Barber Shop Straight Shaves?

[Rob_The_Robot]

I always wanted to go to a Barber Shop and get one of those old time straight shaves. Unfortunately I have been unsuccessful in finding a shop that still caries on this tradition. So I thought I would ask my fellow B&B members if these places still exist and have you ever utilized this service

 

[Mbuckwash]

Oh definitely. If you search your local downtown for a "old fashioned" barber shop with the red, white, and blue barber pole outside...odds are, they straight razor shave. They will use a shavette due to health and safety regulations but the shave is still excellent. It's a truly incredible experience and worth every penny!

 

[cottontop]

What is a shavette?
ct

 

[mmack66]

What is a shavette?
ct

It is a straight razor type device with a disposable blade.

There are a lot of stories about sub-par barber shop shaves.

 

[dpm802]

There are a lot of stories about sub-par barber shop shaves.

I've only had one barbershop shave. It was so bad, I had to go home afterwards and finish the job with my DE.

I think the weak point in most barbershop shaves is the lather. Those machines that generate a stream of foam just can't compare with what we can whip up with a brush and good soap at home. Even if the barber just squirted out a handful from a can of Barbasol, it would be an improvement over those machines.

 

[lowjax]

I know of 3 places in Milwaukee that do Straight Edge shaves. Had one at one of the shops and it was about as good as a 2 pass DE shave. Not BBS, but probably DFS.

 

[graysonhenryrussell]

I am in n.c. & most barbers don't do this because of the time & most people won't pay what they need to charge. My barber still does & uses a straight if you ask. I just take mine with me. If you do find a place & they use the hot lather machine you don't want them shaving you. The younger barbers don't have to go though the extensive training to do this in barber school anymore so they don't know what the hell they are doing. In the 80s here most used the aids scare to quit giving straight shaves. For any of you gentleman close to Charlotte its Cecil Taylor/ arcade Mens room who started in the early 70s.

 

[Black Adder]

I'm going to give the dissenting view on this one and recommend that you steer clear of your search. Granted, there may be a few barbers out there who can pull off a good shave, but it really is a dying art. There have been way too many posts from people here on this forum who tried to get a shave from someone, and they post about how chopped up and butchered they are when they leave. Nobody goes near my face with a razor, nobody but me. Barbers today just don't do it often enough to get really proficient, and shaving with a straight requires a lot of almost instinctive interaction with the razor and the face. I shave with a straight, but I also can flex and stretch the skin, and hold still, when I need to in time and coordination with the blade. A barber without experience simply can't do this. The only shaves that people seem to post to the positive side have occurred in countries like Turkey or Italy, and those people may have been doing it for years.

Don

 

[jrtaster]

I'm going to give the dissenting view on this one and recommend that you steer clear of your search. Granted, there may be a few barbers out there who can pull off a good shave, but it really is a dying art. There have been way too many posts from people here on this forum who tried to get a shave from someone, and they post about how chopped up and butchered they are when they leave. Nobody goes near my face with a razor, nobody but me. Barbers today just don't do it often enough to get really proficient, and shaving with a straight requires a lot of almost instinctive interaction with the razor and the face. I shave with a straight, but I also can flex and stretch the skin, and hold still, when I need to in time and coordination with the blade. A barber without experience simply can't do this. The only shaves that people seem to post to the positive side have occurred in countries like Turkey or Italy, and those people may have been doing it for years.

Don

Have to agree...you'll have to kiss a lot of frogs before you locate a prince of a shave, IMHO! A total shame, of course, but even when
you could more easily get a "proficient" str8 barbershop shave, it was the hedonistic "experience," not the closeness of the shave you
were likely to remember and savor. Today, you're likely to obtain neither the "full treatment" nor a good shave.
jr

 

[Szyman01]

I had one on my wedding day from the barber in the old neighborhood (SW side of Chicago). He's still there (Carmen's Barber Shop in Burbank)
I also had one in SW Fort Worth when I lived there. He had been in the same place for like 40 years. Both of them did a good job with straight razors.

 

[Khedquist]

Years ago I used to go to the local beauty college. 50 cents for a straight razor shave including the works. Believe it or not it was pretty good. Now the state won't let the students shave people. They shave balloons. Go figure.

 

[Warhorse]

There's a line of stores that I'm sure everyone has heard about (Art of Shaving) that supposedly specializes in in-shop straight razor barber shaves. I decided that while I was on leave in Orlando I would treat myself to a shave. Called them up to make an appointment and they only have barbers from THUR - SUN. Called back on THUR and was told that their barber wasn't in today. Prices for the shaving package were about $80. I decided to forget about it....not worth it to me after all. There are 3 of these in the Seattle area so maybe I'll go back sometime to try it.
I've always dreamt of finding some little one chair barber shop somewhere where you could get a quality shave and haircut old-school fashion. I've found some that do straight razor edging on haircuts, but didn't do full shaves. Guess I'll just keep looking.

 

[graysonhenryrussell]

Like I said in the above post my barber is very good good at it but he's also been doing it since 72 & you are right , its a dying art.

 

[Pkp1903]

There's a few in Ohio..typically your big cities, however in Ohio they must use shavettes. I assume this in an infection control measure.

 

[cb91710]

Echoing the above comments.
The majority of people today shave with an electric or a cartridge.
Those who shave with a straight are extremely rare.
Those who shave with a straight and are a barber are even more rare.
Those who shave with a straight and are a barber and offer straight shaves in this country can probably be counted without exceeding 3 digits.

 

[graysonhenryrussell]

Charlotte is a large city & my barber is the only one I know of who still does straight shaves. So I agree that you could count all of them in the states & it would not be over three digits.

 

[cb91710]

Charlotte is a large city & my barber is the only one I know of who still does straight shaves. So I agree that you could count all of them in the states & it would not be over three digits.

There are absolutely more than 1000 places you can buy a straight shave.
I was referring to barbers who actually use one on themselves... meaning, they are actually practiced in the use... not just something that they do once a week or less when someone pays for it.

 

[graysonhenryrussell]

I doubt that you have a 1000 of them that do it well & I don't think mine uses one ever day to shave. We do have an art of shaving here but I have not been there because I think their stuff is way overpriced.

 

[InkEd]

You have to find either a niche retro place or geniune old timers place.

 

[Virgilio]

The AoS nearest me does it, but I've never partaken. I found a place in the Seattle area when i was stationed there that did it, Vietnamese barbershop, immigrant owner, definitely knew what he was doing but it was a shavette with foam machine. When I was stationed in Italy I had a great corner barber that did it the right way.