Hey so figured I would post my recent experience with a young barber. Little back story, there used to be this barbershop called Miracle Mile that I used to go to when I was in my early 20's, and there was this old guy who gave traditional straight shaves as well as trained young barbers. Ok fast forward to 2019 and my usual barber is busy and wasn't able to get me in for my usual time so I opted to shop around and see who else could cut hair in town. There is a pretty good barbershop scene in my area so thought it would be a fun experiment. Well came across a small hole in the wall that I drive past everyday, turns out this young barber was trained by the OG at Miracle Mile. This was enough for me, so I sat down for my usual fade.
Well the guy can definitely cut hair, but the conversation eventually led to straights, as it usually does with barbers. Started asking him if he gave shaves, what he used for products, etc. He doesn't use a brush and uses some new age barber cream stuff, as well as a cheap shavette with Derby blades. He started to get really arrogant and told me he could give me the best shave of my life in 14 passes. He started going through how he would do this, and I eventually stopped him and said "you realize not everyone's beard hair grows the same direction", and explained how some of those 'strokes' would be against the grain on my face, and would no doubt lead to irritation, if done of the first pass. He obviously got offended that I was telling him this, even after I explained that I shaved with a straight and was familiar with modern barber training. He was convinced that I was full of shit, and I was convinced he was too.
This was very disheartening as he was trained by a local legend at Miracle Mile, and that he was unteachable. Even with the best training and schooling you can still be wrong. I am curious of what others experiences have been like with modern shaves in the states. I do know there is a guy on Route 66 who still gives 'traditional' straight shaves. Not aware if there is anywhere else in the states that is allowed to do this still. However in my experience they all have used some variation of a shavette.

-Laramie-