Support Your Local Barber: Long Beach Trip

    So this past weekend  I closed up the barbershop early, scooped up the wife and kids and headed down to Long Beach for the Easter weekend.

   So I got up Saturday morning and left the wife and girls in the hotel to do there homework since they all had school on Monday morning. I knew what I wanted to do first thing in the morning and that was pay visits to 3 shops in Long Beach that I have a lot of respect for.

    Stop number one is up on East 4th street in Long Beach to Razorbacks barbershop (3044 East 4th

Razorbacks Barbershop

Street, Long Beach,Ca.). I walked in just to check it and Pedro Zermeno was kind enough to allow me to bend his ear for a bit. He also allowed me to crowd his space a bit and watch him work.

    Pedro is a man who knows what he is doing not just business and as a barber. The shop has 4 chairs out front and two chairs in the back of the shop. They have 9 barbers total that work two shifts.

    If you do not know this already but Razorbacks is home to IMPERIAL BARBER PRODUCTS.

    Thank you Pedro for letting me invade your space and bend your ear. I appreciate it.

    My second stop of the morning was Hawleywood's Barbershop in Long Beach. It was a quite shop since everyone was out in Las Vegas for Viva Las Vegas. 

    Don Hawley and Hawleywood's really had a lot to do with changing the face of modern barbering and I had been wanting to visit one of the shop and so I finally go in to pay a visit to the Long Beach shop.

Hawleywood's Barbershop

    The neighbothood is cool a bunch of cool little shops which makes for a perfect location for this Hawleywoods shop. It is a narrow shop but deep with what looked like maybe 6 chairs (I could be wrong). Above the waiting bench is a shelf that hold a ton of beer glasses. Clippings hang on the wall that features the history of Don Hawley and the growth of the Hawleywoods brand.


   While checking out the shop I was totally excited to find a plaque that featured "The Underground Magazine" that featured the bands Hit The Deck, xLooking Forwardx, Until The End and Don Hawley.. It was a three page spread and it was so dope to so it hanging on the wall of Hawleywood's Barbershop (thanks Donnie).

The Undergournd Magazine

    Last stop of the morning was Syndicate Barbershop down on Broadway. There is a reason for making this my final stop of the morning and that was to see and chat with Dylan Johnson.

   The Syndicate  has a little more room and host 6 chairs (I think). It was a comfortable and they work for the most part by appointment only, which they started doing near the end of last year.

   Dylan has been cutting since 2001 and has called the Syndicate his home for almost three years. Like Hawleywoods neighborhood there are some cool joints on the block and these are all things that make for a good barbershop.

     One of my favorite things to do when I travel is to visit\
shops. I like to see what other shops are doing and if I get the
chance to I love watching other barbers work.

    I want to thank everyone who put up with me invading there space, bending their and letting me watch them work. I had a great weekend!!

    I have always beleived one of the biggest part of growning as a barber/stylist is to pay attention to what is going on around you and in other cities. So next time you are on the road take some time to poke your head in another shop and introduce yourself. You may learn something!
   

New Pomades Taking Up Space In My Drawer

    Things have been a bit on the crazy side between working 6 days a week at the shop and family stuff so I have been kind of putting off a few things, including updates here.

    First of the year I received two packages one from "Clipper Guy" Ivan Zoot which had a sample of ZOOT! Hair pomade. I also received a couple of cans of pomade from the guys at Bona Fide.

    Bona Fide hails from Orange County California which has become a hotbed for cool product (Layrite, Imperial and a few others). Water based pomade gets a lot of grief from fans of pomade becuase people do not call it pomade but a glorified gel. This is a statement that I do not agree with and personally I like water based pomades.

Used Bona Fide

  
    The scent of Bona Fide is a fresh clean scent that is not over powering. Sometimes it is better then an overpowering sweet scent. The texture Bona Fide is smooth and easily malleable unlike some products that have the tendency to be stiff. It is easy to come through and restyle. In my experience it is not a super strong hold, more of a medium hold with a decent shine. the price point is about 12 bucks which is a good price. If you are a barber or a shop owner I think it is worth keeping around if you are looking for an inexpensive water based pomade.

Short cut used ZOOT! Hair pomade

    Ok so I do not have packaging for the ZOOT! Hair pomade (like I said it was a sample), but it was enough of a sample to get a few cuts and styles out of it. This is not a water based pomade but it is not a super heavy pomade that is a pain in the butt to wash out at the end of the week. It has a minty scent but not that tea tree scent that most guys are used to getting in some other products. It has a smooth texture that is easy to use and easy to comb through. It has a lite to medium hold. If you are looking for a pomade to pile high that pomp this is not the best product. I found it works good for slick backs, side parts and just all around clean styling. It seems to have more of a matte finish so it is not s super high shine.


   I have used both of these products on more textures hair and found that Ivan Zoots ZOOT! Hair pomade worked better on textured hair then the Bona Fide did. But in the end you will have to try them out for yourself and see what works the best.

   On a completely seperate not the new "Support Your Local Barber" stickers are available and the shirts will be done soon!! If you are interested in either of these things hit me up!

Cheers,
Frankie The Barber

All The Cool Kids Use Instagram...Part 1

   Ok so I was going through my Instagram like I always do and realized I follow some cool people and some really good barber and tattoo artist so I got to thinking why not share a few of my favorite people, shops and tattoo artist that I follow on Instagram with all you guys. So I am going to post my top 10...The first 5 today and part 2 next week....Enjoy and feel free to share your favorites as well. Also note the kids in a few of these pictures....We love our kids!!

10) Omar Rubio (JEDIXLESS): Omar is a young tattoo artist living up in San Jose, California. He is a young dad husband. He is one of those artist that you know is going to be successful because he is going to learn everything about what he does from making machines, ink and everything that goes along with being a great tattoo artist.

9) Luis Orosco (Master_Barber): Good friend, talented barber and owner of Fresno,Ca's COVENANT BARBERSHOP. Been in business for a few years now and works hard, loves his family and his job.

8) Franks Chop Shop (FranksChopShop): One of my regulars got to visit FCS during the summer and told me it was dope. I have been a fan of FCS and there caps for a while. I finally got my own FCS cap last time I visited the New Era store in LA. Check out there NYHC snapback collection now available

7) Jan Hella (therebelrouser): Jan Hella is barber student extraordinaire. He runs The Rebel Rouser blog and I think he is going to be a successful barber when he is done and in the shop. he is developing a niche of his own...So look for him!

6) Dylan Johnson (Kid_Ridiculous): Dylan Johnson is a barber at Long Beach, California's SYNDICATE BARBERSHOP and also a member of the band Sidepipe Motorbike. he is a dad and a hell of a barber. Make an appointment next time you are in LB!!






Final 5 next week!!!