Konted's Make My Day 2: Barber Shops in Victoria, Australia

Barber Shops in Victoria, Australia

With the proliferation of unisex hair salons and beauty parlors offering hair grooming services among others, classic barber shops have been threatened. While there is a scarcity of traditional barbers who offer limited services, these salons and parlors provide the basic hair cut, skin care, facial aesthetic, massage, spa, mud bath and other services. Barber shops have been relegated into the background, so it seems.

But not in the state of Victoria in Australia. Most towns have barber shops at their designated town centers. Clients may have the customary Barber' s Cut, Crew Cut, Head Shave, Beard Trim, Hair Outline, Hot Towel Face Shave. Prices for hair cut vary from $15 to $49. There is one barber shop in Footscray, a suburb of Greater Melbourne, offering hair cut at $10. One barber shop still uses Old Spice shaving cream and lotion. Another shop gives free beer.

Southeast of Melbourne City and on the Frankston line, there is one barber shop at Mordialloc in Victoria. It is about 23 kms from the city proper. There is another one at Mentone, a seaside village. Here, the barber sells hair grooming products. One barber shop in Pakenham, which is north of Melbourne Central Business District, employs a lady barber. Some barber shops require clients to make appointments while others allow anyone to just walk in, take the barber's seat and have his haircut. Certainly, barber shops have remained popular in Victoria as made evident by the numerous barber poles one sees when passing through the towns of Victoria.

- Konted