It’s hard to underestimate the importance of good hair when grooming yourself. Not to sound superficial, but people notice hair that’s out of whack in any number of ways: if it’s greasy, unkempt, "bedhead," straggly, or otherwise disheveled. A bad haircut or the wrong haircut can distort people’s reactions to your face, as well. If your face is a work of art, the hair is its frame – and the wrong frame can make the viewer lose interest. As a practical example, getting his hair shorn into a "Caesar cut" in the mid 1990s helped elevate George Clooney from occasional guest star to leading man status practically overnight.

So, getting your hair right means finding the right style that will play to your own strengths. If you’ve got something straightforward in mind, something that echoes a more masculine approach to your image, you’ll probably want to choose a barber over a hairstylist.

Barbers Specialize In Men’s Hair

The difference between a barber and a hairstylist is deceptively simple: a barber specializes in the cutting and styling of men’s hair. Unlike stylists, who also train in coloring, texturing, and otherwise chemically altering hair for men and women alike, a barber focuses with laser-like precision on perfecting how to cut hair for the guys. Men and women have different types of hair and certainly have different shaped and contoured heads, a good barber learns the geography of the man’s scalp like an expert navigator.

The Barbershop Atmosphere

The atmosphere in Barbershop is one of playful ridicule, where comedians trade insults and observations back and forth… oh, wait. That’s just the movie.

The modern barbershop can take a page from yesteryear or it might be almost identical to a hairstyling salon (minus the dying and texturizing equipment.) The layout of the classic American barbershop isn’t just famous, it’s a part of our national heritage. The rows of chairs and long, photo-strewn mirrors, the shining tile floor, the American flag on the back wall - you can imagine with little effort.

A good barbershop, by definition, is soaked in masculinity, kind of like a bar without the booze. They’ve probably got old magazines to read, and pictures on the wall of past customers, and sometimes smoking is still allowed in the waiting area.

Finding A Barbershop

Though a vanishing breed, the classical barbershop still has a few outposts in most cities and towns. You can look for them in the older downtown areas, or typically in some of the older suburbs, too.

Some modern barbershops are attempting to bring back the old-school atmosphere while infusing the skill sets of the barbers with hairstylist training, as well. These new generations of barbershops combine that classical setting with the latest technology and state of the art grooming tools and aids. So, choosing your barber is a simple matter of finding the shop you like, and then selecting the men’s hair expert that fits your grooming campaign.