Cliff’s Barbershop

Cliff’s is a fantastic, single-​chair barbershop, where you get the devoted attention of a talented professional who is a master at his craft. I’ve been to several places in Portland (Men’s Room, High & Tight, and now Cliff’s) and I am by far the most pleased with the cut Cliff provided. Strongly recommended.
Key points:
* cash only
* books up, so get your reservation in early

Cliff is great. No frills and very good at what he does. Not a one trick pony either. Single chair shop with a simple, cool ambiance. Consummate professional. Being able to text to get a reservation is nice too; He fit me in first thing in the morning (7am) on relatively short notice. I told him briefly what I was looking for and then showed him a picture and he outperformed my expectations. Although he doesn’t have a beard, he cleaned mine up nicely. He used a straight razor on my hair which is something I’ve only found out higher-​priced salons; not necessarily barbershops.
I’ll be going back without question.

Couple essential items of note:
Cash only
Opens early
Booked out quite often so make a reservation a couple days ahead of time
The place:
Single chair barbershop. Nice décor. Clean. Good size TV if you’re waiting. Quality products. Quality tools. great location downtown.
Onto the haircut:
I have quite the receding hairline — definite widow’s peak — so getting haircuts always make me nervous as it could look much worse. In this case, it looks phenomenal. It’s professional looking and there are no random strands sticking out. I also got a beard trim and straight razored the edges and neck — definitely top notch. Cliff gave some great advice on how to trim my beard to take advantage of some small patchy areas on the cheek — his trim looks great.
Booked my next appointment before I left — never going back to supercuts again.

Great barbershop! Excellent vibe and cliff is a true expert in his field. He gave my son and husband exceptional haircuts after a few disaster haircuts here in Maine!

Cliff seems like a simple guy. A Bostonian (check the accent) who moved to Maine two years ago and has been cutting hair since then. He’s got a nice little storefront in downtown Portland. Clean, comfortable. Single chair barber. He doesn’t employ anyone else.
I was impressed by his attention to detail, and great use of the straight razor to help texture my hair as well as help shape some angles.
The only thing I didn’t like was that he put Crew fiber in my hair without asking. It looked good, no complaints, but that’s probably something worth checking before doing.
I chose cliff’s as an alternative to the mensroom, and in glad I did. I’ll be back here next time I need a cut. Great job cliff!

Cliff is a professional and is really skilled as a barber. He was booked out today but because I was only in town for the day, I was fortunate that he was able to squeeze me in. He was detail orientated and had a higher standard of service… he’s one of the few barbers that actually sanitize their tools. He gave me one of cleanest fades I’ve had in awhile and provided a nice hot razor shave. Having been a stylist, I appreciate his work ethics.
Portland, Maine is definitely fortunate to have a quality barber as him. Will definitely return when I’m back in town!

Great haircut. Fixed things that were wrong with previous haircuts, explaining what and why.

Seriously the best haircut I’ve ever had! Life changing. My standards for a good haircut will never be the same.

Best haircut in Portland! Very good price for the detail he puts into it. I would recommend Hairlines to someone who is looking for a good priced professional haircut. Very satisfied!

After 16 years of barber’s comb and scissors cuts in San Francisco, I’ve been combing Maine for a great barber for the past two years. Cliff is exactly the guy. Amazing cut, wears a long time (8 weeks… longer than I’d like, and it still looks great) He’s a nice guy, no pretense and exactly what I’ve been searching for.
I brought my stepson with me and we were in and out in about an hour… my stepson still looks like a champ and can go another four weeks or so!
I’d go every month if I were living in Portland, but every six weeks will suffice. Thanks Cliff!

This review is based on my husbands experience! First we called around 2:30 in the afternoon for a same day appointment and yippee they could accommodate! My husband love the haircut, straight edge razor and the detail that Cliff gave him! From a wife’s perspective it looks awesome! I only hope I can find a hair salon in Portland with the same experience…

I was visiting in town for the day, and looking for a barber shop. I ended up dropping by, and Cliff fit me into his schedule on a busy Friday. Cliff was easy to talk to, and he understood exactly what I wanted in a haircut. He spent a lot of time on my haircut, and paid close attention to the small details. He did a very good job, and if I ever come back to Maine and need a haircut, I would go here.

Easily one of the, if not the best barber in Portland in my opinion. If you wear a men’s hair style (I’m not talking salon-​style cuts) that requires a barbers touch, I doubt you’ll find a better barber in the city than Cliff. His attention to detail, and downright mastery with the straight razor is impressive.
I’ve been through my fair share of barbers, and most have given a great cut… but Cliff manages to blow them out of the water. I get a really close fade, and one thing that’s stood out most to me with his cuts is how great my hair looks 1 – 2 weeks after the cut. The way he fades it allows it to grow back evenly, and fits the shape of my head. Guy can also trim your beard to make it look like its painted on your face.
Important to note:
Cliff is largely by appointment only, so call a few days in advance to schedule.
His price is a little above average for what I’ve paid in the past… but like I said, you get what you pay for, and its certainly not unreasonable.

Have been around to all of the places to get a men’s cut in Portland. This place is the best cut, best ambiance, and is actually very underpriced for what they offer.
Ask for Cliff.

My appt. was with Cliff. I had an idea of what I wanted, but was willing to take his suggestion on how I should get my hair cut. And wow, I was really impressed with the results. He took his time and put a great bit of effort into his work. It’s really a great value for the price you pay.
I certainly recommend him to anyone who’s looking for a great cut. And will be returning again soon.

Stopped in here for a walk-​in and was seriously impressed with Cliff’s attention to detail. He uses an arsenal of tools — not just your standard clippers and shears — in fact it seems like the straight razor is one of his favorite tools and he puts it to good use.
I was not offered a wash, which I was totally fine with as I usually turn it down when I’m offered at other places. Price was very, very reasonable compared to other spots I’ve tried in Portland.
I have a clean, sharp new haircut and Cliff has secured yet another returning customer.

I walk by this place every day on my way to work and I thought I’d give them a try.
Cliff was pretty nice and gave me a great haircut. I was more satisfied with this one than the last couple of cuts I’d gotten at other places. He was meticulous down to the last detail — he seems to really care about his work like a artist would about his craft. I can see myself definitely coming back for my next haircut.

Went for the first time yesterday, without an appointment. Wanted a cut from a real barber, and from a lot of things I’d read, this was the place to go. Cliff was able to squeeze me in and, despite being busy, really took his time and gave me the best cut I’ve had in years. Lined up my beard along my cheeks, trimmed the eyebrows, finished with a hot shave of the back of my neck. Cliff was friendly and funny. This is definitely my new joint.

Professional, friendly, easy to get an appointment but they’re also welcoming of walk-​ins.
The prices are competitive with other barbers in the area. Nice, hot shaves and my beard was excellently trimmed. Cliff gave me some great tips on how to trim, shape and fade certain areas of the beard to give it the look I wanted. Not really a ‘salon’ or style shop, but great cuts, both scissor cuts and clippers. And those shaves and trimmings you can’t beat. Cliff’s my new guy! Thanks Unilocal for helping me find this place!

I stopped into Hairlines on whim one day while taking a stroll around Portland and had a very mixed experience, but a few inexcusable things force me to give this place a poor rating.
It has a unique layout, with the waiting room separated from the haircutting room. This is nice because you don’t have the pressure of watching other people wait for you while you get your haircut. The haircutting room itself is windowless and is decorated with animal heads, fishing stuff, and other outdoorsy man-​like artifacts.
Here’s where the mixed experience comes in:
There are two guys that were cutting hair that day: The owner, Rey, who is an older gentleman with decades of experience, and a younger man. I got the younger man.
He paid great attention to detail, and really took his time with my cut. I appreciated this. He also gave the me the full old fashioned treatment, including a straight razor bear clean-​up, and the hot towel over the face with a facial massage. The whole nine yards. Very luxurious. The problem is, I didn’t ask for this.
Without asking, he cleaned up my beard line. This is an issue in and of itself, but he also didn’t ask *how* I liked it, and he brought the line up higher than I usually do.
Furthermore, and this is the kicker, when I returned to me office I noticed I was bleeding! His straight razor work on my face had left razor burn and minor scrapes. These faded after a day or two, but I had a wedding to attend the next day, and I showed up with little burns/​scrapes on my face. For a barber, I feel like this is a cardinal sin.
The other big problem came when it was time to pay. He charged me $ 25, but I’m assuming that without the beard stuff it would have been cheaper. I felt like I was duped into paying more by him just going ahead and providing a service I never asked for or was asked if I wanted.
The good parts of my experience at Hairlines were outweighed by the bad. If you go, I recommend specifying wether or not you want your face worked on, and if you do, watch out for that straight razor.