A Place I Live: BARBEER Shop

 

GUESTPOST BY J'S WORKBENCH

After growing out my beard and hair for almost a year, it was time for a change. Besides making my wife happy, getting a haircut and shave gave me an excuse to visit the new barbershop on the Center Street in Anaheim, BARBEER Shop.

Located in the middle of a shop trio geared towards men’s fashion, between THE GOOD Californian Haberdashery and HEART & SOLE, BARBEER Shop is a new take on the classic barbershop specializing in haircuts and straight razor shaves. Having enjoyed the treatment before in other similar barbershops, I was excited about having those services close to home. So excited that I made a weekly habit of checking in on the other shops to find out exactly when they would be opening. 

The big day finally came. My beard was out of control and my hair was long enough to require a ponytail to keep my neck cool so on their opening day, I strolled in hoping to be their first customer. It turns out I was a little too late, our friend Bradley already in a chair getting the finishing touches on his new haircut from Luis, the manager and one of the two barbers who work in the shop. I was greeted very warmly by both Luis and Kevin, the other barber, and took a seat at Kevin’s station. Both of them in bowties and suspenders with neat haircuts was awesome and gave the place a feel of authenticity like nothing else can. To be honest, I am not sure which of us was more excited about me getting a haircut, the barbers eager to show off their skills and new shop or me for a chance to let them do that!

Kevin and I took a couple minutes to talk about what sort of hairstyle I wanted and then what to do with the beard. I decided on the gentlemen’s cut similar to what they both had, and at the suggestion of Luis gave the beard a pass until the haircut was finished. I knew I wanted a change, but as to how drastic that change would be was still up in the air. We both took some ‘before’ pictures and then Kevin went to work.

 

And boy did he have his work cut out for him. After getting rid of the bulk of my hair we talked some more about how long I wanted to leave it in the back and on the sides, whether I wanted a fade or a taper, from the skin or a clipper length. These are a lot of decisions for a guy used to saying “short on the sides, a little longer on the top”. Kevin and Luis were both there with suggestions, explanations and Kevin even pulled out his phone with some pictures of examples. I don’t remember exactly what I decided on, but I do remember being very well informed on my options.

With the haircut finished, it was time for the shave. Because of the fullness and length of my beard, I literally had all the options in the world to choose from. My haircut was awesome so after agreeing on keeping some sweet chops, I told Kevin that he should do whatever he wanted to have in the ‘after’ picture to show off. Even if I didn’t like it, my facial hair grows pretty quickly so it would only be a temporary problem for me, something I was completely willing to do to try something different.

 

Again Kevin went to work, this time shaving away my beard. First the heavy clippers (let’s face it, my beard was pretty bushy), then the smaller ones and finally the hot foam and straight razor treatment. And this is what it turned out like:

 

I have never worn just a mustache in my life and it was a little bit of a shock to be honest. But, I liked it. It has a classic gentleman feel and it was totally different which was perfect.

BARBEER, as the name implies, has a bar along the back wall which will serve up refreshing beers. Right now they are still waiting for their ABC license and ironing out the last few details of operations, but are open for the business of giving great haircuts and shaves. I should mention that BARBEER is not just for men like other similar barbershops I have visited. I brought my wife Natalie along a few days later to stop in and say hi, take some more pictures and just chat about how their first week of business went. There is a lot of excitement in the place and I look forward to checking out their Grand Opening for a beer and going back in a couple months to try something else new!

 

 

BARBEER Shop

165 Center St Promenade

Anaheim, CA 92805

714-533-2727