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Open razor shave from a barber

There’s a traditional barber around 40 mins from me that does open razor shaves.
I do my own daily shaves of course like us all here but was going out for whisky and cigars last night and was curious to know what it was like to have the full treatment etc so I grew a beard for a few days and booked myself in.
They have several barbers at the shop so I just chose the on with a 2pm slot free which happened to be a lady.
I arrived and was seated well back in the reclining barbers chair.
I got a nicely scented hot towel draped over my face which was very nice, then some preshave, then another hot towel.
This pampering was all very relaxing and delightful and took maybe 5-10 mins.
Next she lathered my face with a synthetic brush and a thin lather and began cutting.
The immediate temptation was to stretch and contort my face for her to get better razor purchase but I left her to it.
It felt really strange having someone else running a razor over my face and for the first few minutes I was a little tense though I soon relaxed.
Im guessing she did two passes, and a touch up and I noticed most of the razor strokes were across the grain.
When she finished I was given another scented hot towel then a balm of some kind, then a cold towel.
It was all very lovely and I rose from the chair feeling relaxed, happy and smelling good.
The shave however wasn’t the best.
It was fine, more than acceptable for my night out but I personally finish my straight razor shaves against the grain in all areas and she didn’t.
So it left me with my own equivalent of a two pass shave, and I usually need four for perfection.
Still the experience was lovely and I thought I should do it at least once in my life (although for some reason it fostered resentment from my girlfriend) and I had a nice evening afterwards with the chaps.
Would I go back? Maybe, I’m not sure.
The whole experience was nice but was slightly let down by the final quality of the shave which wasn’t perfect.
This is not to cast aspersions onto the lady shaving me, I’m sure they have to cater for the middle line and many people may not respond well to and against the grain pass, but I would have liked to have been asked at the start and would have liked to have left the chair with something comparable to my daily shave.
Nice experience but slightly let down by the closeness of the shave.
 
Still the experience was lovely and I thought I should do it at least once in my life (although for some reason it fostered resentment from my girlfriend) and I had a nice evening afterwards with the chaps.
Very interesting. Thanks for the report.

As for the girlfriend resentment, I may have some insight. The woman who cuts my hair (and uses a straight razor on my neck!) also does a bit of head massage with a hot towel along the way, and some shoulder massage with a machine.

My wife was with me one of those times, and told me afterwards that she had suppressed an urge to say "Are you giving my husband physical pleasure?"
 
More often than not if you want it done the way you like, you must do it yourself. Very rarely does a barber give me a haircut the way I wanted it so I do it myself with the results I wanted. Never looked back. If you want the spa/relaxing treatment then go to a spa or messaging parlor.
 
When I was learning to shave, I cast around to see examples of how it's done. This one always stuck with me (go to 12:00 and 15:00). This barber is working the skin stretch game and fussing small sections against the grain like he's rooting out sleep cells. He finishes with a kamisori with the grain which never made a ton of sense to me but overall he seems detail oriented and efficient. I'd love to try one of his shaves.

 
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I’ve had a hot towel shaved from a barber only one time. Now honestly before I even went into the barbershop I had internally made a distinct separation between my experience shaving myself as opposed to the expectations in regards the hot towel shave. I never once thought that his shave would really be able to match what I can do at home considering the fact that I’ve shaved myself so many times and know all the trouble spots...

That being said I would absolutely do it again just for the sake of the experience alone. It’s completely different than doing a quick shave after jumping out of the shower.
 
Before my retirement, I travelled frequently to places where a trip to the barbershop for a shave was still a common occurence.

Where we moved to after my retirement it also is, even though I avoid trips to the kind of fancier barbershops that aim to provide a “lifestyle experience”, “spa treatment”, or whatever they like to call it.
I am just more comfortable with barbers that have been in business for a long time abnd know what they are doing. This also makes for reasonable costs. Where I live now my barbershop charges around $9 for a shave.
Within 15 minutes of our home, I know of at least four barbershops that provide shaves regularly, so it certainly is not a dying profession.

While all shaves that I had from barbers so far were comfortable, I still have to find a barber that provides an as close shave as I can provide myself. This is no surprise to me, as naturally nobody knows my face and the growth of my facial hair better than me.

Having said that, the with, across and against the grain concept is for me just that: a concept and not a procedure cast in stone.
Virtually all my shaves now involve a certain across the grain element and I easily get what I consider BBS (Baby Butt Shave or - if you prefer - Barber Shop Superior shave :001_cool:) out of this technique.

I believe it is a good idea to try a few shaves in a classic (not the fancy type) barbershop, as one may learn a few things that might improve one’s own shaves.
Nothing elementary, but a few little tweaks here and there that one might want try to emulate - like this certain across the grain element in all passes.


B.
 
As a barber I can tell you that we are advised against going ATG and I personally won’t do it unless I’ve shaved the customers face and feel comfortable going ATG.

I would rather leave the customer with a DFS than red and irritated as I image they would prefer this as well.
 
Very interesting. Thanks for the report.

As for the girlfriend resentment, I may have some insight. The woman who cuts my hair (and uses a straight razor on my neck!) also does a bit of head massage with a hot towel along the way, and some shoulder massage with a machine.

My wife was with me one of those times, and told me afterwards that she had suppressed an urge to say "Are you giving my husband physical pleasure?"
Hah, yes I think they see us as their property and they don’t like other people touching us.
Thing is she didn’t even know it was a woman barber I’d be seeing, she just resented the ‘me’ time I was taking.
It must be bad to feel so nasty inside but they do have their odd little ways.
 
The picture I thought of.
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Steve56

Ask me about shaving naked!
Shave not the best? Not surprising, ‘barbers‘ don’t get any practice anymore.

My barber is a ‘Master Barber’ in Tennessee, and she teaches. She told me that she had never shaved anyone with a straight razor (She’s 70 years old and been doing this all her adult life, and loves it). She was taught how to hone a SR in barber’s school, and remembers it, but I also assume she has never actually honed one.
 
Jakebullet, I had a similar experience. Around the time I started straight shaving I thought I'd see what a professional could do. I don't remember much of it, being so long ago, but the outcome was a so-so shave. I like the pampering aspect of it and the relaxation that goes with it, but I'd have one of my own shaves over them. Luckily I'm an agreeable guy and give myself a free shave daily!:straight:
 
My perfect barber shave experience would involve the barber letting me choose from a selection of proper straight razors to be shaved with.
I’d also like to be able to choose what type of abrasive the razor was finished on, coticule, jnat, Ark etc.
I’d definitely like the option of an against the grain shave and I’d also like a choice of brush, shaving soap, scents/aftershaves to finish etc.
That would be great.
 
During one of our golf trips to Turkey, a friend of mine decided to go for a shave at the hotel's barber shop.
Returned after a while to join the rest of us, relaxing with a few drinks next to the pool, muttering "Never again, never again, never again"

Obviously not a happy customer, I asked him about the shave and he said the shave was fine. It was what happened after the shave that he had an issue with.

Having done it before, he expected the flaming cotton ball to singe nose and ear hairs, but something completely different happened. The barber stuffed wax balls into his nostrils and ears and ripped the hairs out, roots and all!

He screamed like a girl!
 

doctordial

my brain goes "thonk"
There’s a traditional barber around 40 mins from me that does open razor shaves.

I do my own daily shaves of course like us all here but was going out for whisky and cigars last night and was curious to know what it was like to have the full treatment etc so I grew a beard for a few days and booked myself in.

They have several barbers at the shop so I just chose the on with a 2pm slot free which happened to be a lady.

I arrived and was seated well back in the reclining barbers chair.

I got a nicely scented hot towel draped over my face which was very nice, then some preshave, then another hot towel.

This pampering was all very relaxing and delightful and took maybe 5-10 mins.

Next she lathered my face with a synthetic brush and a thin lather and began cutting.

The immediate temptation was to stretch and contort my face for her to get better razor purchase but I left her to it.

It felt really strange having someone else running a razor over my face and for the first few minutes I was a little tense though I soon relaxed.

Im guessing she did two passes, and a touch up and I noticed most of the razor strokes were across the grain.

When she finished I was given another scented hot towel then a balm of some kind, then a cold towel.

It was all very lovely and I rose from the chair feeling relaxed, happy and smelling good.

The shave however wasn’t the best.

It was fine, more than acceptable for my night out but I personally finish my straight razor shaves against the grain in all areas and she didn’t.

So it left me with my own equivalent of a two pass shave, and I usually need four for perfection.

Still the experience was lovely and I thought I should do it at least once in my life (although for some reason it fostered resentment from my girlfriend) and I had a nice evening afterwards with the chaps.

Would I go back? Maybe, I’m not sure.

The whole experience was nice but was slightly let down by the final quality of the shave which wasn’t perfect.

This is not to cast aspersions onto the lady shaving me, I’m sure they have to cater for the middle line and many people may not respond well to and against the grain pass, but I would have liked to have been asked at the start and would have liked to have left the chair with something comparable to my daily shave.

Nice experience but slightly le down by the closeness of the shave.
 

doctordial

my brain goes "thonk"
I had a similar experience when I got my first shave as you did. I came home and did a better job myself. I thought to myself, why should I pay someone to do a two pass shave and then come home get what they missed. So, of course, do my own shaves and a better job without having to pay all of that money fir for a shave I'm not really pleased with.
 
When my wife and I were in Paris I went to "Planet Razor" and while I was looking at the TIs for sale there was a guy getting his head shaved from a young lady doing the barbering. There was a quick thought that I should take the next open appt after his until I saw the number of cuts and weepers he walked happily away with. I know the scalp and face are different, but I wasn't willing to wait or take the chance, but if I come across a shop in the future, I'll probably give it a shot if I have time.
 
As a barber I can tell you that we are advised against going ATG and I personally won’t do it unless I’ve shaved the customers face and feel comfortable going ATG.

I would rather leave the customer with a DFS than red and irritated as I image they would prefer this as well.
I too have had many results like a lot of these mentioned. I really enjoy having my face and head shaved and am willing to pay the $$$ (a lot these days) for the experience. What I don't like is when I get home having to shave, which happens every time.

Rather than just complain, can you share with us what we should be communicating to the person holding the straight razor against our neck ;). What should we realistically expect from professional shave? What can we do as clients to make the experience easier and better for you, the professional?
 
I too have had many results like a lot of these mentioned. I really enjoy having my face and head shaved and am willing to pay the $$$ (a lot these days) for the experience. What I don't like is when I get home having to shave, which happens every time.

Rather than just complain, can you share with us what we should be communicating to the person holding the straight razor against our neck ;). What should we realistically expect from professional shave? What can we do as clients to make the experience easier and better for you, the professional?
A DFS should not be out of the question when being shaved in a barbershop. Like shaving yourself, it’s very dependent on how course or dense the hair is.

If you feel that the shave isn’t close enough, ask the barber if they would shave ATG.

The best thing you can do is to communicate. Most people won’t tell the barber if they don’t like something and will sometimes change barbers. Like many, barbers can’t fix something if no one tells them it’s broken.
 
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