Barbershop Quartet: Four slick groomers
It stands to reason that if you’re going to sport one of the finest suits money can buy, you’ll want the rest of your appearance to be up to scratch as well.
To that end, in a recent revamp of its No 1 Savile Row premises, tailoring giant Gieves & Hawkes has become host to one of the more splendid places a chap can get a haircut and a shave in London. What was formerly a rather unsatisfactory side corridor housing the morning suits collection has been reborn under the auspices of grooming specialist Gentlemen’s Tonic, which also has premises in Mayfair and Selfridges. Each old-fashioned, luxuriously-proportioned barbers’ chair has its own cubical, which comes complete with an LCD TV to watch while you have your coiffure coiffed and your face massage and shaved. Haircuts start from around £48, while wet shaves are £35, or get both for £72.
Alternatively, take along your old man for a bit of bonding over the finer points of shaving – the thing we’re all taught by our dads and mostly taught badly. For the next three Sundays Gentlemen’s Tonic at Gieves & Hawkes is running a special Father & Son package in light of Father’s Day (Sunday 19 June). This includes a history and demo of wet shaving, a complimentary wet shave for both, a gift bag full of skincare goodies, a guided tour of No 1 Savile Row and a Bloody Mary, all for £140 per pair.
Gentlemen’s Tonic isn’t the only grooming venue taking note of Father’s Day. Murdock, the groovy barbershop mini-empire that a few months ago added a flagship parlour in Covent Garden to shops in Mayfair, Liberty’s and Shoreditch, also has a father-son package throughout June: make an appointment for a wet-shave together, and one of them will be half price – that’s £65 all in, and includes a couple of drams of whisky.
There’s also Father’s Day action from Carmelo Guastella, the men’s grooming expert who has opened his plush new Melogy salon at the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel. The gift package for lucky dads includes a haircut and consultation, a shave, a gift set of luxe shaving products and a glass of bubbly, for £60.
Meanwhile, West London dads who don’t fancy the trip into the centre of town can always drop into Carter & Bond on Westbourne Park Road. The charming emporium of strange and marvellous grooming products (not to mention vintage posters, boys toys, watches, Commando comics and other fun stuff) is now offering its terrifically relaxing in-shop barbering service from Wednesdays through to Sundays, from £30. For beardier daddies there’s also its intriguing new Dude No. 1 Beard Oil (left, £50.)
Info: www.gentlemenstonic.com, www.murdocklondon.com, www.carterandbond.com, www.melogy.com