what is a good professional shave IYO?
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The last barber-shop shave that I had was many moons ago.......... but I do vaguely recall a brush, cream and a straight 
I haven't had a barber shave in a good many years. But I have some friends who are barbers, and they use a disposable blade straight. The do the regular routine however, hot towels, skin prep., brush on lather etc. Cost is around $12.00.
To be, a good professional shave would include the full hot towel treatment, a quality soap lathered up and applied with a brush, and a darn fine shave with nothing less than a disposable blade straight, then followed up with a cold towel and perhaps some aftershave.
A local barber shop here offers pretty much exactly that. Just one problem. The cost is $26...
A local barber shop here offers pretty much exactly that. Just one problem. The cost is $26...
I get better results shaving myself rather than a barber but the barber is a good experience. The one I used to go to used a Dovo Shavette (no real straights allowed per law) and a hot lather machine. It is nice being draped several times with hot towels and kicking back relaxing. He was about 12USD.
That's interesting; I wonder how many places in the world have laws against straight razors.
In the US this is the norm i believe. Sanitary or some nonsense.
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i have to make note of the hot towel but i do think they use that. i think most here use a shavette too.
what's the next best thing to a shaving cream and soap? i don't think they use that. maybe some gillette foamy would be the best they can do. not sure if they use a badger hair brush and all but i highly doubt it since i myself had difficulty finding it in my area. aftershave would probably be mennen.
i obviously don't shave with a DE as you can see with my username. do you think i would get a better shave?
what's the next best thing to a shaving cream and soap? i don't think they use that. maybe some gillette foamy would be the best they can do. not sure if they use a badger hair brush and all but i highly doubt it since i myself had difficulty finding it in my area. aftershave would probably be mennen.
i obviously don't shave with a DE as you can see with my username. do you think i would get a better shave?
Have had two "professional" shaves in my life; all involved hot towels, straight razors and too long ago to remember just what else. I remember that my own shaves with my DE were memorably better than these. However! One wise soul here on the forum some time ago said that to get a truly good shave from a barber, you would have to go back several times so that the barber could get use to the individual's particular growth pattern. I never did that, circumstances did not permit, and I am sorry because the ensuing shaves good have been great.
My local barber charges $16.00 for a shave with a straight -- if there's a law against them he doesn't know about it. Lather is via machine.
Haven't used his services -- had a pro shave many years ago that was great but I don't feel the need to repeat it.
Haven't used his services -- had a pro shave many years ago that was great but I don't feel the need to repeat it.
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Silliness. Shavettes are harder to disinfect than a straight. That said, it wouldn't be the first silly law I'd ever seen.
My local trusted barber is Syrian. He uses a disposable straight, hot towel, cheap boar brush, palmolive cream, and whatever else comes to hand!!!
Excellent shave and haircut for £15 (that's about $23 at current exchange rates). He's got a mighty steady hand, and can cut a screaming wriggling child's hair in five minutes really well too! The guy is good.
I could go to T&H or GFT and pay about £90-100 for the same with better 'software', but I'm afraid I'd leave feeling poor!
Excellent shave and haircut for £15 (that's about $23 at current exchange rates). He's got a mighty steady hand, and can cut a screaming wriggling child's hair in five minutes really well too! The guy is good.
I could go to T&H or GFT and pay about £90-100 for the same with better 'software', but I'm afraid I'd leave feeling poor!
I had a barber shop shave 2 weeks ago. It was the first and only that I've ever had.
It was $16 and here was the routine:
-2 hot towels, about 1 minute each
-Shave oil rubbed well into the beard
-1 more hot towel
-Application of lather with brush from a puck of soap I believe
-Shave with straight (disposable blade I guess??)
-Post-shave hot towel
-Witch hazel
-Styptic pencil to stop any bleeding
-Face massage
It was a female barber. The experience was fantastic, the results were mediocre. I had some burn, a few small weepers and the shave wasn't very close in many patches. It hurt a lot during the shave. However, it was pretty good considering she had never shaved my face before and it has taken me a while of studying my own beard before I could shave myself to a high degree consistently. I don't know if I could have done any better if I had to shave someone else.
She didn't go ATG because I have a "tough beard" and she was afraid I would bleed a lot. She told me to come back again and she would try ATG. I might go back sometime.
It was $16 and here was the routine:
-2 hot towels, about 1 minute each
-Shave oil rubbed well into the beard
-1 more hot towel
-Application of lather with brush from a puck of soap I believe
-Shave with straight (disposable blade I guess??)
-Post-shave hot towel
-Witch hazel
-Styptic pencil to stop any bleeding
-Face massage
It was a female barber. The experience was fantastic, the results were mediocre. I had some burn, a few small weepers and the shave wasn't very close in many patches. It hurt a lot during the shave. However, it was pretty good considering she had never shaved my face before and it has taken me a while of studying my own beard before I could shave myself to a high degree consistently. I don't know if I could have done any better if I had to shave someone else.
She didn't go ATG because I have a "tough beard" and she was afraid I would bleed a lot. She told me to come back again and she would try ATG. I might go back sometime.
Professional shaves at my barber shop ($12) include the following in order:
preshave
hot towel
shave cream
pass one- wtg
hot towel
shave cream
pass two- atg
hot towel
touch ups
cold towel
aftershave
feeling like a million bucks
preshave
hot towel
shave cream
pass one- wtg
hot towel
shave cream
pass two- atg
hot towel
touch ups
cold towel
aftershave
feeling like a million bucks
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Hi,
My experience was to treat myself to a pro shave every week to 10 days while I was in Ankara, Turkey. (This is how often I get the buzz cut on the top of my head trimmed.) I think it was winter 2003/04. And it was a treat. Even though I only knew a few words of Turkish, I was greeted like a welcome guest and an old friend.
The shop was not a busy place, and I don't think I ever waited for more than 5 minutes. When I did wait - and even when I didn't - the barber's assistant put a glass of mint tea into my hand right away. Once in the chair, I got a face wash/massage, a single hot towel and lather whipped up in a mug. My overall impression of the shaving experience was that I was in very good hands. I could hardly keep my eyes open while he went at his business very methodically. I can't remember feeling any drag as he swathed the lather off my skin. I never had a nick or a bleeder of any kind, despite the fact I have a bit of a mole in a tricky spot on my chin. And the result was BB smoothness.
I somehow communicated to him that I didn't like scents, and he gave me a splash of something with a light lavender aroma that didn't linger a bit.
The strangest part of the ritual was the ear treatment. Yes, he removed the fuzz from my ears! The assistant would bring a sort of swab soaked in alcohol, which the barber would light with a match, and proceed to singe the hair off my ears while shielding the rest of my hair with his other hand. Bizarre, but it worked very well, and I got my ears washed to boot!
Then I would pay, tip the assistant (but never the proprietor), and leave with many smiles and goodbyes.
It was a AAA+ experience.
Oh, I think it cost 12,000,000 Lira + a 2,000,000 tip. No kidding
Since then they have dropped 6 0's from their currency. That's just short of US$10 at today's rates.
Cheers,
Ian
My experience was to treat myself to a pro shave every week to 10 days while I was in Ankara, Turkey. (This is how often I get the buzz cut on the top of my head trimmed.) I think it was winter 2003/04. And it was a treat. Even though I only knew a few words of Turkish, I was greeted like a welcome guest and an old friend.
The shop was not a busy place, and I don't think I ever waited for more than 5 minutes. When I did wait - and even when I didn't - the barber's assistant put a glass of mint tea into my hand right away. Once in the chair, I got a face wash/massage, a single hot towel and lather whipped up in a mug. My overall impression of the shaving experience was that I was in very good hands. I could hardly keep my eyes open while he went at his business very methodically. I can't remember feeling any drag as he swathed the lather off my skin. I never had a nick or a bleeder of any kind, despite the fact I have a bit of a mole in a tricky spot on my chin. And the result was BB smoothness.
I somehow communicated to him that I didn't like scents, and he gave me a splash of something with a light lavender aroma that didn't linger a bit.
The strangest part of the ritual was the ear treatment. Yes, he removed the fuzz from my ears! The assistant would bring a sort of swab soaked in alcohol, which the barber would light with a match, and proceed to singe the hair off my ears while shielding the rest of my hair with his other hand. Bizarre, but it worked very well, and I got my ears washed to boot!
Then I would pay, tip the assistant (but never the proprietor), and leave with many smiles and goodbyes.
It was a AAA+ experience.
Oh, I think it cost 12,000,000 Lira + a 2,000,000 tip. No kidding
Since then they have dropped 6 0's from their currency. That's just short of US$10 at today's rates.Cheers,
Ian
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I've never had a professional shave, but if I did, I would love it to go like drifwood's post above!
Actually, I've gotten my hair cut in a real barber's shop since I was a kid (I'm almost 29 now) and I've never once seen anyone getting a shave. It's been on the list of services provided in every barbershop I've been in, but I've never been there when someone actually decided to do it.
Actually, I've gotten my hair cut in a real barber's shop since I was a kid (I'm almost 29 now) and I've never once seen anyone getting a shave. It's been on the list of services provided in every barbershop I've been in, but I've never been there when someone actually decided to do it.
I've only had one barbershop shave. I reported on the experience here: http://badgerandblade.com/vb/showthread.php?t=131593
