Member- Duncan
- 5 years ago
- Wedding: August 2013
I’m going to go for a haircut a few days before the wedding, and a shave the morning of. My regular barber is sometimes great, and sometimes disappointing, and is a bit of a pain to get to, relative to the church. So, I’ve been on a quest to find Vancouver’s absolute best barber. From what I read on Yelp, and magazine type blogs/sites that had reviewed him, this guy was the bees knees. He’s on the more expensive end. He charges $30 each for the haircut and shave, whereas the going rate ranges from $40 to $50 to get both done; he doesn’t give a discount when you get both together, as most do. The most expensive men’s haircuts on their own, in the city, downtown, where this guy is, at super trendy barber shops (which I’ve tried, and been displeased with) is about $35.
Well, he didn’t listen particularly well to what I said I wanted done with my hair, and I don’t really care for the haircut. This is especially frustrating since I went for the cut earlier than I normally would (3 weeks between cuts) and made sure to wash my hair and brush it the way I like it this morning, so he would have a good idea of what I wanted. That’s not what he gave me, and when I told him what I didn’t like about it, he basically told me I was wrong.
The shave was not terribly enjoyable. The shave was pretty average. I noticed when he was preparing his razor, he installed a disposable blade. I wasn’t really keen on this but I thought, ok, don’t be a snob, maybe it’ll be fine. Nope. Third shave I’ve had a barber shave me with a dispsoable blade, and they’ve now been awful, ok, and ok. So, “do you use a disposable blade, or a proper straight edge” will now be the first question I ask before asking for a shave. The result of the shave was ok – it looks good, and has felt good since. But the shaving itself was not enjoyable, like it is with a really great shave. In this day and age, arguably the whole point of going for a hot shave is the spa treatment, since I can give myself a perfectly good shave with my Gilette. And, the last thing I want the morning of my wedding, is a shave that doesn’t relax me, and make me feel awesome. I was thinkin of taking the groomsmen for shaves, as a gift, and I certainly don’t want it to be an uncomfortable one.
It’s very frustrating; this guy was supposed to be the best in the city, and I was really excited last night to try him out. I feel like I’ve completely wasted $65 – yeah for some reason I even still tipped him. I have one more I’m planning to try downtown, near the church, and the hotel I’ll be staying at the night before. We’ll see how that one goes – IF they use real razors!
