Beat the winter blues.

New businesses who sign up to Schedulicity will get access to all of Schedulicity’s scheduling, marketing, and payment tools FOR FREE until March 1, 2021.

Visit: https://www.schedulicity.com/essentials/ to find out more!

Andis® Company, a leading manufacturer in handheld barbering and grooming tools, has announced the Slimline Pro GTX Trimmer – a long-awaited blend of two customer favorites. Combining the Slimline Pro Li’s sleek, lightweight body with the wider deep-tooth ComfortEdge GTX T-blade from the T-Outliner, the Slimline Pro GTX Trimmer is bringing the best of both tools to barbers across the globe.

“Because of its lightweight design and power, the Slimline Pro Li Trimmer has been one of my absolute favorite tools,” said Andis Global Educator Hayden Cassidy. “Now, adding the option of the wide GTX blade with the larger trimming profile and deep tooth design is really going to excite the barber and stylist communities!”

The Wide GTX blade’s deep-tooth pattern allows more hair to feed faster without sacrificing precision and can also be zero gapped. The wider edge also provides barbers better sightlines to the cutting surface, making it easier to perform precision trimming.

The lithium-ion battery delivers up to 2 hours of run time and can also be used with a cord for zero downtime. The kit includes four attachment combs (1/16”, 1/8”, 1/4”, 3/8”), charging adapter, charging stand, blade oil and cleaning brush.

For nearly 100 years, Andis® Company has been a leader and innovator in the barbering industry by manufacturing with quality and remaining responsive to professionals’ needs. The Slimline Pro GTX Trimmer is the next tool in a nearly century-long tradition of engineering excellence.

Further to the recent closures and restrictions placed upon close contact service businesses such as barbershops and salons in England, it has been confirmed this week that Barbershops and Salons can reopen on Wednesday 2nd December.

There was an element of confusion however with the announcement, as originally the date for reopening was slated as being on Thursday 3rd December.

Further good news for Barbershops and Salons in England follows, in that, regardless of what ‘Tier’ a specific region in England is placed within, they will remain open throughout.

As previously, Covid-secure guidelines must be adhered to by all close contact service businesses.

We wish all Barbershop and Salon owners the very best of luck in reopening next week!

The Professional Beauty Association is pleased to announce the judging panel for the 2021 North American Hairstyling Awards, which celebrates craftsmanship, creativity, inclusivity, and diversity. 

This year’s judges feature a panel of over 150 of the industry’s most esteemed hairdressers, makeup artists, beauty educators, and experts, including Serge Normant, Danilo, Vernon Francois, Robert Ham, Antoinette Beenders, James Vincent, Shogo Ideguchi, Matty Conrad, Justine Marjan, Eugenia Weston, Sam Brocato, Tracey Hughes, Nicholas French, Robert Lobetta, Tippi Shorter, and more.

NAHA has been the most prestigious professional beauty competition in North America for over 30 years, honoring the salon industry’s top artists – who push the boundaries of skill and creativity. NAHA submissions are judged online, in multiple rounds, by a blind panel of judges. The judging process is completely anonymous with no contact between judges or knowledge of artist names to ensure anonymity and fairness during the judging process. 

This year, NAHA features two new categories, including “Inspiring Salon of the Year” and “Educator of the Year,” as well as the ability for entrants to submit non-exclusive work that may have been previously published in all categories. 

Finalists will be announced on January 14, 2021, and the 2021 NAHA awards ceremony will move back to Las Vegas during the Cosmoprof North America show on June 27^th, 2021. NAHA will return to ISSE Long Beach in January 2022. 

For specific category rules and to view the full list and images of NAHA judges, please visit probeauty.org/NAHA. To view 2020 winners and images, please visit https://www.probeauty.org/events-programs/naha/press-portal.

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

There’s a new place to get a haircut in downtown Quincy, MA, and the owners said they want to give you the traditional barbershop experience your grandfather might’ve had when he was just a boy.

Master barber Matthew Thomas, at Gold Line Barbershop, at 830 Maine Street, said their company started out in 2015 in California with a mission to re-create the classic American barbershop with vintage cash registers, traditional barber equipment like antique chairs and more.

He said some of the services they offer are also vintage.

“Straight shaves, skin fades, traditional classic men’s hairstyles. We specialize in all classic men’s hairstyles we do the greaser 50’s haircuts. We do the classic 1920’s haircuts; and we also do a lot of modern cuts as well,” said Thomas.

Thomas said they plan to renovate the storefront with a new gold flake design. They said they signed a long term lease and hope to be in the community long term.

Good luck to Matthew and the team from all at BarberEVO!

North York Community Council, Toronto, has passed a motion to rename a street after a local barber and musician.

The new Jimmy Wisdom Way, which will replace Locksley Avenue from Eglinton West to Hopewell, is named after a renowned member of Toronto’s Jamaican Community.

Wisdom was a talented musician, active community member and leader who helped many newcomers ‘from his barber’s chair’ for more than 35 years.

The street is located right by Wisdom’s barbershop to honour his life and legacy. 

“We are grateful to Councillor Colle for his recognition and leadership to honour our father, affectionately known as Jimmy Wisdom,” said his daughter Ninfa Wisdom.

Wisdom passed away in 2019, but his shop attracted a wide range of clients.

“In renaming this street ‘Jimmy Wisdom Way’ next to where he worked, mentored, and inspired in his barbershop for over 35 years, we honour a man who devoted his whole life to celebrating and respecting his Jamaican roots and culture and weaving this into Toronto’s fabric,” said Mike Colle, Ward 8 councillor who presented the motion.

The TPS Barber Academy has recently reopened after being hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic this year. 30 students are currently enrolled, training hard to become the next generation of barbers.

But as demand is down due to the pandemic and social distancing restrictions, the Academy is seeing fewer customers coming in and the students are struggling to meet their requirements. Director of adult education Larry Warniment, explained:

“It’s a little over a year program to get through. It’s 1800-hours in the shop and in the classroom combined. We do haircuts, scalp manipulation, and shampoos. Currently, we are not doing facial shaves because of COVID-19.”

At the moment, the Barber Academy is offering free services until further notice in order to pick up more custom and give students more chance of getting jobs in shops and salons. Although the instructors at the academy acknowledge the stigma behind letting a student barber cut hair, they’re hopeful that customers will have an open mind. Intructor Zonta Moore said:

“You know, we want people to come in and to allow the students to get that experience, so that way when they get into the shop, they’ve already bumped their head in school, and they don’t have to worry about bumping their head out in the shop.”

The Barber Academy is taking appointments Monday through Friday from 9 AM to 4 PM. To make an appointment for a free haircut, call (419) 671-8700.