I was off work today, the kids were at school, and the wife had gone to work, so I thought I would treat myself to a barbershop shave, I had heard about this shop from a friend of mine, probably about a twenty mile drive away, what the heck I thought I'm not in a rush..... On arriving at the shop there were four people waiting, this is a good sign i thought. Finally it was my turn, I lay back in the chair, had pre shave cream massaged into my stubble, and then hot towels, this is absolute bliss I thought to my self, next warm lather , Mmmm, then the cut throat razor. Down the cheeks to the chin, under the nose, then there was quite a long pause, next he was shaving down my neck with a Mach 3, whats all that about, the whole reason i went to the shop in the first place was to have the whole experience, if i had wanted to use a mach 3 i could have done that at home... the whole thing was over and done with in less than 10 minutes. I know that it was a reasonably busy shop but i kinda expected the experience to last a bit longer than that. All in all it was a bit of an anti-climax. It hasn't put me off going for a shave again, maybe just not to that shop.....
I've heard several people say that while they enjoyed the experience, the shave was less than stellar.
Certainly seems to be true, I have a better shave at home with my merkur34c, the only thing I really enjoyed was the proraso he used, I have never used a cream or soap with menthol in it, nice, might have to get myself some.
Us shaving aficionados tend to set really high standards for quality. Today there are also various legal constrictions placed on the barber in regards to shaving such as a shaving brush prohibition which may contribute to a reduction in overall shave quality. Maybe there are also laws concerning the use of the straight razor below the jaw line..either that or he is without honor lol...
You have no idea how many times I've read that exact same story. It really is sad. I guess you need to ask your barber what kind of shaves they do from now on.
I've had many a barber shave in many countries. With a few exceptions I almost don't bother any more. The price has gone up and the skill level has gone down. It's like anything, you can't be good at it if you don't do it often enough (except sex). Years ago, all barbers gave more shaves than they did haircuts. Back in the 70-80s, there were lots of "old school" barbers around that were still good at it. A lot has to do with how difficult your beard is. There was a barber in NYC that used to shudder when I'd walk in the door. The grain runs in too many different directions. A barber that is good with a straight razor is an artist ( a bad one is a street criminal). The best I've ever encountered were in Italy. There is high demand, tradition and their skills are honed. I hear there are a lot of "shaving parlors" popping up in cities nowadays but that's not for me. The ritual, results and experience are well worth the price IF you can find a good one. Think about how difficult it would be. Would you like to try to shave someone else...?
My buddy remembers barbers who once the shave began, would not actually lift the razor accept to change sides. Shaving truly is an art and some barbers as you say Grande, are truly "artists"...
