Shave and a Haircut

All of us have little things that we say we have always wanted to do. One of them for me was to have a barber shave me.

When I was young, it was not uncommon to see the barber giving someone a shave and I was fascinated with the idea even before I had anything to shave. I remember specifically when I was about 12 years old my distant cousin, Gary Stoeckel came home on leave from West Point and went backpacking for a week in the Sierras. When he came back he had a full weeks worth of beard and took me to the barbershop with him to get a haircut and a shave. From that time, I always wanted to have a barber shave.

Alas, by the time I actually had something to shave, it just didn’t seem practical. I consider myself somewhat of an expert on shaving and my son Tom and I both use shaving brushes, shaving soap cups and the best razors to get the best shave. Also it is becoming more difficult to find barbers who shave their customers in our part of the world. My barber, Dwayne De Moss in Kingsburg, says he only shaves one customer and that is someone he has shaved for years.

So when we came to Europe and saw the barbers giving shaves, I decided to get one. Then for one reason or another, such as shops being closed in the afternoon, not being able to locate one when I was ready or not needing a haircut, it has been delayed.

This week I was able to get my wish.

I let by beard grow for a couple of days so it would be worthwhile. We asked the lady who runs the small restaurant in the village (Tereglio) in which we are living, if they had a barber. She said a barber lives here and works in a shop in Borgo A Mozzano, a small town about 20 minutes away. So today we went down and found the shop operated by Luigi, Favio and Maurice. We arrived about 20 minutes before they were going to close for the afternoon break – 12:30 to 4:00 - so they decided who would cut my hair and Maurice elected to stay over.

I have to say that I had the best haircut I have ever had. Scissor cut, razor cut, with about 20 seconds of electric clippers. Then came the shave.

He carefully prepared the skin and then applied shaving cream with a brush, warming the lather as he went. Then he carefully shaved each whisker, checking as he went. He trimmed the mustache and shave around it. Then he finished with a warm towel and lotion. It felt truly luxurious and I will try to repeat it in the future.

But for now I will simply say that I got to check off one of those things “I have always wanted to do”.