Hey guys, Nate here. I'm proud to announce that I'm now the Program Director of Scrawny To Brawny. From now on all of my blogs and articles will be posted on the brand-new Scrawny To Brawny Blog. So if you enjoyed what you read here, please go check it out. (It's awesome, if I say so myself.) I'm keeping the NGE website alive for resource reasons, but will no longer be actively updating it. The best way to get in touch with me is through leaving a comment on the Scrawny To Brawny blog or by posting on the S2B Facebook page. See you guys over at the new blog!
So Fresh, So Clean
Where men go to be men. (And get their hair cut.)
Whoa. I shivered when I wrote the word "pampered" there in the sub-headline. I hate that word. It makes me think of a diaper or a pedicure, neither of which are very manly.
Still, it's the best word I know to describe what happened to me yesterday when I decided to get my hair cut.
You see, I just moved to a new city and before that I had my hair cut at my friend's mom's house. No kidding. She was a stylist who once owned a high-end salon, but decided to cut some responsibility, renovate her basement, and turn it into a makeshift salon complete with chair, sink, and photos of her hot high-school girl clients who are now just way too young for me, but are still kinda nice to look at.
It's amazing what you see in the bathroom
I was taking a piss at a restaurant here in Missoula (my new town) and saw an advertisement for Roosters, a "men's grooming place" right above the urinal. (Clever marketing, by the way.)
Roosters was only a few blocks away so I decided to head over after my lunch to check it out.
At Roosters
I walked in the front door and was immediately greeted by a big screen TV and leather chairs. Nice.
The girl behind the front desk asked if I wanted anything to drink while I waited. "A beer sounds good," I joked.
"Ok. I'll be right back," she said.
"Wait. You're actually going to bring me a beer? I think I love you."
Two minutes later I was sinking into an overstuffed leather chair, reading GQ, and drinking a beer. Not too shabby.
What do you want me to do?
After ten minutes, Joanne (my new "stylist") walked over, told me to grab my beer, and led me down a hallway to an old-fashioned chair.
"What do you want me to do?" she asked.
Uh-oh. After being accustomed to my friend's mom doing whatever the hell it is she does to my head, I had no idea what I wanted Joanne to do.
"Well, how long has it been since your last hair cut?"
"About a month."
"Perfect. I know just what to do."
This scared me.
As she cut my hair, we made small talk about my job ("I'm a glorified bum") my love life ("And then she told me to slap her ass even harder"), and my health ("I can bench press a Volvo").
She then quickly spun me around, dipped the seat down, pushed me back, put a hot towel on my face and began washing my hair. I was in heaven.
After washing my hair and returning me to my upright position, she slathered some shaving cream on the back of my neck, wiped off a straight razor, and made a couple of quick passes. Next she put lotion on my neck and proceeded to give me a great neck massage, which was kind of weird and kind of awesome at the same time. (Did I mention I was drinking a beer while she did this?)
After we were finished, I got up, thanked her, paid, left a rather large tip, and walked out a new man.
And while I love my friend's mom and will always have a special place for her in my heart, I'm now a Roosters convert.
Comments for This Entry
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You should ask Ryan Magin about the stories he has from his "$30 haircut" salon. It usually involves hot chicks, beer(or unsweet tea) and hair dye.
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Nate,
You should totally get yourself a double-edge razor (classicshaving.com), a brush and a scuttle. My fiance got me a scuttle with my monogram on it, and it's made a huge difference in my self-care.
I throw on some good music (The Roots), pour some scotch and make it my tri-weekly mediation/relaxation ritual before bed. -
Ha! We in India are used to even more insane levels of pampering, and I am not talking of a diaper fetish.
A massage along with a haircut in an up market parlor costs around $6, while the same facility is available in the primal ("under the tree") for ten cents or so.
Incredible, but true. -
Reminds me of the last time I had a haircut. The psychotic red head nearly stabbed me in the head with the scissors, maybe they should also serve alcohol to either act as an anesthetic or for temporary pain relief.
Looks like you had a much more pleasurable experience. -
nice...
did they have sinatra playing in the background?
and what about a cigar room for your "after cut/shave" smoke? -
We're forgetting what's important here: How does the haircut look?
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Nice. I used to go to a place like that in Philly. Way to apply your multi-tasking skills (Drink, get hair-cut, develop blog content.)
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Awesome looking place. Unfortunately we have none of them down here in the city-of-the-mouse (Orlando.) Do not search for "Orlando man spa" btw, it will only scar you. . . .
Anyway, great writing. I also caved in and bought 2 kettle"balls" (HA! Take that!) after reading your excellent article on T-Nation today.
Thrusty -
Hi, Nate! Small world. Someone told me to check out this blog. Nice.
COMMENT RULES: Critical posts are fine, but if you're rude I'll delete your stuff. Please do not put your URL in the comment text and please use your personal name or initials and not your business name, as the latter comes off like spam. But most of all, have fun and thanks for adding to the conversation! (Thanks to Tim Ferriss for the inspiration.)
Donnie Kiernan 11:12am Jan 14, 2009