Men\'s Health Australia - 11.2018

BY MATT GOULETANDKATE NIVEN

The Efron

The Buzzed

Timberlake

The

Hemsworth

The Peaky

Blinders

The Gosling

The

Hiddlestone

Handsome

WHAT KIND OF

DO YOU WANT

TO BE?

Don’t Get Your

Hair Cut Before

Reading This

SAY YOU’RE NEW to town. Or

your regular guy has retired. Or

you’re travelling and in desperate

need of a cut. Or you’re suffering

from the kind of malaise that

only a straight razor to the back

of your neck and the hum of

clippers can fix. Whatever the

reason, you’re in the market for

a new barber. A scary prospect, I

know. Finding a place, let alone

a guy that understands exactly

what you want and can deliver

it, is an endeavour fraught with

miscommunication.

As a barber, I’m right there

with you. It can be just as ner ve-

racking for us when a new client

sits in our chair. We’ve never

cut this guy before; we don’t

know what he likes, or what he

envisions, or the weird things

that his hair does when it’s

clipped a millimetre too short.

To be a better customer – so we

can do a better job, so you can

leave with the best haircut – you

only need to communicate a few

simple things.

Walk in ready to talk about

your hair – and talk about

it effectively

For barbers, an overly fussy client

is better than an uncertain one,

for a simple reason: decisiveness.

So please talk to your barber

when he asks, “What are we doing

for you today?” I understand

it can feel weird describing

yourself and your hair and how,

aesthetically, you’d like that all

to turn out. Most of us get a

little uneasy thinking, let alone

speaking, about the nature of our

looks and our hopes and dreams

for them.

Recognise that barbers

are like ingerprints. Or

snowlakes. Or penguin

mating calls. The point is:

we’re unique

You can walk into a spot and,

because it seems cool online,

think you’re going to come

out looking like Clooney. But

even in that shop, there might

be one barber who’s a relative

novice, just getting started in

the business, while another is a

long-serving stylist who cut his

teeth in the salon world and may

own it with a pair of shears but

isn’t necessarily as trustworthy

with the clippers. Or you can

get a guy who came up in the

old-school shops and chops your

lettuce like you’ve just been

drafted, or he’s a wizard with the

clippers but might start sweating

when your hair is longer than 10

centimetres. And there is always

a barber who can do it all but

never developed the people skills

and so comes off as disaffected.

Let a barber help you with your next visit to the chop shop

60 menshealth.com.au