Barber is a person to whom a modern man can safely entrust his image: a haircut, a mustache, beard or pamper yourself with a royal shave. Barber will help you choose hair care and styling, recommend a styling suitable for your appearance and an ideal beard.
Until recently, masters in men's haircuts were received in ordinary beauty salons, and as a rule, they were universal masters, which means that they were not fully immersed in the work with the intricacies of the design of whiskers and mustaches. But recently, a new fashion for men's beauty salons came to us from Europe .
Due to the fact that barbershops (hairdressing salons for men) are rapidly developing in Russia, the very definition of a master hairdresser by men's haircuts is constantly heard. Let us consider in more detail what barber does, the meaning of the word, and how has this profession historically developed?
Meaning of the word barber
The now fashionable word "barber" came to us from the English language. Barber in Russian - barber, male hairdresser, barber. And the English word is formed from the Latin barba, which in turn translates as "beard." The modern barber is a master of hairdressing, specializing in men's haircuts, shaving, correcting beards and mustaches, and selecting an image for men.
Barber
Do you know what a barber is? It seems to be just a synonym for the word “hairdresser”. But in reality, barbers are more than hair cutters.
This word is borrowed from the Polish language where it looks like a cyrulik. And it came from Latin and is formed from chirurgus. More reminiscent of a doctor’s specialization, and for good reason. Initially, in medieval Europe, barbers had the right to engage in minor surgery, to treat teeth, to correct dislocations. And all this in combination with hair and beard haircuts, shaving and pedicure. Later, for each kind of activity, a specialist appeared, and barbers began to deal only with haircuts and shaving.
The international symbol of barbers
On the streets of modern Europe you can find the so-called Barber pole. These are cylinders with spiraling stripes of red, white and blue. They are located at the entrances to the barbershops, they can be seen from afar, and men always know where to quickly and efficiently make a stylish stylish haircut or style a beard.
This symbol has been preserved since the time when barbers were engaged in healing. That is why the red stripe symbolized blood, the blue - the color of the venous system and veins, and the white - the color of bandages and postoperative plaits. This is not typical for modern hairdressers, but is part of the history of hairdressing.
What services do barbers provide?
Having come to the barber, the client can receive services such as:
- Haircut. For an experienced master, the procedure always passes quickly, efficiently and without unnecessary conversations about the weather.
- Styling. A wedding, a reception or other important event in a man’s life requires a neat and stylish styling that complements the same haircut.
- Shaving the head. This is what only a real barber can do. Haircuts with a typewriter can never be compared in terms of smoothness with shaving with a razor.
- Royal Shave. Smooth face shaving with a razor.
- Scalp and hair care. These may be procedures aimed at preventing and treating hair loss, dandruff and other problems that a modern man may encounter.
- Gray hair camouflage. The word "coloring" in barbershops is not customary to pronounce.
- Beard or mustache design. Only a barber can do it right and beautifully. The definition of this specialty, or rather its education, contains the word "beard", this says a lot.
What education is needed?
A barber is definitely a person with a special education. It used to be that only a man can be a master of men's haircuts, but now more and more you can meet a female barber. Women can also skillfully wield a dangerous razor, despite the fact that barber is a masculine word, as, in fact, a hairdresser. So how to become this wizard, turning just men into gentlemen and dandies?
Of course, get an education. Ideally, you need to graduate from a secondary specialized educational institution with a degree in hairdressing, and then go through barber courses. But you can unlearn, as they say, “from scratch”. So you will have the skill of exclusively male haircuts, beard design, smooth shaving. Special schools and masters courses for creating stylish masculine images are opening throughout Russia.
Another way to become a good master is to work as an apprentice with an experienced barber. Previously, this was almost the only way to learn all the secrets of hairdressing. Surely today there are masters who are recruiting students to give them invaluable experience for free.
What qualities should a barber have?
Barber is a creative person, with a delicate taste and spatial thinking. He not only needs to make a haircut, but also choose the right one for the type of appearance, face contour and general proportions of the client's body. Just like in any craft, you need to gain experience, not be afraid to work with people and constantly improve. Fashion for men's haircuts is no less volatile than for women, so the barber should be aware of all trends, and, importantly, be able to put this knowledge into practice. It has been fashionable to wear beards or mustaches for several seasons. A male master needs to be able to choose the shape, length and even shade that is ideally suited to a particular client.
To support the topic of conversation with any visitor, the master needs to understand not only in fashion, but also in sports, cinema, cars, to be in the know about the latest news.
The most famous barbers
Briton Sid Sottung is one of the most famous and titled masters of barbering. The founder of the Sid Sottung Academy at home and a judge at all significant championships in this type of hairdressing.
Alla Margarita the lady barber from Volgograd in 2015 became the best master, having won the Barber Battle. Stanislav Vrublevsky took third place, and silver was divided by Rinat Azeev and Alexei Semenushkin.
In Moscow, the most famous masters: Igor Fedorenko, German Vinokurov, Vitaly Stavorsky, Denis Tashi.