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What better way to take on the holidays and new year then with a fresh, new look courtesy of your neighborhood men’s grooming specialists at Calibrate Grooming. Located at Fremont Street, across from Fiore Market Café, Calibrate is a calm oasis amid the hustle and bustle of our daily lives where one can come in and truly relax while getting your hair professionally cut, your nails manicured, have a facial, a scalp massage – and all the while you can have your car professionally cleaned. One and done! Ready to take on the world.
We spoke with co-owner and head barber, Jason Lopez, about just what constitutes a “gentlemen’s cut” and he tells us, “the actual haircut service is like the pillar of our business. So I do my best to really get to know my client’s needs, what their hair goals are, what they’re confident about what they’re not confident about – the condition of their scalp, the condition of their hair, what did they like about the last haircut – what worked or didn’t work.” I mention the recent Calibrate client I spoke with who told me it was the best haircut experience of his life, to which he responds, “I want to know what is that “it” factor that’s going to make it click – with that client for example, that was just one visit and he was like, “this is my place”. So I do my very best to really listen to my clients to figure out what their specific needs are. The haircut service is the pillar of the foundation of what we’re going to build all our other services around and take the same approach, the same amount of detail with manicures, pedicures, and car washes and scalp treatments, facial plans, everything that we do. We want to knock it out of the park every time – so, consistency is a big part of it.”
Jason does any and every style, but a gentleman’s haircut refers to a cut that looks perfect the moment you walk out of the salon rather than the typical notion of getting one’s hair cut so it looks just right in two weeks. “It’s by hand, not clippers or a fade,” explains Jason. “It’s great for professionals in a business setting – that’s the look, the gentleman’s cut that just looks good right out the door.”
So if I may as as kind of a layman’s person,” chimes in co-owner Jonathan Raju, “the specialty Jason has is that he’s able to create a look that looks good the moment you leave his chair and that’s because he understands different hair types and hair textures. And there’s different ways to cut the hair, so that you don’t have what I call harsh lines. All too often, I think barbers just go in there. It’s hard lines, harsh lines, sharp lines. And that’s why you have to let that hair grow out so that it looks like it’s been lived in because it has been for two weeks. Jason combines art with science and really understanding hair type, hair texture, hair flow, how it’s going to grow back. So that when you walk out, it’s that perfect gentleman’s haircut, where you know you can walk right into your board meeting, you can walk on set, whatever it is that you do, that really makes it just look natural. So he’s really been able to master that.”
To that point, Jonathan mentions one of their menu options that is unique which is their maintenance haircut, which is a trim you can have in between haircuts to extend the life of the cut. Clients have been very appreciative of this cost effective service. And they offer a young gentleman’s haircut at a reduced rate for young men ages 9 – 17. “We’re trying to get young men to see the value and build a routine of maintaining themselves and being groomed,” says Jonathan. “We want to instill in them the importance of having groomed hair, a clean scalp, all of these things – so start them off early so when they become young men, they already see the value and it’s already in their lifestyle. Even with the current longer styles, it’s important to come in and have it shaped, texturized, take care of the scalp, so you can best achieve your hair goals. Jason talks to them about shampoos, their specific hair needs and products that can meet those needs. So there is a lot of education that goes on in these sessions.”
And don’t forget, you can get your car professionally washed while you wait! Jonathan reminds me there are no car washes in South Pasadena, so it’s a great way to make one stop and get it all done. And if you decide Calilbrate is indeed your place, they offer monthly memberships at two levels which you can read more about here or on the Calibrate website.
The scalp care is another service that sets Calibrate apart and Jason says “we want our clients to know the condition of their scalp because a healthy scalp is key to achieving the best hair outcome. We have a Bluetooth microscope that allows us to really get a close look at what’s going on – it will show us buildup, oil, dirt. All of that needs to be exfoliated so the hair follicle can breathe and produce healthy hair. It’s like taking a look under the hood,” Jason adds with a smile. “How’s your engine running? Enough oil in there? The scalp is an extension of your skin – if it’s dry, if it’s oily, you should know what’s going on so you can do something about it. And we show the client before and after so they visually see. People are astonished.”
“In other cultures, scalp health is a very routine part of life,” says Jonathan. “When Jason and I created Calibrate it was never to be simply a barbershop. We want to add as much value to our clients as possible and so this is really why the emphasis on scalp health because if you don’t take care of your scalp, you will never achieve your hair goals. People focus on the end results; they want beautiful, lush, thick, flowing hair. If they’re not getting those results, you have to ask why is that? Perhaps your scalp is in dire need of some maintenance. Are you using a detoxifying shampoo? Are you then using a conditioner to return those oils and lubrication to the scalp? So this is just an example of some of the level of detail that we emphasize and focus on here at Calibrate because we’re not just about cutting hair. It’s about this total well being that impacts the total experience that you get here. And at the end of the day, you’re going to walk out looking good, feeling good and having a great haircut. But it starts way back at the beginning with scalp health. It’s a full experience – truly comprehensive barbering care.”
“We really want our clients to have a sense that when they leave like “wow, these guys really care”. That’s really what we want them to feel,” echoes Jason.
Calibrate recently hosted a very successful fundraising event with the D.U.D.E.S., a whisky tasting evening that benefitted South Pasadena High School senior scholarships, something Jonathan and Jason are committed to doing more of. “We’re a very unique, tightly knit community within this metropolis of Los Angeles,” says Jonathan, “and for that reason, being intimately involved with the community is core to our business. We want to have a symbiotic relationship with the community and give back to it, so we have a beautiful environment that we worked really hard on here. And we want to be able to share it with as much of the community as possible.”
“It was such a blessing to see so many people in here, and they’re so lively, and people were just having fun enjoying themselves,” says Jason. “At the end of the evening people were asking, “will you do this again?” And so the idea is that we will do a tequila tasting in the summer with tacos and then the whiskey tasting again in early December to kick off the holidays.” Like everything at Calibrate, the Whiskey evening was artfully curated by two experts from two local distilleries. “It was amazing,” says Jonathan, “it was, let’s talk, let’s learn, let’s be educated, which again is something really importants to us. If we’re going to do something, let’s do it right.”
Don’t miss your opportunity to experience grooming excellence this holiday season to kick off the New Year in style. Visit CALIBRATE at 915 Fremont Avenue in South Pasadena or book your appointment online at CalibrateGrooming.com.
Embrace the “You Look Good / You Feel Good / You Do Good” ethos and make this holiday season a memorable one with the help of CALIBRATE.
