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I had a great haircut experience today in Portland Oregon at at shop called The Laurelhurst. I couldn't get to a barbershop on Saturday, so today turned out to be my haircut day. This was a real landmark for me for a number of reasons.

First off, I went to a barber I had never been to on Wednesday. (My barber went to jail about a year ago. He was great, but I don't know if he'll ever be back in town.) Mark Harris, email me for a follow-up on your Flat-top in Salem...

Anyway, the guy Wednesday was an older guy in a single chair, real old fashioned shop, and I thought it would be great. The guy was really friendly, the atmosphere was perfect. I had a couple of inches on top and an inch or so on the sides and back. I really wanted a fade so that's what I asked for. The guy really didn't know what I was talking about and just wasn't in tune (surprisingly...). I thought I was pretty specific, but took it for granted that he'd know what a fade is and he didn't.

His tapering was pretty good but he did this weird edging thing around the ears where he made an exaggerated edge that was around the ears and well above the hairline. I thought it was odd and ugly. Also, I asked for a taper in the back, so he gave me this modified tapered box cut. It was boxed off in back but tapered in somewhat...not what I had in mind at all. When I saw what he did, I just got the idea that this guy, despite all the proper barber credentials, and a great little shop, had fallen out of step with what's being done these days.

You guys have all been there, I'll bet. Do you make the effort to let the guy know what you really want or do you give up, figuring that the situation is hopeless. I took the second option. Part of the problem was that the guy was so darned nice, I didn't want to point out what a bad job I thought he did.

There have been a few times, under similar circumstances, when I've gone home and tried to fix it myself. I'm pretty good with the clippers but self cuts are extra tough unless you've got the right mirror set up and I wanted the tapering perfect ala Wyatt...I can't come close to that. So I didn't cut it myself. This in itself was a landmark. And I'm really glad I didn't.
I've never gone directly to another shop the same week after a disappointing cut, but that's where the Laurelhurst comes in. This too is a nice little shop and has the look and feel of a real barbershop. 

The guy who cut my hair is a 50ish black guy named HH Ward. (I was so jazzed about the cut that I forgot his first name, but I got his card.) He was great. He used a half dozen different clippers and attachments, going over and over the back and sides, blending, tapering, fussing. I loved this shop because it's pretty tiny and it was one of the few times I've had a cut facing the mirror so I could see everything. He cut me a great short fade, medium high, blended perfectly. One of my best haircuts ever. It was a blast! Then, when he was done with the back and sides, he asked what I wanted to do with the top, and I was undecided. I had about an inch, give or take left from my haircut last week. I told him I wasn't sure, to use his judgement, maybe a little shorter. He fiddled with it a bit, asked if I was sure, and just took the clippers across the top, leaving a little fringe in front for a bumper, and took the rest down with what I think was a number three (is there such a thing as a #2 1/2?) 

Man, when he buzzed right across the top it was GREAT...I have buzzed the top myself before, but never had the top buzzed with any bare taper blade in a barber shop, and CERTAINLY never facing the mirror. This was peak.

I'm totally jazzed with this cut, the whole experience was great, and I just wish I live in Portland so I could get to this guy more often. Very nice shop, excellent cut, some surprises, and the guy was a great listener, cut it exactly as I told him to, and wasn't afraid to take a chance when I told him it was okay.

Hope more of you guys had as great a haircut day experience as I did. And remember every day can be haircut day!