The Art of Shaving

Awesome experience. Totally worth the money… unless Deckeon Barret is working. I went for a test straight shave as I had never had one previously and I was contemplating having one the day of my wedding. Deckeon was polite and pleasant. He even gave me his card and mentioned if the party wanted, he would come to the hotel and do the straight shave at the location. A few weeks prior to the wedding I contacted Deckeon. He advised he should be able to come to the hotel with no problem, but he’d contact me that weekend with a confirmation. This is when my displeasure arose. He never contacted me. I reached out the Tuesday prior to my wedding (which was on Saturday) via text asking ‘what’s up?’. He replied stating he could not do the day of shave anymore. I had to follow up with him to get a denial of services — he didn’t follow up with me like he advised he would. As a result, I’ll never go to an Art of Shaving that he works at. His lack of ownership is completely unacceptable. He left me hanging a few days prior to my wedding without even suggesting someone else to contact. If he says he will do it, do not let him brush you off so easily. Make sure he doesn’t leave you hanging like he did me!

The staff is super helpful and try to impart as much knowledge on the art of shaving (pun-​half intended) as possible. I bought a sample shaving essentials set (pre-​shave oil, shaving cream and post shave balm) and really enjoy the scent (sandlewood, and I don’t like most sandlewood scented items). Both times that I’ve been there the staff was great and attentive (almost to the point of obsessiveness, but they are not a high traffic store so it’s easy to see why they’d be very hands on with each customer.
I decided to write this review after following my friend for his wedding day shave at the shop in the Montgomery Mall. The barber Deckeon (Deck-​E-​on) was very friendly, but professional. He shared his story about becoming a barber, the training he went through both in barber college and through the company itself (decently intensive for a retail shop) and his reasons for working at the Art of Shaving (namely, the shops respect for their employees and benefits). He also let us know that my friend’s shave would be comped thanks to a crossover promotion with the television show Boardwalk Empire.
Long story short (too late) my friend l-​o-​v-​e-​d his shave. I had to leave a little early to pick my girlfriend up (wedding day rush), but I checked back in with him to see how liked it and he was practically raving about the whole experience. I’d take that as a seal of approval for myself and at about the price of a massage ($ 55 for the royal shave) it’s an experience on par with getting your tension released (he said he had to keep himself from falling asleep when that hot towel was wrapped around his face, though to be fair, he had been up ’til four A.M. frosting cupcakes.. . Bridezilla!), plus at the end your face is baby smooth.

The staff was helpful and very welcoming when my boyfriend went in for a shave.

Why the need of a $ 150 Gillette Mach 3? I have no idea or some of the other very expense items that they sell there well ya know they are luxury items of excess that some not all but some like to have. Me on the other hand I do not wish to go crazy on the lush life but you got to admit that what they do carry is very nice and will look great sitting on your granite counter top in you dream bathroom. Me I’m in here today for actually more practical purposes. I figure the amount of money that I spend each year on disposable razor blades would save me about $ 100 bucks. So let’s see here wow that’s $ 1000 bucks in 10 years okay I can do math yay me. But really think about it if you were to purchase a straight edge blade yes just like Sweeney Todd’s, it would last you a life time with proper care and sharpening. Unless of course you do a Sweeney Todd to your own throat then… well… let’s not talk about that. Yep you sharpen those straight blades unlike the disposable multi blade thingamajigs were you just throw them out money down the drain not very practical.
So enter this store as I look at the gleaming steal of precision cutlery I am approached by the sells person who like myself underwent the conversion from multi blade throw money aways to keep for life straight edge. He was able to explain all the advantages of those straight edge of my grandfathers day and the other alternative of the olé safety razors of my father’s day comparable to the throw money away razors of current days. This guy really knows his stuff all about the different products that they offer at the store and the proper use of the straight edge. Me I’m just used to watching the bad guys in movies use it for cutting that is far from shaving related. The sells person even showed me a inexpensive straight blade trainer that allows someone like myself who never used a blade like this to see if they will like the straight blade before committing to a much more expensive investment of these very sharp hand crafted German made tools. Expensive they are but in the long run I think it might be worth it. Like I said they will last a life time and never need replacement when used properly.
Bottom line The Art of Shaving has some very expensive Mach 3 and the like to best be avoided unless you like fanciful items of excess sitting there looking good in your bathroom. However go there for the other items of a good shave brush and a good straight blade or safety razor, those are worth it as the overall cost of operation is very economical and logical. With a very helpful and knowledgable sales force you can’t go wrong in seeking a clean close shave.