Barber who doesnt use a shave brush

[Talal]

Gents,

Was considering trying a straight razor in the future and was educating myself a bit more on the angling and looked up this video, which i found a bit puzzling. This barbers technique is intriguing 2 pass shave, no brush (hand lather) and oil only on the 2nd pass?

does anyone do this at all im curious

link below

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Zl6fa7WI78


Thank you

 

[Foyle]

I wouldn't let that guy give me a shave.

 

[August West]

I believe due to health regulations they cannot use brushes and must use shavettes also.

 

[Lexbomb]

I believe due to health regulations they cannot use brushes and must use shavettes also.

+1 that is also my understanding, it is a health thing to stop the spread of infection rather than a poor barber

 

[General__Specific]

I believe due to health regulations they cannot use brushes and must use shavettes also.

True story. Though synthetics can be sterilized using various means, the law is much slower than logic.

I wouldn't let that guy give me a shave.

I'm wondering why you wouldn't. Frankly, my biggest problem is he shaved this guy even though he already had some pretty serious irritation going on and shaving that area is almost a guarantee to make it worse/cause a serious cut. However, it seemed like he handled it adequately. If I were the barber in that situation I would have refused to shave him though.

 

[72plymsatellite]

the law is much slower than logic.

.

what????? i dont believe it!!

 

[BigKev77]

Looks to me like he did a bang up job given the irritation and ingrown hairs he had to deal with.

 

[justadivebum]

Interesting. I want a straight for Christmas.

 

[weizemanner]

Even in the old barber manuals from 1920, it says to use the brush to make and apply lather, then massage into the face with the hands for a couple minutes, or longer for tough beards. Getting your hands in there is the only way to map the beard grain and also helps to find small bumps that the razor might catch on.

Barber laws are governed by each state. I don't know the law in NY but I know here we can use natural bristle brushes as long as we sanitize them with barbicide. We can use traditional stropped straight razors too. In fact, I have looked up many states at this point and contacted several barber boards across the country and haven't found one yet that disallows the use of any particular type of straight razor. In this state neck Dusters were illegal for about 5 years because they are used dry and no barber is waiting for a wet neck dusting brush to dry between clients... of course they are legal once again because in the last 5 years there was no statistical change in the spread of any diseases.

That said, I use the heck out of my latherizer and I use a feather AC because I have hot lather and super sharp blades at my fingertips. The idea of my traditional straight razors clinking around in a barbicide container sends chills down my spine. I do use a boar brush for the actual hot towel shave process but the lather eventually gets cold and I can't disinfect a clay scuttle.

Also this guy did a great job. He managed to shave him without making his condition any worse. In fact his face looks pretty darn good at the end of the video. And that was with a half DE shavette.

As far as refusing to shave someone goes... Shaving is what got me into barbering. I want to shave clients. In the age of 6 bladed razors, every client has a bunch of acne and ingrowns to deal with. Modern barbers have to reach out to the lepers and show them the light touch and preach the way of the one true blade and get the people singing its praises so that they can avoid the temptation of the canned goo and the eternally rising number of blades per cartridge. Together we can cast out the plagues of pseudofolliculitis (razor bumps) and release the ingrowns so that they may rise again. May the hot towels remind people that moist hair is easier to cut, and that real lather should be slippery not foamy. Ah-yeah.

 

[Toltepeceno]

I din't see anything wrong with what he did, probably had to comply with law as already stated.

 

[The Dean]

Even in the old barber manuals from 1920, it says to use the brush to make and apply lather, then massage into the face with the hands for a couple minutes, or longer for tough beards. Getting your hands in there is the only way to map the beard grain and also helps to find small bumps that the razor might catch on.

Barber laws are governed by each state. I don't know the law in NY but I know here we can use natural bristle brushes as long as we sanitize them with barbicide. We can use traditional stropped straight razors too. In fact, I have looked up many states at this point and contacted several barber boards across the country and haven't found one yet that disallows the use of any particular type of straight razor. In this state neck Dusters were illegal for about 5 years because they are used dry and no barber is waiting for a wet neck dusting brush to dry between clients... of course they are legal once again because in the last 5 years there was no statistical change in the spread of any diseases.

That said, I use the heck out of my latherizer and I use a feather AC because I have hot lather and super sharp blades at my fingertips. The idea of my traditional straight razors clinking around in a barbicide container sends chills down my spine. I do use a boar brush for the actual hot towel shave process but the lather eventually gets cold and I can't disinfect a clay scuttle.

Also this guy did a great job. He managed to shave him without making his condition any worse. In fact his face looks pretty darn good at the end of the video. And that was with a half DE shavette.

As far as refusing to shave someone goes... Shaving is what got me into barbering. I want to shave clients. In the age of 6 bladed razors, every client has a bunch of acne and ingrowns to deal with. Modern barbers have to reach out to the lepers and show them the light touch and preach the way of the one true blade and get the people singing its praises so that they can avoid the temptation of the canned goo and the eternally rising number of blades per cartridge. Together we can cast out the plagues of pseudofolliculitis (razor bumps) and release the ingrowns so that they may rise again. May the hot towels remind people that moist hair is easier to cut, and that real lather should be slippery not foamy. Ah-yeah.

Now that is a "weiz" post. I wish you were a barber here, because you would be shaving my face.

While it may indeed be true in any particular situation, the law forbids a brush (or traditional straight), it seems more often than not it is a misunderstanding and/or excuse for the barber. I have had a straight shave in the same states where other barbers have sworn to me it was illegal. Same with brushes. As you said, the law typically requires proper sterilization. I think in most of these cases the barber either misinterprets that (or has been instructed otherwise by boss, insurance, lawyers, etc) or simply decides it is too much trouble. But in the end, a great shave is the goal. So, if all else was right on, I could forgive the lack of a brush. This guy seemed to give a great shave, so I'd be happy brush or no brush.

Funny thing happened to me, recently here in St Augustine. My good friend took me meet his barber, a paisan from NYC who just opened his new shop not far from my condo. As my buddy was getting his haircut we were all chatting a bit. I asked if he gave shaves---and then---BOOM! He exploded in a rage. He ranted about how much trouble it is to give shaves, how hard it is to please guys wanting shaves, how they don't want to pay a decent price for a shave, how long it takes to give shaves, how everyone expects a barber to give shaves, etc. He was visibly upset that I broached the subject. Finally, after calming down, he says, "But if YOU want a shave, I'll do it for you, Just call me in advance so we can schedule enough time." Yes, sure. I obviously want this raving maniac, who clearly hates to give shaves, with a blade to my face.

 

[weizemanner]

Now that is a "weiz" post. I wish you were a barber here, because you would be shaving my face.

While it may indeed be true in any particular situation, the law forbids a brush (or traditional straight), it seems more often than not it is a misunderstanding and/or excuse for the barber. I have had a straight shave in the same states where other barbers have sworn to me it was illegal. Same with brushes. As you said, the law typically requires proper sterilization. I think in most of these cases the barber either misinterprets that (or has been instructed otherwise by boss, insurance, lawyers, etc) or simply decides it is too much trouble. But in the end, a great shave is the goal. So, if all else was right on, I could forgive the lack of a brush. This guy seemed to give a great shave, so I'd be happy brush or no brush.

Funny thing happened to me, recently here in St Augustine. My good friend took me meet his barber, a paisan from NYC who just opened his new shop not far from my condo. As my buddy was getting his haircut we were all chatting a bit. I asked if he gave shaves---and then---BOOM! He exploded in a rage. He ranted about how much trouble it is to give shaves, how hard it is to please guys wanting shaves, how they don't want to pay a decent price for a shave, how long it takes to give shaves, how everyone expects a barber to give shaves, etc. He was visibly upset that I broached the subject. Finally, after calming down, he says, "But if YOU want a shave, I'll do it for you, Just call me in advance so we can schedule enough time." Yes, sure. I obviously want this raving maniac, who clearly hates to give shaves, with a blade to my face.

LOL. I do see where he is coming from. Almost any barbershop around will charge about 1 dollar per minute. If it is a $15 shop expect to get about 15 minutes of haircutting. At my shop it is $25 for 4 hot towels, a 2 pass shave with brush and hard soap, and a face massage with cream that I have to pull some Aesthetician strings to get my hands on. It can be 30-45 minutes per customer if they have a tough beard or want an extra close shave. People complain about the price, but if I use that same 45 minutes to do 3 haircuts I make 45 instead of the 25 I get from shaving... I have also had customers leave because they won't wait 30-45 minutes plus 15 for their cut. Not everyone wants to be at the barbershop playing pool for an hour... Shaving is tough business.

On the flip side, if you give a guy three good haircuts, he is your client until he moves away. Give a guy one good shave and he will put up with TSA to get back to his favorite barber.

 

[General__Specific]

On the flip side, if you give a guy three good haircuts, he is your client until he moves away. Give a guy one good shave and he will put up with TSA to get back to his favorite barber.

That's some troof right there. Where I live there really isn't anyone to get a shave from at all. There's one guy that offers shaves but frankly I'm scared of him. He's got the crazy eyes. "You want a shave? Yea, I can do that... say what do you weigh?"

 

[Talal]

learned alot of great things from your posts gents..

Thanks again