First barber shave, not bad but not good either

I went to have my first barber shave today at Dave's Cutting Edge in West Lafayette, IN. It's just two blocks from the college campus here, and I must have walked past it dozens of times over the years I've been going to school here, but never really considered walking in until I started coming to B&B. Dave is a nice guy who's been a barber for about thirty years and used to give shaves regularly and does them for only $14, so I thought I would give it a shot.

It was a bit under whelming. I certainly give myself more elaborate shaves at home. The prep only consisted of a hot towel put on the face for a minute at most. There were no oils, facial massages, or even checking which way the beard grew.

He used a shavette and a hot lather machine, which I expected and certainly don't mind. The lather wasn't really worked in though, just sort of rubbed on with his thumb. Except for my chin and neck, where the hair is thickest, he only did one pass. He certainly knew how to use the razor though. He was very light, although he didn't seem to try to stretch my skin very much. As a result the shave was not very close, but there were absolutely no cuts or irritation, and I'll take that over a close shave and a lot of cuts and irritation.

Post shave was simple, just a cold towel held to the face for a while and some after shave lotion dabbed on with a paper towel. It seemed like a decent AS and I'll probably pick some up myself when I find out what it was.

So all in all, not close but irritation free. It's certainly not something I would do regularly. It's certainly better than what most non-wet shavers give themselves. Maybe I'll do it again the next time I have a haircut, just because.

I suppose for 14 bucks and the fact you didn't get mangled up (as so many of these stories seem to end) it was worth it. 30 years in the biz would make him old school so it's kind of surprising his procedure wasn't a bit more elaborate. Maybe it's not something he ever perfected. I've never had a barber shave and quite honestly won't unless I'm specifically recommended to someone by trusted members of B&B. For instance I'd love to get over to London and hit up GF Trumper. Did you see those pics? Man, what a place. Anyway glad you didn't suffer.

There's shaves, and then there's something more appropriate for a men's spa. A barber who's been doing shaves for 30 years probably did many a day at one point. Fourteen dollars and a comfortable shave sounds about right to me.

I've been getting barber shaves for a while and only recently have I gotten into using straights myself (been a cartridge razor guy since I was 12 years old). Here in Tel Aviv, Israel I go to a barber, originally from Romania, who shaves me for the equivalent of about 8 U.S. dollars a shave. The shave consists of:

Hot water massaged into face
Steaming hot towel applied to face with massage
Canned, but surprisingly high quality, lather
Two passes of the blade (a shavette I believe)
Face then washed with cold water
Aftershave applied (cheap stuff)
neck and shoulder massage using one of those hand massagers that he straps to his hand

I've been going to him for about a year now, once a week, and i have never been cut, never had an irritaed face/neck, and always get a smooth shave. This impresses me because I have delicate skin that is usually irritaed easily. Once, my barber was on vacation and I got a shave from his partner; he cut me like a piece of meat and my neck was red and sore for days.

My first shave by a "pro" was from some jackass that(now that I think of it) was barely old enough to be shaving in the late 60's. He had silver hair, mustache and looked like he had a pretty good shave, so I thought, what the heck. Long story short, he left me not only irritated but bleeding from tearing more than a few hairs out of my face. Bad prep and the first of 2 passes was with a bic disposable plastic razor. As soon as he took that baby to town in a fast and careless manner, I knew I was screwed, but once I was under the knife, and had to go back to work, I just hoped things would get better. Well they didn't. After all was almost said and done, he splashed some aftershave on my face, and in my eyes a bit, which made me cry actual tears. (Not sure if they were from the decant in my eyes, the pain of AS on my freshly sliced and diced face, or shear dissappointment) I had to let some of the bloody pores dry so they would stop bleeding before going back to work. Never again!

Eagle said:

I suppose for 14 bucks and the fact you didn't get mangled up (as so many of these stories seem to end) it was worth it. 30 years in the biz would make him old school so it's kind of surprising his procedure wasn't a bit more elaborate. Maybe it's not something he ever perfected. I've never had a barber shave and quite honestly won't unless I'm specifically recommended to someone by trusted members of B&B. For instance I'd love to get over to London and hit up GF Trumper. Did you see those pics? Man, what a place. Anyway glad you didn't suffer.

Click to expand...

Dont forget about little ole me and PZbarber. We are members and come reccomended. So fly your butts to Louisville and get a free great shave.