The Most Requested Grooming Services

Forget the hype about fancy treatments—most guys just want to avoid a bad hair day or a botched beard. What eats up the barber budget? Not always what you’d think. Some things never change, price hikes or not.

Fade Haircuts and Modern Styles

Every time someone says “fade,” I tense up. It’s like every third booking now, and apparently I’m supposed to know nine types? Trends are all over: low fades, tapers, temple fades. Nobody agrees on what’s best. New clients show me Pinterest pics, demand insane detail, and my wrists start to ache.

Kader’s Barbershop claims fades and textured cuts are up 6.5% year-over-year, with more guys asking for hard parts, crop tops, “shadow fades.” Half the time, someone just hands me an old baseball card. Prepping for these means new tools—zero-gap trimmers, texturizers.

Barbercon 2024 said modern cuts need three times the clean-up of old-school trims. That’s my excuse for the $10 price hike last year. Not a conspiracy. Margins are razor-thin (pun not intended, but whatever).

Beard Trims and Maintenance

My workbench is always a mess of clipper guards, and there’s always a guy with a wild beard asking for a “taper, but keep the length.” Like beard maintenance was invented yesterday. Does anyone besides dermatologists know how often you’re supposed to wash a beard?

Beard trims, especially paired with haircuts, haven’t slowed down since 2018. Roosters Men’s Grooming says their haircut and beard trim combo starts at $35, but in reality, city shops charge more for thick beards or premium oils. I started stocking fancy balm after too many guys complained about “itchy skin.”

Industry teachers swear beard line-ups are about skin health—antibacterial razors, pre-shave gels, aftershave sprays that just smell expensive. People are genuinely relieved after a pro trim, even if half of them hack at their beards with kitchen scissors at home.

Buzz Cuts and Scalp Massage

Buzz cuts—the electric hum, the whole drill—fly in every week, usually before sports or military stuff. Barber school said this was “entry-level,” but clients don’t want clipper lines or a shiny scalp. Some ask for a scalp massage—for blood flow, maybe, or just nostalgia.

Most buzzes? Done in 12 minutes. Still, I’ve read that barbershop revenue for these spikes with add-ons like scalp mists or caffeine serums. One chain even tried “aromatherapy buzz”—lavender-scented clippers? I have no idea.

Pro tip from Dr. Richards, dermatologist: don’t cut too close if you get ingrown hairs. Use a round-tipped exfoliator, not a stiff brush. Not that anyone listens—then they complain about bumps.

Straight Razor Shaves

Nobody tells you what to do when a client says they want the “hot towel experience” and then jerks away the second the blade gets near their face. Suddenly, you’re sweating through every step and your hands start second-guessing themselves. Straight razor shaves—yeah, the old-school ones—are weirdly popular again. I blame the endless YouTube ASMR shave videos. I mean, who actually finds those relaxing? Not me. But apparently, lots of people do.

So, a “real” straight razor shave? It’s at least five steps, minimum. Exfoliate, steam towel, pre-shave oil, lather, rinse the blade, repeat—honestly, I lose count after towel number two. The National Barbers Association says barbers are jacking up prices because everything costs more now—blades, soaps, aftershaves, you name it. Feels like every new product is just another excuse for my supply bill to eat my lunch.

I’ve got a cheat sheet taped inside my drawer for blade angles—supposedly, 30 degrees is the magic number, but my hands never agree. “Don’t talk while I’m shaving you or you’ll bleed,” my mentor used to yell, and yet, people always want to chat the second the razor’s at their throat. Why? I don’t get it. Every barber I know complains about it, but nobody’s figured out how to stop it.

Understanding Barbershop Pricing Structures

Raising prices isn’t some secret handshake. It’s more like trying to break into your own car after locking the keys inside. Every time I bump up the price, someone notices and gives me the look, but almost nobody ever asks what changed or why a beard trim is suddenly priced like a latte. Trying to figure out what people will actually pay for a fade versus a full cut? Feels like gambling with Monopoly money.

Standard Pricing vs. Tiered Pricing

People still expect a haircut to cost what it did last year, which is hilarious. Supplies, rent, electricity—none of that stays put. “Standard” pricing? That’s just enough to keep the lights on and maybe pay for the ancient magazines nobody reads. Around here, a men’s cut is $25–$40, depending on the zip code. If you’re on the coast, good luck. But it’s never straightforward.

Tiered pricing? That’s where things get weird. Suddenly, you’re paying for which barber you get, not just what you get. Juniors, “master” barbers, “celebrity” specialists—there’s a whole pecking order. It’s like the NBA draft, except nobody’s tracking how fast I finish a fade. SQUIRE’s 2024 survey claims shops with tiered rates make 32% more per year. I mean, maybe? Some clients love it. Others just get mad when they can’t tell the difference but still pay more. Advisors love pushing tiered pricing, but I doubt half of them have ever tried explaining “senior stylist” pricing to someone who just wants their usual.

Premium Service Options

If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that premium pricing has nothing to do with gold-plated scissors or imported Italian foam. It’s about selling an “experience.” That extra $15 for a hot towel shave or the $70 “VIP” membership (one haircut, beard trim, “priority” booking—until everyone signs up and nobody’s actually a priority) only works if people feel like it’s worth skipping lunch for. Real barbers—actual humans, not TikTok “gurus”—swear by bundling beard trims, facials, scalp massages on the service menu. But try explaining “aromatherapy scalp treatment” to a guy who just wants his sideburns even. Blank stare. But sometimes? Those extras print money.

Haircut prices bounce around for reasons that don’t always make sense. Rules change, inflation, random celebrity walks in—one weekend the chalkboard price is a joke. But when premium pricing works, it really works. Just don’t forget who’s actually sitting in the chair. If you’ve got fancy tiers but forget your regular’s coffee order, well, the shop down the block is already charging $2 less and probably remembers their dog’s name.