So, walking through the doors of the Art of Shaving at the Mandalay Place is much like a bull tip toeing through a china shop for me. My visit is immediately accented by the upscale décor and attention to detail that the staff employ. I am greeted by name and offered a cold beverage as I wait. As I thumb through a magazine I am drawn to a picture of a model that looks vaguely familiar. Soon I realize that a homely girl I went to college with has grown up and become a fashion model taking up a full page in a national magazine. It’s with a sense of resentment that I look at my flip flops and realize she has improved her looks by leaps and bounds and I on the hand have tried my hardest to not try to look good. Being a writer does that to you.
I am introduced to my barber and I quickly get a sense for what style is all about. As I shake Craig Means' hand it is no secret that this guy keeps himself looking good. His hands look elegant and formidable at the same time. I should point out that I would not normally look at a man’s hands but to be honest with you I had to make sure I understood who was about to put a straight razor to my face. His shoes are perfectly shined and his look is not only professional but all business. He has had a good shave and his hair look impeccable. It would be time for me to have the same look.
Okay, I’m a regular guy who somehow has lost his way when it comes to grooming. I cut my hair when my son decides he wants to go to the barber and I shave at least once a week when I feel the girl at the coffee shop is frowning at the fact that she has to serve the sasquatch. The art of shaving is essentially what normal guys need, an easy way to maintain the good grooming habits that our mothers taught us but college displaced.
Immediately Craig has me relax in his chair and I feel as if I’m being transported to another time. I feel like I’m watching my father go down to the corner for a shave and a cut. In those days the boys would all line up at the barber shop and talk about the Dodgers as they waited for their time in the chair. As a kid I watched as the barber made circles around each customer and gently wiped away a weeks worth of blue collar stubble from each man’s face. Craig dropped a boiling hot towel on my face and I fliched and instantly felt like a nine-year-old. Did those guys ever flinch with their buddies keeping an eye on them?
I could tell you that Craig went through the 4 steps of the perfect shave with me. He probably infused me with knowledge of aroma therapy and liquid nitrogen or Freon or whatever else he might have placed on and taken off my face. But, I will not explain the depths of the shave in that manner. Instead, what Craig did was allow me to relax as he handled the sharp instruments that gave me a shave that to this day still seems smoother than anything I have ever been able to accomplish. His professionalism not only eased me into a chair and transformed my face it gave me a sense of style.
That may be hard to conceive, but even as I sat there in my wrinkled shirt and flip flops I already felt better. A simple shave brought out the guy who loved matching an expensive belt with very expensive shoes.
Somehow my journey through the Royal Shave and haircut was more like a visit to an expensive spa where I not only received a massage but where I was understood as a male looking for a bit of a lesson in looking good.
As I made my way out of the Art of Shaving I realized that the boundary between been a guy and being a man does not have to be straddled with flip-flops. It’s just that you have to pick the right spots to wear them.
The Art of Shaving, Las Vegas
Mandalay Place – Between the Mandalay Bay and the Luxor
3930 Las Vegas Boulevard South
Las Vegas, NV 89119
702-632-9356
