Yesterday I had a special treat - a shave and haircut at Trumpers on Curzon St thanks to my lovely missus.
All the streets around this area are fantastic to wander round ... full of shops for gentleman.
The Trumpers shop has a small very old facade. Inside, right by the door, you are closeted by glass cabinets stacked to the brim with gorgeous brushes. There is something so attractive about badger brushes. I had a few minutes to spare so I had a look at one or two. First, the Simpsons Wee Scot. Gosh - I love this brush! It really is no bigger than a fat thumb but it intrigues me big time and is ever so cute. Great on the desk even if you don't like it to shave with. Then I saw the Simpsons Major travel brush. Again a thing of beauty. I really really like the Simpsons brushes - they seem to have a lot more character than the Rooneys. Of course, there are a LOT of brushes in the shop, including a pretty comprehensive range of Rooneys, including Heritage brushes. They are all marked Trumper so you have to know your brushes or else ask (they will tell you the original maker). To be honest, there are so many brushes, it is a bit overfacing, but lovely nonetheless.
The rest of the shop is full of razors, creams, brushes, you can imagine. All in original dark wooden cabinets more than a 100 years old.
And so on to my barber .. I had told them it was for a special occasion, so I had the master barber. A lovely man to chat with. Uses a fusion at home! Joked with me when I told him that I had never been shaved by anyone else before that he was still getting the hang of it (unlikely as he had been there since the 60s).
So the shave itself ... bit of a surprise really ...
First off, he coated my face thickly with moisturiser. Massaged it in and then covered my face with a slightly scented heated damp face towel. This is really really lovely. Would have liked another one!. Wiped the remaining moisturiser off with the towel and then put generous amounts of skin food on my face.
All the while brush and razor soaking in the sink.
Lathered some cream (I imagine in his hand), and proceeded to my face with the brush. Did not brush it in very much, and seemed to leave cream very thick rather than watery. At no point did he wet my face. Also, only rarely rinsed the blade as it was a shavette (just wiped it on the towel). The only moisture was from the heated towel and the brush.
Began to shave with a shavette. Went WTG and then ATG on my cheeks, mostly ATG on my neck and XTG on the chin and moustache area. But it tugged a lot!! It never tugs this much when I shave. I felt like my face was too dry. I was dreading seeing the end result. In between passes, he added more cream with the brush but did not rinse.
When he was done, he patted my face with the towel and as he was removing the towel, I spotted some blood spots on the towel. I was not surprised! Then some more skin food, and then he did a few more touch ups just with the skin food. Then a warm towel, then a cold towel, then lots of moisturiser again. And that was it!
Haircut was not a lot to write home about. All a bit superficial to be honest. He asked me if I went to a barber normally or a unisex hairdresser and whether a man or a woman normally cut my hair. I guess he was disapproving of non-barber types!
Overall, it was a great experience going back in time.
Got home and had a proper look at my face. Well I was shocked. Despite the tugging and blood spots mid shave, the end result was very impressive. Best result I have ever had on my neck and chin area. Cheeks super smooth (I can do that too). Moustache area not good really but I think that is because it is hard for a barber to shave there without the person being shaved moving their mouth properly.
So would I go again. Not sure, but I am very happy my wife enabled me to experience it.
I am still very impressed though by the quality of the result despite the tugging. I imagine his blade was not sharp enough for my whiskers and also I think my face was too dry (it must be quite hard to hydrate someones face when they are not standing over the sink). What is intriguing me is though is how he managed to get such a good result. Could it be the moisturiser making my skin more supple and the skin food providing protection? Was the tugging just down to insufficient softening of the whiskers with water and a blunt blade? I am going to try the moisturiser and skin food once or twice to see the result.
One thing is for sure. I am very very tempted by that Wee Scot ...
All the streets around this area are fantastic to wander round ... full of shops for gentleman.
The Trumpers shop has a small very old facade. Inside, right by the door, you are closeted by glass cabinets stacked to the brim with gorgeous brushes. There is something so attractive about badger brushes. I had a few minutes to spare so I had a look at one or two. First, the Simpsons Wee Scot. Gosh - I love this brush! It really is no bigger than a fat thumb but it intrigues me big time and is ever so cute. Great on the desk even if you don't like it to shave with. Then I saw the Simpsons Major travel brush. Again a thing of beauty. I really really like the Simpsons brushes - they seem to have a lot more character than the Rooneys. Of course, there are a LOT of brushes in the shop, including a pretty comprehensive range of Rooneys, including Heritage brushes. They are all marked Trumper so you have to know your brushes or else ask (they will tell you the original maker). To be honest, there are so many brushes, it is a bit overfacing, but lovely nonetheless.
The rest of the shop is full of razors, creams, brushes, you can imagine. All in original dark wooden cabinets more than a 100 years old.
And so on to my barber .. I had told them it was for a special occasion, so I had the master barber. A lovely man to chat with. Uses a fusion at home! Joked with me when I told him that I had never been shaved by anyone else before that he was still getting the hang of it (unlikely as he had been there since the 60s).
So the shave itself ... bit of a surprise really ...
First off, he coated my face thickly with moisturiser. Massaged it in and then covered my face with a slightly scented heated damp face towel. This is really really lovely. Would have liked another one!. Wiped the remaining moisturiser off with the towel and then put generous amounts of skin food on my face.
All the while brush and razor soaking in the sink.
Lathered some cream (I imagine in his hand), and proceeded to my face with the brush. Did not brush it in very much, and seemed to leave cream very thick rather than watery. At no point did he wet my face. Also, only rarely rinsed the blade as it was a shavette (just wiped it on the towel). The only moisture was from the heated towel and the brush.
Began to shave with a shavette. Went WTG and then ATG on my cheeks, mostly ATG on my neck and XTG on the chin and moustache area. But it tugged a lot!! It never tugs this much when I shave. I felt like my face was too dry. I was dreading seeing the end result. In between passes, he added more cream with the brush but did not rinse.
When he was done, he patted my face with the towel and as he was removing the towel, I spotted some blood spots on the towel. I was not surprised! Then some more skin food, and then he did a few more touch ups just with the skin food. Then a warm towel, then a cold towel, then lots of moisturiser again. And that was it!
Haircut was not a lot to write home about. All a bit superficial to be honest. He asked me if I went to a barber normally or a unisex hairdresser and whether a man or a woman normally cut my hair. I guess he was disapproving of non-barber types!
Overall, it was a great experience going back in time.
Got home and had a proper look at my face. Well I was shocked. Despite the tugging and blood spots mid shave, the end result was very impressive. Best result I have ever had on my neck and chin area. Cheeks super smooth (I can do that too). Moustache area not good really but I think that is because it is hard for a barber to shave there without the person being shaved moving their mouth properly.
So would I go again. Not sure, but I am very happy my wife enabled me to experience it.
I am still very impressed though by the quality of the result despite the tugging. I imagine his blade was not sharp enough for my whiskers and also I think my face was too dry (it must be quite hard to hydrate someones face when they are not standing over the sink). What is intriguing me is though is how he managed to get such a good result. Could it be the moisturiser making my skin more supple and the skin food providing protection? Was the tugging just down to insufficient softening of the whiskers with water and a blunt blade? I am going to try the moisturiser and skin food once or twice to see the result.
One thing is for sure. I am very very tempted by that Wee Scot ...
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pics?
