The Turkish Experience

I participated on Movember, and even thou my Mo was much much better than expected (really had low expectations) I decided to remove it the best way I could.

So I headed to my nearest Turkish Barber/Hair Saloon (I live in Germany, so they are a dime a dozen) and had my hair and beard done.

It was a very nice experience, nothing fancy, no hot towels or expensive pre/post treatments with clay and holy oils, no just your regular Arko (I could tell by the smell), Sedef disposable straight, Derby single sided blades (I have the same at home) and some after shave I did not recognize.

Warm lather, applied thick, left to rest for a minute or so while he loaded the straight with the new blade and one pass. He seemed to remove the lather with the back of the razor before shaving.

No nicks, cuts or razor burn, just a clean shave. I would not call it BBS, but a solid DFS.

The barber was a young (thirties maybe), spoke no English and my German is quite basic (more like non existent), but that was no problem to achieve a nice shave

At the end I spent no more than twenty minutes in there, haircut and shave, and the bill was only 14€, plus 5 for a well deserved tip.

I have read many horrible stories of expensive barber shaves with bad results, so I just wanted to brag . No seriously if you ever find yourself in Italy, UK, Germany, Turkey or India, give the local barber a chance... I did and would definitely go back.

That sounds like a great experience. A local barber shop does straight shaves - one barber uses a traditional straight while the other uses a Dovo shavette. The barber with the shavette was brutal while the other, the owner's son, gave me an absolutely great shave.

Living in Germany and speak no German? At least you're in the North.

Turkish barbers have great reputations.

Sounds like a great time at the shop! Most of the horror stories I have read about barbers not giving great shave results have been in North America somewhere. I think there is a lot fewer gents getting barbershop shaves, so the barbers here are more out of practice/inexperienced than many of the shops in Europe where it seems to be a much more commonly done thing. In fact, even back in the late 70's and early 80's, I can't recall ever seeing the barbershop next to my grandmother's jewelry store doing a shave on anyone. I hung out there a pretty good amount, as you can guess, and it wasn't very common already then... sadly.

I had a great shave in a barbershop near Taksim square, in the heart of Istanbul. Definitely worth!

Shave_Rat said:

Sounds like a great time at the shop! Most of the horror stories I have read about barbers not giving great shave results have been in North America somewhere. I think there is a lot fewer gents getting barbershop shaves, so the barbers here are more out of practice/inexperienced than many of the shops in Europe where it seems to be a much more commonly done thing. In fact, even back in the late 70's and early 80's, I can't recall ever seeing the barbershop next to my grandmother's jewelry store doing a shave on anyone. I hung out there a pretty good amount, as you can guess, and it wasn't very common already then... sadly.

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Sad indeed. At 57 I do remember when I was really young (first haircuts when I had to sit on the board) when our barber was giving shaves. But, I used the same barber until I was about 13 or so, and in those latter years (around 1970 ish) I do not recall him giving any shaves. It is an American attitude to not pay for something that you can do yourself. I have never received a barber shave. One for the bucket list the next time I am in Istanbul.

Now that we are on the subject, how much would you pay a barber for a really good straight razor (not a shavette, but a really smoothly honed and sharp straight razor) shave? My daughter, along with a business partner, owns a successful Salon and Spa. The Spa person that they had at the shop went on to do other things, so they are no longer doing facials, nails a pedicures. As a result, they have a room that was dedicated for this work that could be re-purposed for a really good barber.

I am certain that you can get a really good shave in any of the major cities in the U.S. the old fashioned way, but these prices probably are not directly transferable to where we are. I am just curious. I think that the only shave that would work in her shop would be the whole 9 yards with pre-shave, post shave and lots of pampering and massaging in between. What would you be willing to pay for such treatment, assuming a 20 to 30 minute process?

McVeyMac said:

Now that we are on the subject, how much would you pay a barber for a really good straight razor (not a shavette, but a really smoothly honed and sharp straight razor) shave? My daughter, along with a business partner, owns a successful Salon and Spa. The Spa person that they had at the shop went on to do other things, so they are no longer doing facials, nails a pedicures. As a result, they have a room that was dedicated for this work that could be re-purposed for a really good barber.

I am certain that you can get a really good shave in any of the major cities in the U.S. the old fashioned way, but these prices probably are not directly transferable to where we are. I am just curious. I think that the only shave that would work in her shop would be the whole 9 yards with pre-shave, post shave and lots of pampering and massaging in between. What would you be willing to pay for such treatment, assuming a 20 to 30 minute process?

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The thing is, most states have laws that will not allow a barber to shave with anything but a disposable blade razor, be it a shavette, DE, or cart. So the odds are decent you can't even do what you are thinking of trying, legally. Laws may limit you to shavettes.

Shave_Rat said:

The thing is, most states have laws that will not allow a barber to shave with anything but a disposable blade razor, be it a shavette, DE, or cart. So the odds are decent you can't even do what you are thinking of trying, legally. Laws may limit you to shavettes.

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Yea, I did not even think of the hole blood borne disease thing, and how that may have changed regulations. My daughter is 33, and she has a beautician license. They used to use shavetes around the back of the neck and side burns when she was first licensed. Now they can no longer do this, only barber licensed people can use shavettes. I did not think to ask if she knew if regular straight razors were allowed.

Soiunds like a nice shave and haircut. Congrats.

Shave_Rat said:

The thing is, most states have laws that will not allow a barber to shave with anything but a disposable blade razor, be it a shavette, DE, or cart. So the odds are decent you can't even do what you are thinking of trying, legally. Laws may limit you to shavettes.

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Sometimes exceptions can be made if Barbicide (or similar) is used to soak the entire razor for a set period of time. It depends on local regulations.
I could see a handful of Gold Dollar razors could fill that role (giving you time between honing).

Turkish Shave: Most neighborhoods outside of big tourist areas have local barbers. These are not fancy shops, but are friendly with well practiced staff. I went to one near my hotel in Karikoy. I went in trusting in the competency of tradition. I was not disappointed. While lacking in some luxury, it was the cleanest, closest, smoothest shave I’ve ever received. Lot’s of warm sudsy lather applied by brush, what I’m guessing was a Dovo straight, alum block, and turkish aftershave, a quick neck message, and yes that fire technique burn off peach fuz. Amazing for $15 TL ($8)

I spent some time in Incirlik care of the USAF in the late '70s. Getting a full shave and a haircut by the AAFES employed Turkish barbers was one of the few treats I could afford. I don't remember details of the shave, but I do remember it was BBS and no irritation.