Barber Shop, a different Barbershop concept

In recent years, man has once again given the prominence that he deserves to the care of his beard and his hair. And we are referring to that role that he had in ancient times and that, over time, different fashions had taken from him.

This, without a doubt, is something that we have to thank in the first instance to the hipsters, an urban tribe of free and bohemian youth that gave a great boost to the recovery of masculine styling, especially as far as beards are concerned.

The return of long and well-groomed beards was what brought the splendid Barber Shops in Barcelona and other cities around the world back to life, which once again have become the most common claim among men of any age.

But what is a Barber Shop?

En forma resumida, un Barber Shop es un revival de las clásicas barberías del siglo XIX y la primera mitad del siglo XX. And it is so both in its classic setting and in the rescue of its traditional spirit.

To this day, Barber Shops are recovering the healthy habit of becoming places of worship and meeting places for men. Conjuring in the best possible way, thanks to its sophisticated services, the stress and rush with which we are forced to live daily.

In a modern barbershop, or Barber Shop in English, you will relive the golden age of barbershops from the last century together with the most advanced techniques for haircuts and beards. Barbershop services, hairdresser, beauty center and also relaxing massages given by authentic professionals, come together in an exclusive vintage environment designed to offer you the best of both worlds.

As you can see, the Barber Shop in Barcelona is a different concept of barbershop. A sophisticated space that after decades of oblivion, vindicates the exquisiteness of traditions and gives us the chance to enjoy a completely personalized experience.

What is the origin of the term Barber Shop?

The beginnings of barbershops or Barber Shop date back to the Bronze Age, a period that covers from 3300 a. C. until 1200 a. C. The Bronze Age is a stage

prehistoric in which, as its name indicates, bronze is discovered, a metal that is obtained thanks to the alloy of copper and tin.

At this time, well-sharpened stones were used as blades. It was the Egyptians who gave the modern touch to the shaving method, as shown by their sculptures showing pharaohs and members of high society shaved to their full length. Likewise, in Roman and Greek culture, barbers had great relevance in male society.

After several centuries, in the Middle Ages, Pope Alexander II prohibited priests from using the surgical material they used in their operations. This prohibition gave rise to a kind of barbershop with rooms in which medicine was practiced.

This is how the Church finally delegated the practice of medicine to barbers, since they had become experts in the use of scalpels and blades. This is how the Church finally delegated the practice of medicine to barbers, since they had become experts in the use of scalpels and blades. The British Parliament finally put some sense into it and around the year 1450 limited barbers’ surgical interventions to tooth extractions, bloodletting and, unsurprisingly, trimming men’s beards and hair. Any other medical practice was considered a crime.

Curiously, from these indentations arises the barber post or barber pole, one of the iconic objects of the Barber Shop of the 50s, which in its beginnings only showed white and red stripes Red symbolized the blood from the extractions and white symbolized the bandages used to dry the wound. The spinning movement of the barber post represented the dance of the bandages in the wind.

It is not clear why they later added the color blue. Some people think that it was the color that was assigned to barbers to differentiate them from surgeons, while others believe that blue represents the veins of the patient. In any case, whatever the origin of the barber post, the symbol was born and is still alive today.

When we reach the 17th century, we see the birth of the magnificent wigs worn by upper-class men and women. These wigs forced barbers to improve their techniques, a fact that laid the foundations of today’s Barber Shops.

The French Revolution ended the use of these spectacular wigs, but the barber business was here to stay. Of course, beard, mustache and haircuts still coexisted with tooth extractions and terrible bleeding. This remained so until the middle of the 19th century.

The first modern barbers guild was formed in Chicago in 1924. It was the Associated Master Barbers of America (AMBA) that gave barbers the chance to reach their golden decade in the mid-20th century. In his time, barbershops were a place where men of all ages had their meeting point and, at the same time, cut their beards, mustaches and hair following the latest fashion cries.

Between the years 1920 and 1960, the Barber Shop became the place of worship par excellence for men. A leisure space where they met with their friends to talk about any subject and entertain themselves in their free time. These barbershops of yesteryear left us a large number of items and accessories that in today’s Barber Shops look like vintage or retro decorative objects.

With the passage of time, the Barber Shop became more and more sophisticated. It is in the year 1878 when the Archer company of Saint Louis would patent the first reclining barber chair with footrest. Advances in manufacturing processes were giving rise to technological innovations that, without losing their vintage style, began to offer customers the most advanced services. An example of them are the comfortable barber chairs.

What differences are there between the barbershops of today and the barbershops of 30 years ago?

As you have seen, the history of the barbershop is very extensive and rich in situations of all kinds and colors. However, his goal was always the same: to improve the appearance of men. Now, the question that you are surely asking yourself is: why have they suddenly become so popular? What were barbershops like 30 years ago as opposed to how they are now?

The truth is that today’s barbershops have evolved enormously and cover much more than the traditional salon where men went to cut their beards, mustaches and hair.

Unlike the barbershops of 30 years ago, modern barbershops or Barber Shop offer a distinguished space, set in the golden age of the old barbershops. A place where men go to have a good time, to relax from the stress of everyday life, to talk with friends, to have a coffee or a drink while they wait for their turn to come.

A modern barbershop is a meeting point where you can be yourself and at the same time receive the most innovative services that go beyond hair and beard care. Likewise, the birth of technology has allowed us to revolutionize the profession and incorporate the best beauty products on the current market.

In short, in a Barber Shop in Barcelona you will find hairdressing services and shaping of beards and mustaches, relaxing, decontracting and sports massages, complete aesthetics that includes, among many other options, laser hair removal for the whole body or by areas, manicures, pedicures, peeling… and what is most important: from the hands of true professionals.