Is the beard a hipster relic or an everlasting trend? Mustache - overlap squalor or blatant kitsch? Shaved whiskey - a stupid decision or a bold move? And also parting, fade, classic and platform. Barber Chef of 13 by Black Star Ivan Gavrilyuk explained to Lenta.ru in detail what is what: how to be men striving to keep up with fashion, and what awaits their hair and beards in the future.
Every representative of the stronger sex at least once in his life tried to grow a beard. And the only place where it can really be put in order without disfiguring is just a barbershop. People finally understood this, and even those who are not very well off can afford to visit an experienced craftsman once a month, especially since such places have already begun to appear beyond the Moscow Ring Road. Where there used to be barbershops, now there are barbershops. It is not a fact, of course, that the result will be 100% brilliant everywhere. There are only a few good masters, there are fifteen of them in total. I know everyone personally and I know the places in which they work. They have an appointment for a week in advance.
Still, high-level barbers will not work “in the district”.
Our industry, in principle, is still young - it is a maximum of six years old (Chop-Chop became the first full-fledged barbershop in Moscow, which opened in 2011 - approx. "Lenta.ru"). But everything is developing very actively, and any barber will cut a man's hair better and faster than a master from an ordinary beauty salon. Just because ten thousand heads have passed through him, he copes with any type of hair, and his work will look beautiful and high quality at any stage. What a beard. The simple barber in the men's room has no such experience with facial hair. By the way, the guys from Uzbekistan are traditionally one of the best barbers. It happened so historically.
Russian masters have always differed from their colleagues from other countries. The international director of the Toni & Guy brand, which specializes in men's haircuts, once said in a conversation: “Russians amaze with their nerdiness - they do everything so scrupulously and cleanly that they have to sacrifice some things.”
The problem is that our masters, having seen an example of some cool haircut (for example, in the authoritative Instagram account @barbershopconnect), try to repeat everything to the smallest detail. Few people think that they could have used Photoshop for the perfect picture. No - they stand and think how to achieve the result, as in the photo! And they don't give up, they torture themselves and the client for one and a half to two hours, not catching up with the fact that everything can be done faster and easier. I remember when we first started it was all over the place.
For a long time, we could not exactly copy Western trends, because in the same States, for example, there are cars that we did not have, and all sorts of smooth transitions were something incomprehensible to us. And now the client's skull already hurts, and you are trying to "pull out" everything with a typewriter. But, I must confess, the one who was more jittery was the one who achieved the greatest success.
As such, there is no trend for hairstyles in Russia. Several styles are relevant at once: American classics of the 50-60s, fades and platforms that came from Latin America, elongated hairstyles, as worn in northern Europe, and a texture popular in Britain. If you combine this - to make a fade and on top with a parting to the classics - it will definitely pan out like a wild trend. Only so few of our men can afford. Office workers won't be allowed to cut their hair like that. Therefore, the average length with a parting has taken root more, which is neatly reduced to zero.
Since we ourselves do not set fashion, we distort what is in the world and present it in Russian. This is what we call identity and mentality. I am sure that in the near future everything will remain plus or minus the same, only the length of the hair will change. And then - hair to the shoulders will not be exactly. We will get away from all sorts of fades, there will be an average hair length that will not look too casual, but there will be no feeling that you have just left the barbershop. The texture will remain so that you can fit in different ways and go to the master once a month.
Men's haircuts, in principle, do not change much over the years or even decades. The attitude towards them is changing. You can recall a funny comparison of photographs of young Stalin and football player Sergio Ramos - almost the same face, and between the pictures it is more than 70 years old.
If your beard is thin and with bald patches, you should definitely not grow it. Never. No way. There is nothing worse than this. First, it is very ugly. Secondly, it is a huge stress for the master. It grows here, it doesn't grow there, I want it to be stylish. And the only way out is to admit to yourself that you don't have a beard, but the devil, and shave everything off. Well, or leave the stubble, if the working dress code allows. You have to be honest with yourself. Don't mindlessly chase trends.
There are no fashion trends. Fashionable is what suits a person. Someone, for example, looks like a mustache - and it's very cool. This is an interesting fashion. But many are embarrassed to grow them, because colleagues at work can get stuck. Public opinion is too important.
For those who are noticeably balding, it is best to shave everything off. I understand that this problem drives most men into depression, but you need to understand: if you lick your hair back, and underneath it is a bald spot, it looks at least strange and comical. Everybody sees it anyway.
I am opposed to men dyeing their hair. I am for naturalness. Unfortunately, many people reason like this: Messi dyed himself, and if the man who has hammered almost all the balls for Barcelona has allowed himself this, then it is quite canal! But a slight negligence, the texture is much steeper than all these highlights on the cap. Not too deliberate neatness without frills is the best option.
Men's haircut should not require additional styling. The hair should not have a huge amount of styling to be scary to touch. When a man spends too much time in front of a mirror, some moral foundations break down by themselves.
