Practical Barber Advice- Powerful Barber Tutorials for Everyone
Welcome to barber tutorials for everyone. Barberhacks is the place for any barber, new or experienced to get the real scoop on the industry.
I'm starting this blog humbly, knowing that I have a lot to share and a lot to learn. Hopefully this can become a forum for people that want to learn and for people that want to share, because I think that we should strive to improve our profession. Barbering is a profession that had languished (shaving was considered "the dying art") only to have a renaissance in recent years. I believe that we, as barbers, can take from the past, learn from it, and redefine what a barbershop is all about.
I'm starting this blog humbly, knowing that I have a lot to share and a lot to learn. Hopefully this can become a forum for people that want to learn and for people that want to share, because I think that we should strive to improve our profession. Barbering is a profession that had languished (shaving was considered "the dying art") only to have a renaissance in recent years. I believe that we, as barbers, can take from the past, learn from it, and redefine what a barbershop is all about.
What a barbershop is can be debated. It is an establishment wherein people go to get their hair cut and grooming services done. These people can be men and women and anyone that doesn't fall under those designations...depending on the barbershop. We still live in a world where some barbershops cater only to men; while others don't follow such guidelines and allow everyone who wants a haircut to get a haircut.
You may ask, then “how does a barbershop differ from a salon?”That is a difficult question to answer, but I like to say that barbershops are short hair specialists, beard specialists, and shave specialists, but that line is blurring in recent years, and I believe it will blur even more in coming years. Are my clients in the barbershop mostly men? Yes! Have barbershops traditionally catered to men? Yes! But as gender lines blur I believe that a modern barbershop should be a welcoming place for everyone that wants to come inside regardless of how they choose to define themselves.
A barbershop is also part of the community wherein it resides, a place where you can come in and meet someone from any walk of life (I have cut the hair of lawyers, the homeless, rock stars, drug dealers, etc.). It is a place where people can feel safe, where they come to feel good about themselves, and where they can have a laugh and talk about the world outside. They are places where you can go and talk about your breakup, a death in your family, your marriage, anything really, and be heard. Barbershops are incredible places that represent the communities and the cities they reside in and I really am humbled by the people in the industry.
You may ask what my experience is when it comes to barbering. It comes from years of work within the hair industry. I have been in the industry for sixteen years (as far as the writing of this goes). For sixteen years I have been a hairdresser, and for eight of those years, I have been a barber. I am competent with all hair types, all hair lengths, and with most tools that are involved in styling hair, and most ways of styling hair. There are some spots that I am a master not a master in...yet (such as braiding), but the knowledge that I have amassed over the years is something that I think could be put to good use.
I think that this will be a good documentation, something that people can use as a reference to learn about the industry and the skills that it takes to become a modern barber. These skills are skills that have taken years to perfect, and will take years to perfect, but, I believe, that by reading what I will put down that you will have a solid resource to come to learn, perfect, and maintain your skills.
I will attempt to get one article out every week, but that will definitely not happen all of the time, so I encourage you all to continue the discussion in the comments below.
Good to meet you all,
Martin
