Indulged In A Cut Throat Shave Today
This afternoon my son wanted a haircut as we are seeing the last client for this year tomorrow so I thought I may as well do same male grooming and have a cut throat hot towel shave and the hot wax ears and nostril treatment. I tend to get this done every 6 months or so as I find the nostril hair pulling with hot wax an event and not something I find fun. You may get lucky or unlucky depending on how hot the wax is and finding a happy medium is not always on offer. In your head you are saying don't be such a pussy and keep a straight face so this can be challenging.
The Syrian barbers are everywhere which in our area we have 4 all within walking distance. Before they arrived on the scene there was very few male barbers and you tended to go to a normal hair dressing salon. I would estimate I have been supporting the same barber shop now for around 10 years and have tried only two other establishments in that time only for those to be more of a painful event and decided it was safer to stick to what I know.
I presume they are Syrians as this is not a topic that has been raised especially with someone giving you a shave with a cut throat razor. I tend to keep quiet and very still as I am not looking to get cut. I knew the original barber shop owner and he was Syrian so just presumed the staff are all from that region.
There were some parts I did not enjoy but you have to sit and take it because it is too late to jump and run. I counted at least 3 foaming sessions so it was a very close shave and the chap was rather thorough. There were no other customers around so I got the full attention. The slapping with after shave I thought was a little excessive with a heavy burning effect followed by a hair dryer blowing directly onto the face which numbed the shaved part. I have never experienced that before and not sure if I want to again lol. Each barber has his different technique so there are bound to be a few surprises good or bad each time. Maybe I will dodge him next time, but the again you can't exactly say no I am waiting for the other guy.
The shave and grooming took roughly an hour and when it came to settle up I was a little stunned as the price was R120 which is roughly $7. I could not pay $7 for what I had and paid R200 which is and extra $5 totaling $12. There are moments in life when you just feel bad and feel what you experienced was worth a whole lot more. This is very rare when these situations occur as most times we are stunned at the price of items and this is never on the cheap end. When these situations occur they are welcome surprises and why I do not mind paying extra or tipping heavier.
When I was in the UK a few weeks ago whilst window shopping in one of the shopping centers I noticed a male barber who had a pricelist in the window. What I had today being a cut throat shave with hot towels was 50 GBP which is roughly $66 which is insanely expensive. This is roughly 10 x more than what I was being charged and I had extra things done as well. They say everything is relative and you cannot convert yet how can you not when the difference is that high. The GBP is 22.5 to 1 with the Rand and how anyone could justify a hot shave for R1100 or 50 GBP is just madness.
What is this really worth and I honestly do think for SA in the R200 range and the UK with higher costs of living possibly 20 GBP, but no higher and definitely not 50 GBP or 70 GBP which is totally absurd. How much would you be prepared to pay and is this expensive in your country? Like I said earlier this is not a monthly treatment I would indulge in and is more like every 6 months.
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Would love to try this at least once, like you said.. once you are in the chair no getting away, just got to roll with it! :)
You have to try and experience this and just hope you get a good one as there is no escaping once in the chair.
Is that you in the photo ? You are after getting younger looking
No he looks way to modern and has a ponce hair cut. You should know I am way better looking than that and kind of a rock star like yourself.
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Well, around Seattle area in a nothing special cheaper barbershop that I use a basic haircut that is scheduled for 30 minutes is $50 +$10 tip... so a total of $60 is the best price in cheap suburbs :)
That seems crazy expensive to most people and seems like we have lost the sense of value.
I think that is what happens when you increase minimum wage to $21 an hour for the area you live in... Everything gets inflated, plus all the Microsoft, Amazon, Google and Facebook money splashing around... The kids at Google Seattle are getting $250K per year starting salaries...
This would definitely muddy the waters when it comes to understanding the value of the dollar in that area. This is why the mentality with tipping in the US is out of proportion with the rest of the world. Money for some is just to easy to earn and do not appreciate the value.
I remember going to the barber with my dad when I was a kid and he would get the full shave and haircut. It was always amazing watching the barber with the straight razor.
Definitely a skill these barbers have or you hope they have at least. Have you tried this out or not?
No, I have never tried it myself. I almost went once when we were down in Nashville.
It's hard to imagine people choose South Africa to emigrate to, but life in countries like Syria is even worse.
By the way, do you still have your ears and nose? Dis you behave in the barber's chair? 😆
SA is friendly to those from Syria and many of us believe there is too much support as training camps were found a few years ago. The last 2 plane loads of Palestinian refugees will be the last as the 90 day travel permit they were using to bypass laws has been changed and no more planes are welcome. The planes were part of a much bigger game with Global Air the chartered air carrier stating that over a 1000 scheduled aircraft had been booked from a company based in Europe and Dubai.