True Professional

Wes the Barber

I put a vote on my blog: Who should I visit next? Wow I was not expecting so many people to come to the blog to vote for one specific barber. But they did. With all the votes being counted and re-counted I had a winner Wes the Barber.


The funny thing about it was the day I was calling to make an appointment a friend at work said “dude you have to check out my barber, he is legit.”

I was like “Neil you have a shag and girly hair why would I ever go to your barber?”

“Well all my friends get fades and he does the best one I have ever seen, he even cuts hair with a straight razor.” Said Neil the longhaired coworker

“Okay man I will at least look into him.” Then the longhaired fellow hands me a Wes the Barber card. I was like get out man this is who I was going to next. Already I was confident with my next SLC Barber Shop visit.

When I made the call to Wes the barber he only had appointment for a few days out. In my mind I thought, “okay this guy has plenty of customers that is good.” It is always weird when the barber is desperate like well I can get you in whenever I do not have any appointments. So once again I felt good about this SLC barber.



I set an appointment for 10 AM Saturday. That time rolls around and I am just walking in to The Hair People off of 152 South and 400 East right next to Crown Burger. Once I sat down it was a cozy comfortable waiting area, plenty of great magazines around. Old classic rock was playing over the shop.

Three little boys, I think they were brothers just got their haircuts before me. It was cute they were all matching and Wes asked them “so is today a matching day?” They were so happy he asked about that. They had little fades all lined up for Easter. They all ran over after the last one got of the chair and gave him high fives and thank you. They all liked their haircuts A LOT cause they said it multiple times.
I remember when I was young my dad would take my two brothers and I to get our haircuts for Easter on the Saturday before Easter Sunday. We felt so special like a million bucks afterward. Your little and you just think yeah I am cool after getting your haircut. You could tell this was how these little ones felt. Classic.

The layout of the shop is unique with each barber having a station with 5ft walls this makes it feels like you really are paid attention to. Wes’s station is really clean and well decorated. His great grandpa was a barber in Texas and he had tons of straight razors across the wall, a collection of his belongings that was framed, and multiple other barber items. One I my favorites was a special collection of aftershaves, lotions, and crèmes. Most of the time the barber uses his favorite, not Wes he uses his clients favorite and remembers if they don’t like a certain one or scent.



I asked for a low fade with short on top cause I like my hair messy spiky, if that is even a style? He went to work. AMAZING!! Truly I was very impressed with his talent. We talked about all short of things his great grandpa, stuff about my blog, barbering, our wives, etc etc etc. Something that you can only get from visting a barber. He is a genuine guy with some significant energy. I was asking about his website how it talked about a true “razor cut”. He taught me what is. This is where the barber takes a straight razor and comb and literally cuts the hair with it. He did my and it was awesome. He goes over the hair 3 or 4 different directions. Watching him perform his magic was very interesting. He is very good at what he does and very professional. If you have not been to Wes I recommend you go!! I am so pleased at the job he did and such a good guy. There at the shop they cut the mayors hair and the former mayor. What place can brag about that? Only at the Hair People. If not for the hair cut he is deep in the tradition of Barbering. I will be back to this place. This is yours truly SLC Barber signing out. Take care and may the shears be good to you!

The Dollar Shop

So it was time again for a hair cut. YES! I enjoy when this time comes. Since I have started this blog I had to be more thoughtful and aware of my process.

What I did. Whipped out the Iphone googled barber shop UT. Went to local results around my location. Since I was leaving work I was near downtown SLC. I saw a link that looked promising. Jim's Barber Shop (219 East 800 South).

How does a name look appealing to a Barber Shop specialist one might ask? Well you see some of my favorite shops have the owners name in it, or very simple like their hours example 9 to 9 barber shop (FYI).

But when I got to Jim's I saw this very sad sign


Time for plan B back to Iphone and start all over. Thats when I saw The Dollar Shop It was close to where I was so I thought I would give it a shot. Painted on the side of the building reads $5 Most Mens Hair Cuts. Did some research online and this place has been around for 50 yrs. Very impressive, great location. This place has lots of Barbers. Some seem more "friendly" than others.

The only thing about a $5 hair cut is the price. You cant really complain about it, like "Hey this thing looks like $5 buck haircut." But doesnt mean the barber should treat it as a $5 hair cut. Because overtime for the barber that adds up specially with referrals.

So I walk in and they are just closing! But they got me in anyway. RECOMMENDATION: DO NOT COME AT CLOSING which is 5:30!!!


Sat down with my barber. Didnt even get her name she was not friendly. I hope it was the fact she had to stay later. I tried to start a conversation it went no where. Thats part of going to the barber! I asked to have my hair low fade and finger length on top. She just started buzzing away....too late. I now have a high and tight! No worries. The barber did not do a horrible job but not what I was expecting. I had her change somethings about it but like I said no worries. I will try this place again thats for sure. They have lots of barbers.

The overall feel of this place is good. When you walk in you see barbers on two sides. Down the middle is the chairs for waiting. I think the owner Howard was his name sits in a chair next to the door. He is frank and to the point, but friendly. He was paying the employees out for the day and exchanging tips etc when I was there. A person walked in a few minutes after me and he told them "Cant you read, we are closed." Guy turned around and left.

A few minutes later another guy walks in and says "Are you closed". Howard says yes. The guy says "I have a very important meeting tomorrow. Cant I ask one of the stylist if they will cut it?" Howard just said sure you can try... Ha thats why I said make sure your not there at 5:30.

I think from now on I want to try and get my cut done early like first customer of the day. Everyone knows people start their leaving mindset 1/2 hour before its closing time.

This place feels like a true old school barber shop. They didnt perform a straight razor around the neck and side burns, but then again its $5.

If your looking for a quick cut or trim give this place a shot.

First Post

Welcome. There is no hidden objective here @SLCbarber. No I am not a barber but a connoisseur of them. I enjoy the conversation (most of the time), the atmosphere, smell, and the overall experience from going to a Barber Shop in beautiful Salt Lake City, Utah. Some people think the barber shop is dead nay I say to those. With places here in SLC like The Barber School, in Midvale next to Shane Co (everyone in UT knows where that is) the corner of State Street and 7200 South, ha thanks Tom Shane for that one.

How this all got started:

I started to go to 9 to 9 barber shop in middle school and HATED my hair cut! But I liked the environment. I think it was more the concept and idea of the barber shop. Guys just relaxing and getting their hair cut, shooting the breeze, getting a back massage, and a straight razor on the neck and side burns after the cut, finishing up with funny smelling aftershave. When I was younger I truly thought the barber would take to much hair off my head making it shorter than I cared for. But I really enjoyed the back massage and straight razor.

Then I started to become more professional! Yikes, I was getting my hair cut more regular and enjoying the actual cut looking for the most experienced barbers in SLC. Seeking different places, different prices, and experience.


My wife and I always joked that I would go to a new barber every hair cut, which is mostly true.
A friend of mine who is a foodie in SLC has a wonderful blog about SLC food hence the name of her twitter account SLCfoodie. We were all joking that since I like going to new barber shops all the time I should start a twitter feed SLCbarber. As time as it the blog is now rocking and rolling. I do have 2 cuts that I need to post about.

I also wanted to post more about different places here in Salt Lake, I don't want the Barber Shop to die so its up to us to continue the practice of going to the barber shop.

Please give any feed back you wish. No worries if it hurts my feelings I will just cry. But please this whole world of blogging and twitter posting is VERY new and foreign to me.