Barber Shops.

[Sam Gamgee]

Something I've been considering doing in the coming year is finding a good barber shop to patronize. I've been going to a local Pro Cuts for a few years, and while it usually works out ok, I end up getting a pretty bad haircut a few times a year. Get what you pay for, etc.

I can get out of Pro Cuts for $21 with a pretty generous tip. Some of the hipster all-male barbers shops around here are $30-$40 for just the haircut; then you tip on top of that! That's a whopper of a monthly bill for me! Have to admit, though: getting the hot towels and first-class treatment in those kind of shops is great.

I also think it would be kind of cool to form an actual relationship with a local barber, someone that knows my name, vice versa, etc. At the Pro Cuts it's revolving door of Vietnamese women and a very impersonal thing.

Do you go to a legit barber shop or one of the chop-shops like Pro Cuts, et al? Do you think it's worth the extra money?

 

[ashdigger]

I get a haircut from a legit old school barber shop. Including tip it’s $40 once a month.

Haircut is $16 and a shave is $16

That’s the menu.

 

[Sam Gamgee]

I just looked up some local places. There is one inside a huge Harley-Davidson dealership in my neighborhood. That's pretty cool!

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

No "chain" haircuts (but no reason to think they wouldn't be good). Been seeing a "stylist", lol, since I was in HS (which I started when/because my hair was considerably longer). Just a matter of finding a good one wherever I've lived and hoping she doesn't quit (which has happened, creating crisis, lol, I give a crap about my hair). Right now it's a young lady at a local hair styling college and since you are a bit of a guinea pig it's only $12.00 - I keep telling her I'll take the good haircuts and hope everyone else's are bad so she doesn't graduate!

 

[Sam Gamgee]

I'm not overly vain, but a good haircut is nice and I need all the help I can get. I was in the Pro Cuts a couple weeks ago to get trimmed up before the holidays. I ended up in the chair of this one lady that literally gives a haircut in five minutes. She seems to promptly ignore any instructions one gives her and just starts in with the shears before the conversation is even over. The following weekend I was going to be attending a big Christmas party where I'd be part of the night's musical entertainment and I was hoping to look my best. Man, she botched it up and I looked like a hungry billy-goat got hold of me. I can always tell when my haircut looks particularly bad because my wife won't comment on it.

 

[ashdigger]

I get a haircut from a legit old school barber shop. Including tip it’s $40 once a month.

Haircut is $16 and a shave is $16

That’s the menu.

One of the cool things in the shop is that after your first time there and you are 100% satisfied the barber writes your name, phone number and the details of your cut on a 3x5 index card.

Since there are five barbers if you get one that hasn’t cut your hair they just look you up.

It’s old school service and a great cut every time.

 

[El Capitán]

When I lived in the city I went to a barber that charged $15 for the cut and $5 for a shave. This was 10 hears ago. Living in the country now so I just cut my own hair. Number 2 guard all over.

 

[BigEd]

I’m a stick with one person kinda guy. Even when I went to one of the chain places I wouldn’t go unless my regular girl was there. The one I go to now is an independent. She has a place in one of the salon studios. Only problem now is she had a baby and only works two days a week. With as much as I travel that has been an adventure but so far I haven’t gotten too shaggy before I could get in.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

When in grad school was n Tuscaloosa, there was a great shop called Mike’s. You could pick out a cigar and beverage while waiting, and the talk was always about football. It was Bear Bryant’s favorite barber.
But, since leaving there, I haven’t found anywhere as cool. So, I just put one of my daughters through cosmetology school, and have her pay me back by cutting my hair.

I’ve wanted to shave it for a few years now, but my wife hates shaved men like that. So…

 

[Hutch Piper]

I go to an old school barber shop with one barber. He doesn’t take appointments. He gives a consistently excellent haircut for $10 cash. Great conversationalist too.

 

[Egg Shen]

I think it would be cool to find a shop like you describe but I’m pretty good at cutting my own hair better than most places, even salons. Supercuts and the like will leave you looking like an assclown and should be avoided if possible.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Nah, I've done all of my family's hair cutting plus my own since high school.

 

[tbradsim1]

Wife a retired beautician has been cutting my hair for 55 yrs, won’t say it free, but it’s convenient.

 

[olkofri]

I patronise the impromptu barber stall in my own bathroom. In these times of spiralling down the drain finances it's mighty unwise to pay for something I can do myself.

 

[Hillcrest]

I go to a Hair Salon near my work. The former owner, now semi-retired rents a chair there. She was a licensed Barber in NYC for 20 years before opening her own Salon. She does a pretty good job. $20 plus $5 tip. When the assistant used to work there it included a hair wash and blow dry !

 

[yanoJL]

Old school barber here too. My guy, Willie, has been cutting hair in the same spot for nearly 40 years. He's like a fixture in the community. We always talk college football or golf, and I'm usually out the door for about $30.

 

[sablebrush52]

Haven’t pissed away a nickel on a haircut in over 30 years, not since going the ponytail route. My hair doesn’t really grow out much.

Thought about going q-ball but it’s such an ugly look. Few people have head shapes that look good skinned.

 

[fireground_piper]

I go to a salon that is owned by the mother of an acquaintance of mine/my wife. Appointment only and I’m on her book pretty much indefinitely every 4 Saturdays at open. I went to a different place before switching about 5 years ago and was never really satisfied……cut was never consistent and the place was walk in only which I loathe wasting my time with such things.

I think I’m about $40 per cut. My wife also goes every 6 months and is about $500 all in. I never wait a second for her chair to open. My time is worth the money.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Haven’t pissed away a nickel on a haircut in over 30 years, not since going the ponytail route. My hair doesn’t really grow out much.

Thought about going q-ball but it’s such an ugly look. Few people have head shapes that look good skinned.

Nothing like summer rain on a shaved scalp though.

 

[SBC]

I cut my own as well. Fading the back of my head is the toughest part, but I figured it out well enough years ago. I could get a better cut, but only marginally. Not worth the money to me.