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Canberra wetshavers

It looks like we're going to have our own little wet shaving store in the nation's capital :w00t:

The guys from Martino's in the city want to expand their hair studio and stock a small amount of wetshaving gear.

They have recently launched their own all-natural skincare range (called Metro Shave) which has its hits and misses.
The shaving soap has a large amount of olive oil, so no surprise, then, that it lathers easily but breaks down just as fast.
The face scrub is really good, though, and the moisturiser is nothing to sneeze at either.

They've asked me for some advice (because I'm always banging on to them about shaving gear) and I've been volunteering a little of my time to give them an idea of the brands of razors, brushes and creams/soaps they might want to get.
I've given them some catalogues of razors and brushes that I suggest they stock, and I'd like them to get some artisan soaps in; stuff that you can't buy in Oz.

The whole thing is really in its infancy at this point, but I hope to get it off the ground.

Their landlord has offered them a small room near their studio with street frontage to act as a display area. You can see below that it's come along really well, and they've got some great stuff in there to decorate it.

So watch this space in 2015, and I'm sure any suggestions would be most welcome.

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Thats great for canberra locals. If they were able to source products not available elsewhere in Aust like you suggest then starting an online retail store could supplement their shopfront. If mrysol could be at the top of that list I would be grateful:thumbup:
 
I'm in Canberra about once a month. It would be nice to have a brick and mortar store.

It would indeed. I hope it gets up and becomes a place that helps people enjoy their shaving.

Thats great for canberra locals. If they were able to source products not available elsewhere in Aust like you suggest then starting an online retail store could supplement their shopfront. If mrysol could be at the top of that list I would be grateful:thumbup:

Haha they expressed some interest in an online component, but the B&M* will be the first priority.

* Brick & Mortar, not Barrister & Mann....but, you know, not necessarily NOT Barrister & Mann, too :tongue_sm

Wet shaving in the 'Berra? That was my idea!

good luck to them. Hope it goes well.

I do remember you saying that a few years back, Legion. I can assure you, they suggested it.
I hadn't mentioned a business opportunity to them :)
Might have to get you in to do a bit of a demo.

Sounds good - nice to hear from you too Timmy Dee :)

Hi Mark. Yeah I've been in the wind for a bit, but I'll be more noticeable around here now.
All the new American artisan soaps have me reaching for my credit card more often than I'd like to admit.
How goes the collection?

Hooray! Bugger you Shaver Shop and Canberra Centre.

Love how the Shaver Shop used to sell the Weishis at an already-inflated price, but now they're selling the Weishis plugged by that Pawn Shop bloke at an even more inflated price.
People need more options, especially as beards are allegedly on the way out, much to the chagrin of Braddon's resident hipsters.
 

Legion

Staff member
I do remember you saying that a few years back, Legion. I can assure you, they suggested it.
I hadn't mentioned a business opportunity to them :)
Might have to get you in to do a bit of a demo.

Haha. Just kidding. I'm sure guys were wet shaving with straights when Canberra was known as "the big paddock next to Queanbeyan".

I still made it cool, though. :001_tongu
 
Haha. Just kidding. I'm sure guys were wet shaving with straights when Canberra was known as "the big paddock next to Queanbeyan".

I still made it cool, though. :001_tongu

Oh I've no doubt about that.
Once they get the store set up, I'd like to pick your brain about straights - I know nowt about them except for "ooh that steel looks pretty".
 
Collecting slowed down a LOT mate - hard work competing with those Yanks in their backyard :(

Some nice soaps becoming available though as you say ....
 
People need more options, especially as beards are allegedly on the way out, much to the chagrin of Braddon's resident hipsters.
Oh please, God, "NO!". As much I'm looking forward to less facial hair in my coffees, I really don't want all the hipsters now inflating the prices of already scant supplies of wet-shaving gear in Australia. I already copped this when they bought all the film camera gear I wanted...

Must say I recently observed that we have a very high proportion of hipsters in Canberra - I contend more than Melbourne per capita. I wonder why? Why, why must we suffer so?
 

And another one has just popped up in Braddon (up the north end of Lonsdale St, in that uber-fancy new retail building across from the old Hipsley/Hipster Lane).

It's called 'Groomed', and I ducked the head in yesterday. Their shaving product range is very limited atm (don't even bother going in there for wetshaving gear, as all they really had was Baxter cream and a few Muhle razors) but they also stock Lay-rite gear (pomades and bay rum, I think).
They're not entirely focussed on wetshaving, as they also do shoe-shines and sell a range of mens' casual clothing.
It's a little hipster for my liking, but the fitout is excellent, the people are nice, and the price of a shave ($25) ain't too shabby.

I've booked in for a week from today, and will report back.
 
Well that was incredibly disappointing.

I strolled into Groomed in Braddon at about 2:15, having 8 days ago made a booking for 2:30.

As I walked in both employees were giving haircuts or shaves, but neither one so much as looked up, let alone greeted me.

I figured by coming in a little early I could look around the (fairly Spartan) store. They had some canvas/leather briefcases and satchels, too, which were quite nice. A few American ties and pocket squares (all very hipster) and a small selection of clothes, some were nice, others were less so.

2:25 comes up, and the “barber” (I have to use quotation marks, the reasons for which you’ll soon see) looks towards me and finally asks “Can I help you?” While he was the guy I talked pomades with and took my booking the last time, I didn’t mind that he’d forgotten me.

I said that I was Tim, the 2:30 shave. He said “Okay, just take a seat buddy” directing me to the small sitting area.

2:30 rolls by and it’s clear that I’m not going to be seated soon, perhaps more troubling is the fact that the bloke currently getting a shave has the thinnest layer of cream on his face. I immediately recognised they were using a brushless cream.
Later discussion revealed that they began using the Lucky Tiger brush-or-brushless cream, but changed to Baxter’s Close Shave Formula because the Lucky Tiger was drying out too fast.

I wasn't in the chair til just after 2:50. I was not pleased. If you’re going to promote yourself as a “traditional gentleman’s store”, the most gentlemanly thing you can do is stick to your appointments, or at least advise me that it was going to be a bit of a wait so I can go and get a cuppa.

Now I had four days growth, the same whisker growth that Vito at Mensbiz hewed through with no fuss, to ensure that I was making a fair comparison.
The "barber" ran a hand over my stubble he said that he would need to run the clippers over it first.
So he brings out the small wahl groomer like might be used on your sideburns when you’re getting a haircut, and proceeds to jab and hack at my admittedly fairly sparse growth.
I was floored. It did not take off that much and pulled at my whiskers, making the first part of the shave noisy, uncomfortable, and rather unnecessary.

Then he went to recline the seat, and the head rest was in a very, VERY uncomfortable position. It was all the way down my neck, just above my shoulders, so it was not supporting my head at all.
The “barber” said he this was to tighten the skin for a closer shave on the neck, but I wasn’t having that discomfort for the whole shave, especially since I had watched him take at least 30 minutes to shave the previous customer. I adjusted the head rest while he went to fetch the towel, so it was actually on my head.
My noggine was still back far enough to tighten my neck, but not so far back that I could barely breathe.

The shave started as they all do – menthol pre-shave cream (Lucky Tiger pre/post), then a hot towel - but this shave deviated from the preferred norm via a very thin lather with the Baxters. The “barber” took quite some time to do the first pass, and there didn’t seem to be much strategy to his method. He was shaving me in random parts, rather than having a proper shaving progression. The combination of slow method and crappy cream (applied in a miserly fashion, too) meant that the cream dried off before he was halfway done, and he was shaving me dry when he started on my jawline. It wasn’t overly uncomfortable, so I let it go.

The rest of the shave continued on in this way, interrupted fairly regularly by him going to the counter to sell a shave gift certificate, or talk to a customer about the pocket watches they stock. They definitely need someone there to serve when both “barbers” have clients (they were booked out for the rest of the afternoon, so they knew they’d be busy today).

Before the second pass, the barber asked me if I shave against the grain, and I said that I usually to one WTG then one ATG. He said that he would go against the grain on my neck, something he doesn’t normally do because of the chances of being nicked.

Again he asked me to let him lower the headrest to tilt my head back, and I said I would if he was reasonably quick, because it’s extremely uncomfortable. He replied “yes, unfortunately chairs weren’t made for comfort in the nineteen hundreds.”
I got miffed, but held my tongue – I didn’t want to yell “Stop chasing this pretentious hipster façade at the expense of comfort and actual service” at the bloke about to have at my neck with a razor.

So this second pass went by. He didn’t nick me, but he didn’t give a very close shave, either. My neck was a little irritated, but not smooth. Even my cheeks, usually the simplest thing, are still a little sandpaper-y in parts.
Finished with some Lucky Tiger aftershave cream, and the offer of a spritz of fragrance (basic stuff, like Polo Black) was graciously refused since I was already wearing Yatagan.

Paid the $25, and left at about 3:25pm, thoroughly unimpressed. The “barber” bid me farewell, again calling me “buddy”. It’s not like he didn’t have my name written down, or hear me say it an hour beforehand , so that further left me with a bad taste in my mouth.

I won’t be going back to Groomed in Braddon for a shave any time soon.

By contrast, Mensbiz charges $30, and Vito gives an exceptional shave using a variety of top-quality shaving products in an efficient manner, with a face massage at the end. I was so thrilled with my shaves that I tipped Vito on both occasions. Seriously, an application of GFT skin food after the first pass and before the second hot towel?! Those guys at MensBiz know how to pamper a bloke.



The "barbers" of Groomed at work.
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Thanks for the write up @Timmy Dee. Sad to hear that even basic business practises (and in the service industry as well!) are left behind. Definitely a miss...
 
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