At Floyd’s 99 in Fourways, U2 is blaring over the speakers as two men do what rock stars don’t – get a shave and a haircut.
It may call itself a barber shop, but Floyd’s 99 is more like a place of manly leisure and pleasure, with a bit of grooming thrown in.
The walls are papered ceiling to floor with music posters depicting bands like The Beatles, The Who, Guns & Roses and The Police. There are three flat-screen TVs, one showing rugby and the others airing music videos. On a long table is a bank of PlayStation consoles, with games and guitars.
There’s no way you can get bored in the place. While waiting for your “camo” (lingo for camouflage, colour to cover grey) to take hold, there’s also the internet, or magazines like SA Rugby or Sports Illustrated.
“The concept was born out of the need for guys to have a cool place to get a haircut, to enjoy an experience as opposed to just going into a barber,” says owner Kevin Mackenzie. “Since we opened in 2007, we’ve done 69 000 services, including for Daryll Cullinan and Jonty Rhodes.”
Tradition is retained, of course, in the vintage barber chair, and Floyd’s 99 has 10 of them, imported from the US, all with a little ashtray in the arm as a reminder of your liberties as a barber patron in days gone by.
But although your shave is done with a barber’s cut-throat blade, your hair is done by a qualified “hairstylist”, not a barber, and you always get a neck and shoulder massage with a vibrating machine that fits over the hand.
A cappuccino is on the house, and you can even buy a rock-themed T-shirt, along with great hair products. Women are also welcome – they are 30 percent of the clientele – but be warned, this place is defined by testosterone, be it well groomed in every way.
A more traditional experience is to be had at Roma-Paris Italian Hair Stylists on the corner of 9th Street and 4th Avenue in Parkhurst, where you will find probably the most experienced barber in Joburg, Angelo Cardillo, originally from Salerno in Italy.
He opened his first barber shop in Braamfontein in 1965 but moved to Parkhurst three years ago due to security concerns and hasn’t looked back.
He offers, along with the usual haircut and shave, highlight colour, hot and cold face towel, face and back massage and, not least, an excellent espresso and even a Cuban cigar if you’d like, all in his original old barber chairs.
There’s a tray of top-end aftershaves and colognes on sale, as well as Art of Shaving and Tea Green products, and you can buy Father’s Day gift vouchers, manicure sets, cigar cutters and lighters.
Ladies, insists the charming Cardillo, are also welcome, especially for highlights courtesy of skilful in-house colour technician Paul Marais.
Metrosexual urban men who are serious about grooming – read, fresh young executives – are gravitating to Crew Men’s Grooming in Nelson Mandela Square, where you not only get a cut and shave, you can also have a facial, manicure, pedicure, reflexology treatment, body or back massage, as well as waxing, tinting and threading (hair removal with thread).
The American Crew range of products is on sale for continued home care.
Sport airs on the TV screens and you can also order a whiskey, brandy or vodka on the house, though the clientele there are just as much into the coffee, Coke, lemonade, tea and water on offer.
Another service that elevates Crew – which now has three other branches, in the Rivonia Village, Morningside and Blubird shopping centres – is hosting groups of men for a collective grooming session, once the preserve of women only. These are popular for grooms and their best men, and can be accompanied by platters of food and champagne.
So in essence what you’re getting is everything your woman splurges out on now and then at the spa, but hands off this one, girls. Crew is an exclusively male domain.
Costs
l Crew Men’s Grooming, Sandton
Cut and style – R220
Clipper cut – R130
Traditional shave – R190
Basic facial – R280
Waxing (back or chest) – R220
Visit www.crewmg.co.za, as prices are particular to each outlet.
l Floyd’s 99 Barbershop
Buzz cut – R85
Wash, cut and neck shave – R160
Face shave – R150
Head shave – R140
Camo colour – R240
Tel 011 467 1150 or visit www.floydsbarbershop.co.za
l Roma-Paris Italian Hair Stylists
Hair cut – R130
Traditional shave – R130
Cut and shave – R260
Wash, cut and shave – R300
Wash, cut and blow – R170
Tel: 011 880 8311 - The Star