (sometimes cocky) barbers who try to make out of the old-fashioned barber routine an elevated “art of shaving” experience and feed on the gullible and easily impressed.

I don’t have time for this sort of thing, and talking briefly about what kinds of shave they offer, what they charge, and looking at the clients (a bunch of old middle-class farts like me who wait in turn is usually a good indication. ) gives me a pretty good idea what to expect.

I would fully expect that trying to explain to a cocky know-all who fancies himself to be a barber that he has serious gaps in his shaving knowledge would be an exercise in futility.

But I do get a kick out of some seasoned barber giving me a shave, as I never have the time for the pampering hot towel before- and post-shave routine, and (even if the shave should ultimately not be as close as mine) there is little that beats leaning back in a barber chair, relax, and feel a true professional go to work.


B.

Bravo, sir! Well said!

Paul

Is 14 passes normal? I thought that a pass included each time you went over your face. How can your face not be raw after 14 shaves?
I'm not a fan of making "the best" claims, but I understand a businessman trying to convey his confidence in his skills.

Got my beard lined up for the first time a week ago for an additional $5. Interesting experience. No hot towel or hot lather. Felt like he kept the blade flat and kind of did a buffing technique. He used something like a clear oil instead of cream. Probably makes it easier to get the lines the way you want them.

Had a nice talk about straights. He asked me bring my straights in so I took my roll a few days later. He loved them and was showing some of the other barbers.

He said something about how they had to go to disposables years ago because the steel in straights was supposed to hold bacteria (or something like that) and by the time the restrictions were removed everyone had converted to shavettes.

Originally Posted by JP5

Is 14 passes normal? I thought that a pass included each time you went over your face. How can your face not be raw after 14 shaves?

It’s called the Gillette Effect after the name of the company who first applied this effect to the number of blades in razor cartridges.

For the number of blades, or in this case the number of passes during a straight shave, the theory goes that if 3 is good, then 15 must be five times as good, and 30 would be ten times as good.
The price of the goods or service follows a similar relationship.

Generally, the theory is considered humbug by “people in the know”, but it has proved to be remarkable effective among people who don’t know any better and/or are prone to fall for marketing hype.
Associated with some pseudo-science, it has been demonstrated to be almost irresistible.




B.

Originally Posted by lightcs1776

My barber gives a great haircut that is fully military compliant. She went through hair cutting school and is quite competent, but there is no way I would even consider letting her give me a shave. She does make me dinner though, and takes care of our kids. Yep, wife cuts my hair and was trained to do so (she didn't like the work environment so she never did hair cutting outside of family). As far as shaving, I prefer to do it myself. I would consider a shave at a barber if they could still use a real straight razor, but as has already been mentioned, that isn't allowed in NY.

Where upstate are you? You might be able to get my guy to shave you using your own tools.

I was at an antique store in New Lebannon Ny, and the shop owner told me it was against state law for him to sell straights. How much truth is there to that, or was he just blowing smoke.

I found a shop here in Akron, that will give traditional straight shaves for $15.

I found he hones on a Coti, and that won't work for me. And he won't shave me with one of mine, either.

Too bad, or I'd probably let him shave me. May still, someday. At least for the experience.

I've asked my barber, he said he hasn't touched one since his barbers test and doesn't plan on ever touching one again.

Originally Posted by Phrank

He liked the edges on my razors, but said they were very fine, but wouldn't last a day.

Skill and knowledge, wisdom if you will