Words: Violet
Ted Maberly had always had a fear of haircuts… Could a trip to Gentlemen’s Tonic help change his mind?
Getting my haircut is usually a horrible experience in which I awkwardly sit in my mothers favourite hair salon having some young student hair dresser ‘style’ me. As the hairdresser usually talks too much, I am often too scared to cut in (no pun intended) and tell them not to cut that short – the result being that my head looks like a poodle. Due to this, I always have extremely overgrown hair that makes me look completely windswept even on the calmest day.
I hadn’t had my hair cut since moving to the city. I feared that a city barber would be far tougher and therefore it would be much scarier for me to say what I wanted. But this week I was resembling Cousin It from the Adam’s Family and I decided it was time to go to a barber. A real barber.
I had heard a lot about Gentlemen’s Tonic and the services that they offer, so, as it is just around the corner, I thought I would try it out. As I walked down the steps I was greeted with big smiles from the two girls at the desk and then taken to a waiting area with a comfy leather sofa and plenty to read. My barber Omar soon arrived and with a firm handshake that helped to calm my nerves he took me to my private booth full of mirrors and sat me down in an incredibly comfy chair. Having your own booth whilst getting your hair cut makes the whole process much more relaxing as you know you will not have people looking in at you.
We turned off the television in front of me so that we could talk. Omar asked how I would like my hair done and I said “Omar, please can you give me what you think would suit ME, regardless of the current trends”. Omar smiled, got the comb out and started buzzing the hair off at the sides whilst asking me all sorts of questions about what I do, where I live etc. – before I knew what was happening most of my hair had been cut off. I was then taken to get it washed before the scissors came out.
In the final part of my haircut Omar, with great precision, snipped away the last remaining hairs that were out of place. He then took a cut-throat razor and with extreme delicacy took off all the stray hairs around my ears and neck. Omar then smiled and said that we were done – but not before taking some Gentlemen’s Tonic hair products and sweeping my hair back to show me how I should do it every morning to keep the look.
Gentlemen’s Tonic gave me a really great service, all the staff were chatty and the haircut was immaculate. Not only am I really pleased with the cut, I think I may even have conquered my fear once and for all.
Gentlemen’s Tonic is situated on Bruton Place. For more information visit gentlemenstonic.com
By Ted Maberly
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