Safety Razor

What Exactly is a Safety Razor?

It sounds a bit like safety scissors. You know those ones with the rounded edges that can’t actually cut anything and you give them to children?  Well, thankfully, a safety razor is nothing like those!

A safety razor is as sharp as any other razor, but it also has  the addition of a guard that glides along the skin between your face and the blade, which reduces the risk of cutting your face whilst shaving.  So they are ideal if you have sensitive skin, or perhaps scars and marks on your face. An elegant tool in any man’s grooming kit, a safety razor gives a really close, smooth shave and with replaceable single blades, they are also a very cost effective shaving tool in your daily routine as new blades are a much cheaper option than most of the multi blade alternatives.

At Pall Mall Barbers, we have a few safety razors – the St Paul, the Westminster and the St James, which are really popular with customers. It just depends on the look you like and the way you hold the razor, to determine which safety razor would be best for you.

The Independepent recently included our Westminster one in their list of 10 best safety razors – high praise indeed. They particularly liked the simple way of being able to change the razor blade with the handle releasing the razor head.

If you’d like to try one of these safety razors yourself but need some advice first, pop into one of our central London barber shops and any of the guys there will be happy to help you. Otherwise, if you know what you want, go straight to our safety razor page and you can buy online too.

Beard Shaping

Have you tried beard shaping yourself but it’s not quite looking how you want it to?

Beard shaping can be quite tricky, but fortunately here in London we’ve got some of the best barbers in the business. And at our Pall Mall Barbers salon in Trafalgar Square, the Manager Erin is right up there with the very best.

With her knowledge of beards, facial hair and men’s shaving she can give the best advice and tips on beard shaping in London.

Maybe you’ve started to grow your beard, it’s got past the stubble stage but it’s now beginning to look a bit scruffy or unkempt. So what’s the best advice for beard shaping in this instance? Well, we’d recommend watching this beard shaping video on the Pall Mall Barbers Youtube channel. It features Erin advising on how to get sharp lines, how to make your beard look thicker and fuller and how to get it more even all over when it may be growing at different rates.

But what about beard shaping when you’re lucky enough to have quite a full, bushy face of hair? A boxed beard is quite a strong look, that still maintains a smart and professional air. In the next video, Erin talks through and demonstrates how to shape a boxed beard.

The great thing about a beard is that like your hair, you can change the look and shape of it. Grow it a bit longer and you’ll have different options on beard shaping that you can try.  So, what do you fancy? Maybe a Van Dyke?  This is a more pointy beard that needs cutting into shape.  It’s the style of beard Leonardo di Caprio was rocking in Django Unchained. Again, our beard supremo Erin, can talk you through how to get this look with this beard shaping video.

Still don’t feel like you’re ready to master the art of beard shaping yourself? Then book an appointment at any of our London barber shops and get a professional to do it for you.  They’ll look at the shape of your face, the direction of hair growth and can discuss with you the best style of beard for you.  Once styled right, it’ll be far easier for you to manage yourself.

You can book a beard shaping appointment online or order any of the Pall Mall Barbers Sandalwood and Clove beard grooming products.

History of the Beard

The history of the beard is fascinating. We've been going through a particular phase of beard loving in recent years so no doubt sometime in the future, people will look back and analyse our own social landscape as reflected by the hirsute amongst us right now.

When you look into the history of the beard, you can often identify a period by the style of beards popular at the time. For example, Henry VIII's bushy, fully grown beard was shaped as a "spade" and squared off at the chin. The style was much copied in the 16th century with most noblemen growing their facial hair as it was widely considered a sign of a man's virility!  The King even introduced a Beard Tax in 1535, knowing that men would pay it, as they wanted to keep their facial hair as a reflection of their masculinity.  Sneaky, eh?

By the time of the Stuarts reign in the 17th century, beards were shaped into a more of a pointy style quite often with the moustache separated from the beard hair under the lip and on the chin. This was known as a "Van Dyke".  In more recent years, this style has been sported by Johnny Depp, Heath Ledger and Jonathan Ross at various times.

When you look into the history of the beard, one thing is fairly constant. Beards being a reflection of a man's virility.  But they were also thought to prevent germs by preventing noxious substances getting into the mouth. Although given the lack of personal hygiene over the centuries we think a beard could have actually been harbouring more germs than was good for anyone.

Luckily, that's not the case today, even though the most favoured style of the moment is still a bushy, full on face of hair. With beard oils to keep beards in good condition, combs to shape and the general recommendation from barbers being to wash and condition the beard as you would your hair, then they really are something you wouldn't mind getting close to.

If you'd like to know more about the history of the beard, there's a great piece on The Conversation Blog.  It's written by Dr Alan Withey, who we had the pleasure of meeting when he came into Pall Mall Barbers and was filmed having a luxury wet shave as part of his research for a show on the BBC.

It's a fascinating read and you'll learn some little known facts about the history of the beard - like the development of fake beards made from goats hair in the middle of the 19th century for those who couldn't quite manage to grow their own!

Don't forget to call into one of our Central London barbers shops for all beard related products, beard trimming appointments and general beard care advice from one of our professional barbers.

Exhibition About Beards

We know beards are still really, really popular.  Whether that's the full on bushy variety or the more subtle stubble look, even though on the grapevine, it's reported that the whole hipster look seems to be waning.

We disagree and a clear indication that beards are as popular as ever, is an exhibition about beards currently on at Somerset House in London.

Featuring 80 portraits of men (and one woman!) with beards by the photographer Mr Elbank who has a fascination with facial hair and beards in particular.  At his exhibition about beards you may even recognise some pictures, particularly if you use social media as one of his early portraits of Australian charity campaigner Jimmy Niggles, who grew Oz's most high profile beard, went viral and he became a social media sensation.

Some of the images at this exhibition about beards are being shown for the first time, exploring that art of male grooming and featuring some amazing pictures of the likes of John Hurt, Ricki Hall, Billy Huxley plus the bearded woman Harnamm Kaur who's been growing a beard since the age of 16 as a result of a medical condition which causes excess hair growth.

It's a fascinating exhibition about beards that we'll definitely be going along to see, and it's on from March 5 - 29th.  You can get more information on the Somerset House website.

And don't forget if you need some grooming advice on your own beard care and how to look after it, book an appointment for a beard trim or shaping with one of our top barbers.  We've also got some great beard grooming products such as our Sandalwood and Clove Beard Oil, available online or in store.

Look after your own beard, keep it in shape and healthy looking with beard oil, and you never know, you may be featuring in your own exhibition all about beards!

The Area Called Victoria London

Want to Know About Victoria London?

It goes without saying that London is a very busy city.  That's one of the reasons we love it. But there are some areas that are busier than others and Victoria is one such area of the big smoke.

In the very central part of London Victoria is quite a small area but boy, does it cram a lot in. It's close to many of the city's major tourist destinations like Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey and a short walk to the London Eye, Tate Britain and Buckingham Palace.  So it's no surprise that Victoria always seems full of tourists.

But it's also an area with large office complexes for both public and private sector businesses, such as the Department for Business Innovation and Skills and John Lewis's Head Office.  Even New Scotland Yard is in Victoria London.

With so many people coming into the area for work or pleasure, it's no wonder that Victoria is a major transport hub in the city. With a tube station, mainline railway station, bus station and even a coach station all in the Victoria area of London, this is actually one of the busiest interchanges in

the country. And is always busy, day or night.

It's also a popular area for hotels and of course, lots of restaurants, pubs and bars to accommodate the social lives of those visiting from elsewhere or looking for a bit of de-stressing after a day in the office.  There are also theatres and a large shopping area with some of the most well known names on the high street. It seems whatever you're looking for in Victoria, you'll find it here!

Which is why of course, we've just opened a new Pall Mall Barbers salon in Victoria London.  We're right next to St James's Park tube station's exit on Palmer Street, so a short walk from Victoria Station and literally round the corner from Westminster Abbey. We're really easy to find!

Give us a call to book an appointment for any of our men's hairdressing or shaving services, from a full restyle to a beard trim, we'll sort it out for you. Or you could just call in when you're next in Victoria London.  We'll be happy to see you.

Pall Mall Barbers in Victoria London

Thinning Hair

Thinning hair can really affect a man's confidence and as a result, we may stay in denial trying all sorts of tricks to cover it up. But as Dan Davies, the General Manager of Pall Mall Barbers would advise, it's far better to work with it, getting the right cut and using the right products, rather than trying to disguise it.

Dan's expert opinion on thinning hair has been quoted on Fashionbeans.com, the complete fashion, style, fitness and grooming guide for the modern gent. With their team of industry experts, Fashionbeans.com provide the everyday male with the latest advice, inspiration and guides to looking their best daily and has over 1 million readers a month.

If you want to read what Dan has to say on thinning hair, click through to the 2015 Male Grooming Manifesto and then scroll down to May's entry.

First of all, Dan suggests getting it cut rather than trying to grow the thinning hair and then using a matt hair styling product like Pall Mall Barbers Pliable Clay. This has been developed, tried and tested by our professional barbers at our barber shops in London and will give definition to shorter styles of mens hair. Pliable Clay is great for creating styles that can be reworked during the day too, especially if you're going out after work or have a really busy day ahead. It comes in 2 sizes and can be bought online or in any of our Central London barber shops.

If you want to try some Pliable Clay and are not quite sure how to use it, we've got a great video of Dan explaining how much to use and exactly how to apply it. Check out the Pall Mall Barbers youtube channel and watch the video.

And remember, if you're starting to notice thinning hair, book in for a good haircut at Pall Mall Barbers, get their advice on the right products to use and how to style your hair - you'll look and feel much better.

Book a mens haircut appointment online.

History of Barbering

Ever wondered about the history of barbering and how the barber shops of old used to operate?  Well, we recently had a visit from Dr Alun Withey at our Fitzrovia barber shop in London, who knows all about such things.

Dr Alun had come in to have his beard shaved off and in his role as an academic historian of medicine and the body and a 2014 AHRC/BBC 'New Generation Thinker', he has written a really interesting piece on his blog all about the history of barbering.

As this was his very first experience of a professional wet shave with an open blade, he was naturally a bit nervous but as he was in the process of making a short film about shaving in Georgian Britain and this was part of his research, Dr Alun wanted to experience a proper wet shave by a qualified barber, and let's be honest, if you're going to have a cut throat razor held against your skin, you'd definitely want a Pall Mall Barber doing it!

Fortunately for Dr Alun, the barber in question - Michael, knows exactly how to give the closest, smoothest shave known to man and Dr Alun seemed impressed!  And he knows a good barber when he comes across one as he's spent the last 5 or 6 years researching and writing about shaving and the history of barbering.

In his blog, the history of barbering is covered from the 18th century when the skills, hygiene levels and quality of the barbers' tools often left gents of the time, with sore faces and nicks and cuts galore.  Thankfully that's no longer the case!

Why not read the blog, then book a professional wet shave for yourself and revel in this luxurious and very masculine experience.

Fitzrovia and Pall Mall Barbers Salon

Fitzrovia is the area in London where we decided to open the second Pall Mall Barbers salon. In the West End of Central London, Fitzrovia was famous from the 1920s for its artistic and bohemian community. Some of its famous inhabitants included Virginia Woolf, Dylan Thomas and George Bernard Shaw.

Our salon, is on Fitzroy Street just around the corner from Fitrzoy Square – a beautiful Georgian Square and a really lovely place to walk through if you’re in the area. We’re between two tube stations – Warren Street and Great Portland Street, and a short walk from Tottenham Court Road so very easy to find from all directions. We’re also fairly close to Euston, Kings Cross and St Pancras stations.

The area is partly in the London Borough of Camden and one of the most famous, and visible, sights in London is in Fitzrovia – the BT Tower. We’re also not far from Regent’s Park. Being right in the heart of London, Fitzrovia is situated between Bloomsbury and Marylebone, north of Soho.

Apparently, there are over 125,000 people who come to work in the Fitzrovia area every day so if you need to sharpen up your professional appearance and have been looking for a good barber in the area, you now know where to come!

The Pall Mall Barbers salon in Fitrovia is on the corner of Fitzroy and Warren Streets, with windows all around so you can sit back and enjoy people watching or join in with the traditional barber shop banter!  We offer our full men’s hairdressing services here plus our usual luxury wet shaves.  With our experienced barbers, you can come in for a moustache tidy up, beard trim or beard shaping and know you’ll leave looking good.  If you want to make an appointment, you can do this online or by giving us a ring. Full details of our Fitzrovia salon are here.

We look forward to seeing you in Fitzrovia.