The Art of Shaving

There were two people working when I came in, probably one other costumer in the store so not very busy. The gentleman who was working helped me find what I was looking for but then had the woman cash me out as he was bagging my item. I said one moment as I had to find my wallet in my purse, about 5 seconds later the woman rudely goes «um are you buying this? It’s $ 26.50» I replied with yes, I just have to get my wallet out. I apologized, and she handed me the bag without saying no problem, thank you, or anything for that matter. I get the holidays are a busy stressful time for store employees but I didn’t know taking a few seconds to get my money out, while the store was not busy whatsoever would be such an inconvenience.

I love going into this shop and using their products! Granted the prices can be higher than other typical shaving products, but the quality will speak for itself. I shave with a safety razor, and that makes for all the difference!
I have yet to try their shaving services, but one day soon…

I read the previous reviews before I went for a standard shave ($ 35) and wanted to be as neutral as possible given all the bad reviews. The lady giving me the shave was Choline (sp?). My experience at other stores in DC and NY have been very good where the barber talked to you and made you feel like you were entering an old fashioned barber shop. My experience here was nothing like that. Choline was not rude or mean, but she did not give off a warm feeling. Everything seemed pretty mechanical and impersonal.
As far as the shave went it was just ok. I did not help her at all by tightening the skin under my lips, my chin, nose etc. because I wanted to see how good of a job she could do. She did the first shave well enough with no cuts and with the grain. I told her about some irritation and she put some more preshave oil on the area. The second shave was across the grain and again was fine. She didn’t cut me once. However, she did miss some areas on my neck as well as under my nose. Blatant areas that she should have seen. She also shaped up the nape of my neck.
A few things I didn’t like: I asked for a scented oil and she said they only use nonscented stuff. I don’t understand why the spa couldn’t have a sample of all of their products. Also they do not use a boar brush to lather on the shave cream which again I find odd since that is a mainstay of a proper shave and they sell many kinds. The impersonal attitude made this feel more like a chore than a pampering. For $ 35 you can find better experiences elsewhere. A final note, a couple of reviews have knocked the products. I personally enjoy the products so remember, everything isn’t for everybody.

Worst. Customer. Service. EVER!!!
Yes…the $ 150.00 straight razor you bought is defective.
No…we can’t exchange it.
You can send it to this address for an exchange.
Really!!! That’s customer service. I don’t think so. Very disappointing. Won’t be back… EVER!!!

I read these reviews after my experience at the Barber Spa and frankly I’m shocked. I don’t know if I’m «in the know», but I know what a good experience entails.
I’m from California and didn’t know what to expect from a Troy, MI Art of Shaving. What I got was a Master Barber who not only gave me a great haircut and beard trim, but walked me through every step of what she was doing so that I understood how to keep things neat and clean in the interim.
This experience took me from just wanting to use a gift card to likely coming back to Art of Shaving periodically for the whole package.

By far the worst shaving experience I have ever had. After she was done with trimming my beard, I wanted to go off on her, but I took a deep breath paid for the «service» and walked out.
I could tell and feel right away she had no clue what she was doing. I feel very fortunate that the damage she did was not so bad. The line up was crooked and way off.
I’m here to tell you, if you want your beard trim, it would be in your best interest that you save your money and go some where else.

Their barber is unbelievably bad — as in «maybe I should jump out of the chair and run away» bad. There are not many barber shops in the area that do straight razor shaves, but this is by far the worst and easily the most expensive. Also, their hours aren’t great as they are located inside a mall. The barber room is very nice.
Art of Shaving products are just «okay». Some guys discover them and think they’re god’s gift to wet shaving, but those in the know and with a little experience know that they are dead average products that sell at or just below premium wet shaving products.
The outpost would be at least serviceable with a new barber.

I’ve been an avid user of The Art of Shaving products for years now and jealous of so many other cities that had their own local stores. AOS has opened up in Troy now and the store is simply fantastic.
They have the full line of AOS products available, some of which are only available from the retail outlet (not online).
They also have the barber salon. I haven’t tried the straight shave yet but at $ 35, it’s about average for area.