How to find a barber who does a scissor cut

[YS2003]

So far, all of the neighborhood barbers use buzz machines to cut hairs. I am looking for a traditional barber who can do a scissor cut. All of the barbers I tried use a buzz machine/trimmer like a machete and cut my hairs too short regardless of my instruction.

I want my hairs long (very long, to emphasis this, as they tend to cut hairs shorter anyway) at the top and the front while keeping it neat and thinned on the sides of my head.

When I was in Tokyo, all the barbers I tried provided scissor cuts as a given. But, in the USA, some barbers even tell me they cannot do scissor cuts because their hands are slower than machines (ie. it tires their hands).

Any recommendation on how to locate such a barber?

 

[it5five]

Luck, I suppose. Just try going to a different barber every time until you find a good one.

It took me forever to find a good barber until one day I just decided to walk into this hole-in-the-wall place across the street from my apartment. They do the clippers on the back and the side since I like it short, but the top/bangs I like a bit longer, and they use scissors for that. They even shave the neck after the cut as well. The first haircut I got at this place was probably the first haircut in my life I have been pleased with.

EDIT: Yelp has a barber category. You might try that.

 

[dmr727]

Do barbers do shaves anymore? I'd love to get a nice professional shave one day.

 

[it5five]

Do barbers do shaves anymore? I'd love to get a nice professional shave one day.

My barber does, but I've never taken them up on the offer. I should probably try it the next time I go in for a cut.

 

[YS2003]

Do barbers do shaves anymore? I'd love to get a nice professional shave one day.

I have not encountered a single barber who shaves during my entire stay in the USA. Again, back in Tokyo, all of my barbers do scissor cuts AND shaves using the big barber razor and, most of the time, wash/shampoo (and a short massage). I mean "all." The price is from JPY 1000 to JPY 4000 depending on the location. Tokyo is around JPY 4000. Some countryside barbers charge as little as JPY 1000 per cut.

 

[dmr727]

Maybe I need to head to Japan! I don't have much hair anymore, so the pleasures of a real barber have long since passed me by, but getting a real shave by a pro is still on the list.

My barber does, but I've never taken them up on the offer. I should probably try it the next time I go in for a cut.

If you do, lemme know how it is! I need to hunt around for a real barber.

 

[0098386]

Couldn't you use a hairdresser to do it? I get mine done by the hairdressers at my cousins college (she's a tutor there and always needs male models). I haven't been to a barber in at least 15 years since she took up hairdressing.

 

[Lord Blackadder]

I've also not seen a place that will do a scissors-only cut. You'd probably have to go to an expensive salon where they charge a lot but don't care much about speed. The buzz-clipper is faster and more profitable unfortunately.

Do barbers do shaves anymore? I'd love to get a nice professional shave one day.

I really would like to find a barber shop where I could get a shave with an old-fashioned cutthroat razor, but I've never seen or even heard of such a place in all my travels. I'll probably have to just buy a razor and try it on myself <gulp>.

 

[YS2003]

In the USA, do would-be barbers need to go to trade schools? If so, I am concerned about the quality of the curriculum.

There are trade schools in Japan those barbers get their proper training to master proper techniques for scissor cuts. Is some classes, they shave a balloon with a razor without blowing it up to simulate a nick-free shave on the real face.

 

[thegoldenmackid]

In the USA, do would-be barbers need to go to trade schools? If so, I am concerned about the quality of the curriculum.

There are trade schools in Japan those barbers get their proper training to master proper techniques for scissor cuts. Is some classes, they shave a balloon with a razor without blowing it up to simulate a nick-free shave on the real face.

Yes and No... It's done on a state-by-state basis, you have to be certified by the state that you are in. There are plenty of barber specific trade schools as well as other schools that have specific hair styling curriculums.

TO the OP, where I go it is done, I pay $34 + tip for a cut, shampoo and shave. I know it's a tad much, my hair gets cut ever six weeks or so, and I would not let anyonelse cut my hair (oh, college is not gonna be so fun).

 

[YS2003]

Luck, I suppose. Just try going to a different barber every time until you find a good one.

That's another way. But, I might end up with haircuts I don't like on the perpetual basis.
After reading posts from other members, I start to suspect that American barbers don't like (or cannot use) scissors for cutting hairs. I don't know why there are not many customers who demand scissor cuts in the USA.

 

[Signal-11]

That's another way. But, I might end up with haircuts I don't like on the perpetual basis.
After reading posts from other members, I start to suspect that American barbers don't like (or cannot use) scissors for cutting hairs. I don't know why there are not many customers who demand scissor cuts in the USA.

Because they don't know any better? Hair cutting as a skill is becoming a lost art, but skilled, old school barbers are still around. You just have to look for them and ask around.

I think I've stumbled across and/or found my way to a barber's shop that does both scissors only haircuts and/or straight razor shaves in every US city were I've gone looking for this sort of thing.

Baltimore: Guy in the ground floor/basement of an apartment building on the corner of University and St. Paul. Another guy in Hampden near the corner of Falls and 36th. There used to be a guy in the Rotunda who even did the Italian hair cut with the straight razor but I don't know if he's still around.

DC: Don't remember exactly where, but I KNOW I've had a straight razor shave in Adams Morgan.

NYC: If you can't find a barber who will do a scissors haircut and a hot towel shave, you don't know enough Italians.

DFW: K-Town/Harry Hines area. There's a couple of older Korean barbers who do this. If that's what you ask for and the older guy isn't there, the guys there will tell you when the come back.

LA: Again, KTown. Had one about a year and a half ago.

Ask the local barbers. They'll point you in the right direction.

 

[thegoldenmackid]

DFW: K-Town/Harry Hines area. There's a couple of older Korean barbers who do this. If that's what you ask for and the older guy isn't there, the guys there will tell you when the come back.

There are quite a few barbers in Dallas, oddly we have a lot of good barbershops, even in suburbia.

 

[Signal-11]

There are quite a few barbers in Dallas, oddly we have a lot of good barbershops, even in suburbia.

NORTH Dallas, maybe.

Southern DFW is a wasteland.

 

[thegoldenmackid]

NORTH Dallas, maybe.

Southern DFW is a wasteland.

I have little experience given my location.

 

[OutThere]

You've gotta just go around and find them. You can go to places that allow walk ins and watch the way the barber works before you decide.

I looked around for a very long time before finding this tiny place right near my college...it has a small sign and no windows, but the barber is a really old school Italian guy who has been in the business for almost 50 years. He remembers me every time I go, remembers how I like my hair cut and cleans up around the edges with a straight razor and hot lather. Bliss. It's also a $13 haircut...which in my area is a great deal.

 

[Abstract]

Luck, I suppose.

That's how I found mine. I moved back to Canadia, and picked a hair salon (or whatever you'd call them, although it's definitely not a barber), and the lady who cuts my hair is the only one at the shop who uses scissors only. Regardless of how short I ask for my hair to be cut, she cuts them with scissors.

She doesn't use an electric razor, which some may prefer when it comes to really short hair, because she cuts certain sections of my hair by different lengths. I didn't think it would turn out better using scissors, but it has.

She also thins my hair really really well, which is important because I'm Chinese. The lady is also Chinese, or at least Asian, so perhaps she just understands my plight.

 

[YS2003]

NYC: If you can't find a barber who will do a scissors haircut and a hot towel shave, you don't know enough Italians.

So, I guess I should target Italian barbers in my neighborhood.

She also thins my hair really really well, which is important because I'm Chinese. The lady is also Chinese, or at least Asian, so perhaps she just understands my plight.

What plight are you talking about?

 

[NoSmokingBandit]

I have actually never run into a barber that preferred a machine to their hands. Perhaps its a city thing, seeing as i live in the middle of nowhere.

 

[Abstract]

What plight are you talking about?

Asian people have horribly thick hair, which is why it's so straight, and it usually sticks up if its short. By thinning it out, at least it has some texture to it. Otherwise, it would just be shiny stuff on my head. My "barber" just happens to be really good at making sure that my head looks decent. She can't fix my face, but she does what she can with the rest of my head.

 

[dmr727]

I have actually never run into a barber that preferred a machine to their hands. Perhaps its a city thing, seeing as i live in the middle of nowhere.

Well, I think it has to do with what someone considers to be a 'barber'. I'm not sure the ladies at Fantastic Sams count.

 

[coolwater]

I find OLD Italian barbers who were trained IN Italy the best. They use scissors only.

 

[YS2003]

Well, I think it has to do with what someone considers to be a 'barber'. I'm not sure the ladies at Fantastic Sams count.

Aren't Supercuts and Fantastic Sams exclusively for machine / trimmer cuts? After getting a cut from one of those places, one of my barbers in Tokyo told me the other barber cut my hair in a uniform way without any regard to hair style and the shape of my head. To correct my butchered head cut, he kind of semi finished the first hair cut so that I could grow my hair to make the proper cut a month later.

 

[TSE]

Here in Saint Paul, if you go to the older part of town there are many barbers that are pretty damn good. In the outer suburbs (Woodbury, Cottage Grove, Hugo) the barbers there are terrible.

 

[jecapaga]

Do barbers do shaves anymore? I'd love to get a nice professional shave one day.

I know a lady. Depends what you're shaving.