A team of barbers and hairdressers have pulled together to raise money for the Movember charity to help suicide prevention among men, in honour of their friend and fellow barber, Sam Wall.

‘Team Mr Sam Wall’, including barbers and hairdressers such as; Alan Beak, Ky Wilson, Jody Taylor, Leah Hayden, Robi Ham and Charlie Cullen, was started by one of Sam’s close friends Kevin Luchmun, and now has 21 members.

Each team member has their own dedication of running 60km each throughout the month of November, totalling a great 1,260km (this is around the same distance between John O’Groats and Land’s End). Money raised through sponsorship will be donated directly to the Movember charity.

The sad news of the passing of Sam Wall has hit the industry hard, and dedications have flooded in from those remembering him as one of the happiest, kindest and most hard-working people. Globally, on average one man takes their own life every minute of every day – and 3 out of 4 suicides in the UK are men. 

Movember began as a movement to combat prostate and testicular cancer, and has now become a registered charity which has funded more than 1,250 men’s health project around the world. Their dedication is to challenge the status quo, shaking up men’s health research and transforming the way health services reach and support men. By doing this, they hope to reduce the number of men dying prematurely by 25% by 2030.

For more information about the team and for donations, please go to: https://uk.movember.com/team/2388727 

Angie Perino, Global Education Manager for Andis Clippers joined our host David Foster on EVOLive, on Monday 9th November, to discuss the new virtual education portal that Andis have launched.

Don’t worry if you missed any of the conversation, you can watch the entire EVOLive at the link below on our YouTube channel!

For more details on the new virtual education portal, please visit: https://barber-and-beauty.andis.com/search?IsFeatured=1

Andis® Company, a global leader in professional barbering tools and education, has teamed up with The Conscious Kid to support barbershops across the U.S. to supply two award-winning children’s books that affirm healthy racial representations of Blackness and Black identity to barbershops free-of-charge.

Andis® Company, through the Andis Foundation, sees the importance of barbershops in supporting communities by building relationships, fostering communication and educating today’s youth. Through the powerful reach of barbershops, the #AndisBooksToBarbershops program is designed to counter anti-Blackness, support social equity and promote long-term change.

The first book in the set, Crown: An Ode to the Fresh Cut, written by Derrick Barnes and illustrated by Gordon C. James, serves as a high-spirited, engaging salute to the beautiful, raw, assured humanity of Black boys and their self-perception when they approve of their reflections in the mirror. 

The second book, Hair Love, is tender and empowering. Written by Matthew A. Cherry and illustrated by Vashti Harrison, Hair Love is an ode to loving your natural hair — and a celebration of fathers and daughters everywhere.

Barbers can sign up to secure copies of these books for their business at https://www.theconsciouskid.org/andis. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, some barbershops may not be permitted to have books in their facilities. Please follow the recommended safety guidelines and protocols and use these books when it is safe to do so.  

To learn more about the #AndisBooksToBarbershops program or Andis® Company, please visit their website, Instagram or Facebook. 

To learn more about The Conscious Kid, please visit their website, Facebook, Instagram or Patreon 

Our friends from City Image Barbers in New Jersey, teamed up with online scheduling and booking software company Schedulicity to bring the debut episode of ‘Barber Biz Talk’ to life, this past Friday.

The hosts: Joe, Jeff and Izak from City Image Barbers, will be dropping advice on managing, marketing, building teams and generating profit within the barbershop setting.

The main theme throughout is that, “it’s not JUST a haircut.”

You can watch the first episode right here! It featured an exclusive giveaway from BarbershopConnect owner Lee Resnick!

The first thing you do when you open a pomade is wave it under your nose, take in the smell, look at the consistency and then you might read what it claims to do.

The founders of Ace High Co have lived and breathed every ingredient that is inside their hair care range for years. Nate Hamood and Christian Kettenbeil, based in Michigan, are experts in tweaking ingredients to get the correct consistency and results for all of their products, all of which are brewed by hand, even now.

Everything in the range is pure and natural, brewed in small batches to ensure consistency and precision in every jar. There are wonderful natural waxes like beeswax and candelilla wax, shea butter for a soft nourishing touch, a range of natural oils chosen to keep hair healthy and shining. Essential oils are added for their distinctive scent and scalp health. Every ingredient is chosen to aid performance and to enhance the health of your hair, to keep your client looking swell. 

This story starts back in 2016 when Nate and Christian couldn’t find the pomade they craved for their own hair and decided to give it a go at making one themselves. Kitchen-based concoctions in their coffee shop took lots of trial and error until they came up with the perfect pomade. Since launching they have moved out of the kitchen and into their own production space.

Their product is shipped in glass jars because it offers a unique design; the strength of the jars has been intensively tested, throwing them at the ground hasn’t managed to crack these jars, they’ve tried. 

The branding is a clean, classic American branding, a style the guys love, with a nod to the 40s and 60s design, and it creates a striking display in any barbershop.

The Ace High collection has now extended to shampoo, conditioner, the Original Pomade, Blue Suede Clay, Black Cat Pomade, and High Noon Pomade, as well as their beard balm, hair tonic and hand sanitizer. The company has put together a range of value packs, combining pomade and clay, or pomade and beard balm, all excellent gift options for your clients to take away for the holiday season.  Also check out their Ace high merchandise range for t-shirts, bandana, and branded combs. 

Customers love how easy the products are to use and how well they keep a ‘do looking swell, and the price point is easy on the pocket.

Barbershops are welcome to enquire about becoming a wholesale partner to stock this cool, all-natural, line of hair products that actually work. Orders of small batches are welcome.

For more information go to www.acehighco.com

Normally there’s a real sense of excitement and anticipation as we collect (and launch) each new edition of BarberEVO.

It’s the culmination of all the hard work, blood, sweat and tears – not just from our team producing the publication, but more importantly, from the people we feature, those we are inspired by, and those who provide insight and guidance for so many in the industry.

Our November edition was to be no different.

However, with the tragic news of the passing of our friend Sam Wall, we hope that this edition, which features Sam and several of his closest friends and industry peers doing what they do best, can in some small way, provide the kind of fitting tribute that Sam deserves.

This one really and truly is for you Sam.

Love from Andrew, David and the BarberEVO team.

The Chief Executive of the National Hair and Beauty Federation, Hilary Hall, has announced her retirement.

In post since 2013, Hilary stayed on during the coronavirus pandemic , as she had originally shared her decision with the NHBF board earlier in 2020.

Hilary commented, “I have loved every minute of my time with the NHBF and working in this wonderful industry. I’d like to thank Ian Egerton, NHBF President, and the rest of the NHBF Board who have helped to steer us in the right direction, making sure that everything we do is in the very best interest of members.”

Richard Lambert is the new CEO, having joined from the National Landlords Association. Upon taking up the new role, Richard said, “I am thrilled to be appointed as Chief Executive for the National Hair & Beauty Federation and look forward to working with such a vibrant, forward-thinking industry,” comments Richard. “I’m committed to understanding our Members and their concerns, shaping the organisation’s services and communications to support them and creating an open, empowered culture from which we will continue to lobby government for change.”

We thank Hilary for her sterling efforts and wish Richard the very best of luck in the new role.

Following the decision by the Northern Ireland Executive that all close-contact service businesses such as barbershops and salons were required to close until November 13th, a group of Belfast barbers have sought legal advice on available options.

Sean Lawlor (pictured) of Cambridge Barbershop, Andrew Kavanagh of Camlough Barbers, David Lutton of The Corner Barbershop, and Padraig McShane of Cut N Edge have teamed up and hired Phoenix Law to engage with the Executive, particularly around the decision making process that led to the return of such strong restrictions on their businesses.

The group of barbers have raised concerns about how Government ministers have interpreted scientific advice, with the result being an enforced lockdown of their businesses, despite no hard evidence to suggest that barbershops or salons are areas of high transmission of Covid-19.

We wish the barbers involved every success, and hope that, most importantly, their businesses can get back on an even-kilter sooner rather than later.

The six finalists have been announced for this year’s prestigious Wahl Professional UK British Barber of the Year. 

In the line-up are: 

Kyle Rowland – @bk_barber_

Kilian Maddison – @ Amigos_barbers

Dale Hince – @dalehince

Guray Kesman – @guraykesman

Shaun Buckingham – @shaun_fgman

Luka Chitty – @lukasbarbers

There will be a live announcement of the winners mid-November, and we wish all the finalists the best of luck. 

The six finalists for this year’s prestigious Wahl British Barbershop of the Year have also been announced.  

The six finalists are:

Ruffians, Shoreditch @ruffians

Andy’s Barbers Bicester, Oxfordshire @andysbarbers_bicester

Avanzato Grooming Lounge, London @avanzato_grooming_lounge

BiberianGray, Cheltenham @BiberianGray

Cutters Yard, London @cuttersyard

R.W. Wolf Barbers, London @rwwolfbarbers

There will be a live announcement of the winners mid-November, and we wish all the finalists the best of luck. 

Andis Company, a leader in professional tools and education for the barber, beauty and animal grooming industries, has created a new platform focused on in-depth instructional offerings: Andis Virtual Education.

Professionals will be able to dive deeper into education than ever before, with more one-to-one attention in small classes, with some running from between 1.5 to four hours in duration.

Global Education Manager for Andis Barber and Beauty, Angie Perino said, “Our innovative Virtual Education platform will change the game and raise the bar for professional expectations of digital education.”

Andis Beauty and Barber Virtual Education courses begin at $50. Andis Animal Virtual Education courses start at $35. Class fees range based on class length and products included with purchase of tuition.

For more information about Andis Company or the brand’s educational offerings, please visit www.andis.com