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| - Somedays I wonder why I even stay on Yelp. I'm so burnt out on the whole community, and I don't particularly fit in here with the breakdancing asian guys, single moms with inferiority complexes, and gossiping housewives. But, then I come to a place like DOWNTOWN VINTAGE BARBERSHOP on Water Street, and I'm glad Yelp is around to give respect and credit to a barber whose been a master of his craft since the 1960s. Ray is the greatest old school barber I have ever met. He is a man in his 70s, but none of the young guys can compare to him in regards to his ability to hold the straight-razor.
Usually when I walk into a barbershop, the barber expresses to me that he doesn't like to shave people because it "takes too long". When I asked Ray for a shave he was more than happy, and even told me that he misses the 1960s when everyone who walked into his shop used to ask for one. It was the good old days according to him.
The most important part of the hot-towel shave experience is the pre-shave preparations. Most rockabilly barber shops rush this process and use a barely warm towel. Ray spends over 15 minutes during the pre-shave process. First, he spends a good 5 minutes massaging the hot lather into your beard(Oldschool barbers from the 50s and 60s would do this for up to 10 minutes in order to soften the beard to a point where the hair just literally melts off during the shave). No other barber in Las Vegas goes this far to satisfy their clients! Ray then puts the hot towel over the lather, to open the pores and further soften the hair. This step is important because it brings the root of the hair to the surface, so that a shadow won't be visible after the shave. Because this is a REAL pre 1960s-era barbershop, the 2nd shave is not done with lather instead it's done with some type of lotion(another lost art that modern barbers neglect).
The technique that Ray holds his blade is at the highest elite level. Because of his pre shave preparations and the fact that his technique is so beautiful, he did not have to use pre-shave oils. The younger barbers use pre-shave oils to compensate for their lack of technique. Like I mentioned earlier, Ray doesn't use oils because his technique is quite flawless. I NEVER felt the blade against my skin, and if my eyes were closed I would have never known I was being shaved.
Ray actually administers a real 1960s style shave. The rockabilly places don't do this, they actually administer a modern 14-step shave. Some of the most notable vintage procedures is that the barber roll slaps the aftershave onto your face, and then they massage your neck. The neck massage is a pre 1970s method used by barbers to loosen up a client who had been laying down for over 30 minutes. The roll-slap was a technique used by WW2 era barbers in America to wake up the skin, it's a long lost art. I particularly enjoyed it though.
After your shave he uses another hot towel to reopen your pores and that's when he applies the menthol rub. Due to your pores being wide open from the hot towel, the menthol gets deep into your skin, and even an hour later you will still be feeling that amazing cooling sensation. After all the hot lather, hot towels, aftershaves, and the razor gliding down your skin, at that moment your skin is going to feel very hot. It's then when he applies the final cold towel that extinguishes the hot sensation. For some reason, the way Ray did this felt amazing and was the perfect ending to an already perfect shave.
They actually use running hot water to heat up their towels. Now that's REAL OLDSCHOOL! The newer places that claim to be "old school", use those generic hot towel warmers. The barbers here stick to 50s-60s protocol and they go way out of their way to do more than the minimum, they don't ever cut corners!!
I would rather come here any day of the week over High Roller Barbershop for 3 reasons: no 2 hour wait, A real vintage barber on staff(not a hipster with an ironic mustache pretending to be rockabilly for the $$), and no meth addicts asking for money outside the door. Also, this place ain't just for men to get shaves...I've seen some of your profile pictures and a lot of you chicks have a lot of testosterone. You may also wanna get a shave here as well. Oh and I almost forgot to mention...Thank you Drew and Victoria for putting on this event.
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