BoltBarbers

Become Bearded Brotha!

admin — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 16:32:57 +0000

The shape of your face is the biggest factor determining the right beard style for you. Dudes fall into eight basic face shapes as listed below. We recommend some specific styles for each of the eight facial shapes. So figure out your shape, choose a style that works with that shape, and get going grooming your whiskers into something that looks and feels like it belongs on your mug.

1. Oblong

Stretched at the forehead and at the chin, this facial structure likes beards which fill in at the sideburns, cheeks, and ‘stache without chin hair. Styles like “Mutton Chops”, “A La Souvarov”, “Dali”, or even “Friendly Mutton Chops” work to balance your oblong-ness into an attractive and attracting attraction.

2. Rectangle

Rounding out the right angles is crucial to soften rectangularity. We highly recommend the “Chin Curtain”, “Short Boxed beard”, “Ducktail”, or “The French Fork” for dudes cursed with right angles.

3. Round

Circular faces need angularity so you don’t look obese. Focus your facial frontier on your chin, with styles like “Chin Puff”, “Van Dyke”, “Balbao”, “Sparrow”, “Goatee”, “The Zappa”, or “Soul Patch”. All of these styles will take the wobble out of your weeble and square up your roundness.

4. Oval

Congratulations, homies. This is the best face shape to have, because it can literally host ANY beard style. Take your pick. Change it up often. Gloat at dudes with other shaped faces. Try something strange like “Imperial”, “Hulihee”, or “Old Dutch”. You lucky SOD.

5. Square

You’ve been called this before. Time to lose your right angles. Soften yourself up so you become more approachable. Try “Petit Goatee”, “Anchor”, or even the “Hollywoodian”. Focus growth on the chin, with or without a ‘stache and sideburns. Avoid full beards. They will simply square your square-ness.

6. Diamond

Strap on a chin strap if you’ve got this shaped face. Anything from “Rap Industry Standard” to “Chin Curtain” to “Anchor” will work as will extended ‘stache styles like “Fu Manchu” & “The Winnfield.” Diamonds are a girls’ best friend. Strap on one of these beard styles and you’ll be even better than that!

7. Inverted Triangle

Avoid chin hair and focus your growth on your ‘stache and side burns. “Mutton Chops” (or The Friendly Version), a “Fu Manchu”, or even “Franz-Josef” would be a totally engaging look and a real head turner. Conversely, inverted triangular-faced dudes can simply sport a “Soul Patch” and call attention to the inversion. Just make sure the soul patch is also triangulated for maximum attention-grabbing looks.

8. Triangle

Grow some chin hair. A “Goatee”, “”Anchor”, or even “”Van Dyke” is perfect to grace your isosceles triangle. The “Hollywoodian” or “Old Dutch” would also work. For an ‘unserious’ presentation, highlight your triangularity with a “Petit Goatee”, but be prepared for stares and head scratches.

Mohawk Matt is Founder and Chief Barber at Bolt Barbers and a Guest Author at http://www.shaveyourstyle.com where his article originally appeared.

Bolt Bail-Out……..Our Big Fat 50% Greek Bond Haircut Deal. Too True To Be Good!

admin — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 07:40:17 +0000

Go Get Our Greek Bond Haircut Deal at Bolt Barbers!

We’ve teamed up with Redken to bring our homies, many who know nothing about the crisis in Greece an unbelievable Greek Haircut Deal.

Forty Bucks gets you:
-A Bolt Shear ($25 Value)
-Any Redken Styling Product ($15 Value)
-Any Redken Shampoo ($12 Value)
-Peeping Chimps Hanging Mens Toiletry Case ($22 Value)
-Redken Fifth Ave Back Pack ($6 Value).

$40 Gets You $80 in stuff. No other discounts or offers apply. While Supply Lasts.

Listen up to learn what Steve Chiotakis and White Board Expert Paddy Hirsch have to say about the crisis. From Marketplace on NPR, Recorded with Mohawk Matt http://www.marketplace.org/topics/world/why-greek-lenders-dont-idea-haircut

Bolt adds “Joe Bruin Time” Mon-Thurs, 6P-Close. UCLA Students, Faculty, & Staff get 25% off all services with valid ID.

admin — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 00:13:19 +0000

Just Announced. UCLA Students, Faculty, & Staff receive 25% off ALL services Monday Through Thursday Evenings from 6P-Closing at Bolt Barbers Monkey House in West Hollywood. We call it “Joe Bruin Time”, which means you can get shorn, shaved, or whitened at 25% off our already incredible prices each and every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, & Thursday from 6P until we close. Book an appointment (24Hrs in Advance) or just walk in. Either way you and your fraternity are going to get awesome tapers, fades, mohawks, or whatever else you can dream up. Joe Bruin Time is offered exclusively at Bolt Barbers Monkey House Barbershop at 8209 Melrose Ave, West Hollywood, CA 90013. Tel 213 596 9110.

Meanwhile, Bolt Barbers DTLA Flagship enters into its second year with the wildly successful “Trojan Tuesdays”, when USC Students, Faculty, & Staff enjoy 25% off all services (Shear, Shave, & Shine), each and every Tuesday.

Readers Choice: Bolt Barbers DTLA Flagship Blazes “Best Barbershop” Award.

admin — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 17:46:02 +0000

The Readers of the Downtown News have voted and have choosen Bolt Barbers DTLA Flagship as Best Barber Shop in Downtown LA. The coveted Readers Choice Award comes from the prestigious pulitzer winning Los Angeles Downtown News, known globally for it’s investigative journalism, ability to scoop other established news media such as The Los Angeles Times and even Twitter. Readers choose Bolt Barbers as Best Barbershop of Downtown Los Angeles for the first time in 2011, disappointingly voting a “Groovy” Portland Unisex Salon Chain in a nearby hotel as Best Barbershop in 2010.

Mohawk Matt and the tribe shearing, shaving, & shining at Bolt’s DTLA Flagship are thrilled readers have bestowed us with this honor. The award write up appears in The Downtown News July 18th Edition, 2011. We are thrilled to be recognized as Best Barber Shop in Downtown Los Angeles and will work diligently to live up to the expectations that this award creates. We’d like to thank all the Downtown News Readers and our Dudes who get shorn, shaved, and shined at Bolt Barbers for voting us Best Barbershop in DTLA.

Mohawk Matt, Founder & Chief Barber

Ivan Zoot Vs.The Flowbee. A Haircutting Challenge at Bolt Barbers Monkey House. July 8th, 2011, 9A-Noon

admin — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 01:16:28 +0000

Three Time Guinness Book World Record Holder Ivan Zoot (Fastest Haircut: 55Sec; Most Haircuts in an Hour, 34; and Most Haircuts in a 24H Marathon, 340) challenges “The Flowbee” Home Haircutting Vacuum Device at Bolt Barbers Monkey House in West Hollywood.

The Flowbee

Mario “Mr. Mom” C. of Glendale, CA writes on Yelp “Get a Flowbee. Seriously. I use a Flowbee and I give myself better haircuts than any barber ever did. Haven’t payed for a haircut in like 6 or 7 years.” Well Mario, Bolt Barbers, LA’s Barber Brand has read your YELP love and decided to accept your challenge. We’ve invited Guinness Book World Record Holder Ivan Zoot, who is Director of Global Education for Andis to give FREE haircuts to homies at Bolt’s West Hollywood Monkey House on July 8th between 9A and Noon. Meanwhile, Bolt will have a Flowbee set up so that you can take a whack at “vacuuming off your hair yourself” and see “where it goes”. Unhappy with your Flowbee cut? Bolt Barbers will be on hand to fix any “Flowbee Foul-up” and will do so complimentary and without charge. You see Mario, Bolt Barbers wants to show you AND the world that barbers indeed give better haircuts than the Flowbee, and we’re willing to put our money where our mouth is. The Haircutting Challenge offers “haircuts that suck” vs “haircuts that don’t”. Come out and watch and/or participate in the fun. Enjoy a frosty mug of Bolt Barbers Root Beer, and get a haircut (or two) compliments of Ivan Zoot, Bolt Barbers, and The Flowbee Home Haircutting System.

Ivan Zoot

If you are unfamiliar with the Flowbee, click here to watch this brief video: Can’t wait for the Haircutting Challenge? Order your Flowbee Home Haircutting kit here:

Bolt Barbers Monkey House Barbershop is at 8209 Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood, CA 90046 Tel 213 596 9110. Bolt Barbers LLC and it’s barbers take no responsibility whatsoever for the results of your Flowbee Haircut and cannot be held liable or responsible for undesirable results.

Thoughts Behind The Building Of The Bolt Barbers Brand.

admin — Sun, 22 May 2011 02:54:44 +0000

By Founder & Chief Barber Mohawk Matt

Now 18 months into the successful launch of the Bolt Barbers Brand, I often reflect on what almost did not happen. True Bolt Barbers was a burning passion that lived inside of me for 10 years. In fact longer if you count how much I wanted to become a barber growing up in Bedford, NY. But the occupation was not “politically correct”. I was expected by school & peers to attend college, not pursue an occupational craft like barbering, which would have required me to attend an occupational high school. This was called “BOCES” and we all believed that idiots went there. How much I have learned since I thought that.

So instead, I practiced my entrepreneurial spirit in College (SUNY Plattsburgh) running a Charter Bus Service (Holiday Bus Service) which paid all my tuition and university schooling costs. After graduating college, I set out to work for one of two companies: IBM or Procter & Gamble, because I wanted the “White Shirt” disciplined approach to business management training that I felt only these two companies could offer. Practically speaking, I did not really have the qualifications to get into either company coming out of Plattsburgh with a BA…but I hunted and persisted and found a back door into P&G via the Field Advertising Program. I spent a few fun years managing Field marketing activities for P&G all over the USA (What has contributed to my Delta Million Miler Status) and thereafter landed an opportunity in P&G’s Brand Management Group, which was a big deal in terms of accomplishment, but set me on a path for many years that was not the right path for me.

The corporate world kept me “wanting more and more” but also achieving “more and more” as the years rolled by and the responsibility increased. I eventually sputtered at P&G, finding it difficult to keep enthusiastic about role and responsibility, but not realizing it was authenticity, authority & community that I craved…not bigger roles and more money. I should have listened to these instincts. But instead I ignored and dismissed them. I continued on the corporate band wagon. I jumped from job to job, country to country with some big name companies that did little to satisfy my sense of self fulfillment. After a series of four such “empty” experiences over a ten year period in the time since i left P&G, it began to dawn on me just how unhappy I was. I had not been listening to what makes me tick, what I needed in terms of role, and how to take advantage of the multitude of skill sets and experiences I had acquired. I was without courage. Without confidence. Without happiness. And so I looked deep inside myself and wondered how to turn this situation around. It seemed time for something dramatic. Not an incremental change. But a complete change. A greenfield approach where I could build my contribution to the world out of things that were important to me.

So I set about building Bolt Barbers. Literally from the ground up. I went back to school, acquired my barbers license, and then set about creating what had become a mission with incredible potency. I honestly believe the work I am doing in creating Bolt Barbers IS the reason I am on this planet. It takes on incredible importance, both because it contributes to salvaging an almost extinct craft which I am passionate about and reinvents it for revival, and also because it creates much needed community in a world where this is dwindling. Bolt’s uniqueness is in the sense of community we offer for wayward dudes, who are tired of the roles they “wear” at home and work/school. Bolt offers the kind of oasis away from defined roles at home and work and/or school that prevent us from being our true selves. My lifetime of experiences, both positive and negative, have gone into building a brand that provides more than just hairstyles, but instead reflects a lifestyle of camaraderie. Through Bolt Barbers “Hairy Beasts”, Bolt offers the social connectivity I longed for while I got distracted pursuing material things in life that failed to bring happiness. And if happiness is any measure of success, than Bolt Barbers LLC is a roaring success. Come on over and join us for a frosty mug of root beer, good conversation, and an old school taper or shave. Hope to see you soon.

Hate Mail We Love: Bolt Barbers Bungles

admin — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 06:28:21 +0000

Traditional comb over. Banned by Bolt Barbers

Mohawk Matt received an e mail from this unhappy dude recently. Plans are afoot for his mohawking. Mohawk Matt also sent this dude a pre reading assignment which can be found at http://boltbarbers.com/rant-n-rave/history-of-the-mohawk/

Hey Matt,

I was in DTLA Bolt on Friday, had to get my hair cut, quickly, catch a plane to rochester to give a lecture. You were there. Missed my bus. Made my plane! Got stuck in DC, plane landed too late…bullshit.

But, it wasn’t as bullshit as when I looked at my damn head. I mean, yeah, I’m an asshole for wanting a 20-30 min haircut. I do blame myself. I thought it looked good as I walked out. I think I was still drunk from artwalk. Nah, just kidding, I don’t drink. I smoked a LOT of hash before I came in, had to make up for the time I was not smoking out here in the east coast! No excuse, i do that everyday. But shit man…I guess I asked for the worst fucking comb over in the history of man. I’ve been to Bolt twice. I was always happy going to Sweeney Todd’s, Todd does a hell of a job. But, woah, my last two haircuts at Bolt fucking ROCKED. So, this one…mostly my blame, but holy shit, I look like a fucking asshole. Lucky me, I was giving a lecture to a bunch of old scientists and museum curators. They are not known for their fashion sense. But damn, now I’m going to cancel visiting two of my old girlfriends, I don’t want to spoil the memory. oh shit…they video taped that lecture…now I’m going to be bought and sold looking like I’m desperate to keep every thin hair on my head…

OH SHIT! If I haven’t already made you crazy with my gibberish, it is time for it all to go. I would like you to do the honors. I want..no, no…I NEED a major change in my life and I NEED you to bring me over to the world of mohawkness. Fuck this thinning hair. Fuck these DTLA hipnesses thinking I sit in my loft watching bill o’riley and punching puppies. Fuck everything about this fucking life that makes people judge you like a god damn book with a cover painted by thomas kinkade. I know I rule. time to start looking like it.

I get back from the east coast on Monday. What date and time can you give me the time to properly take this lumpy head full of thin ass hair and sculpt it into a thin stripe of pride, on top of this lumpy head?

Yours Truly

J. DTLA

25% shut down discount to Federal Employees

admin — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 17:29:05 +0000

Federal Government Shut-Down Discounts at Bolt Barbers. In the event of a government shut-down, Bolt Barbers will offer Card Carrying Federal Employees a 25% discount on your choice of services during the period of the shutdown. We suggest: Republicans go for our close shave (Regularly $22, Just $17.50 during the shutdown for Federal Employees), Democrats: An Attention Grabbing Beard Line Up (Regularly $7.00, Just $5.25, or Our Hippy Hair Shear, $28 while the government is open, Just $21 while it is closed). Bring your Federal ID. Get Shorn or Shaved at Bolt Barbers.

The Three Keys To A Great Dudes Haircut

admin — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 17:28:08 +0000

Mohawk Matt, founder of Bolt Barbers LLC was recently asked by MSN what are the three keys to a really great mens haircut. Here was his response:

What are the three keys to a really great dudes haircut:

1)Choose a barber!

Notice the word “barber”. Not stylist. Not cosmetologist. Not Hair Dresser. That’s right, a Barber. Unless you are a hippie, and prefer to remain that way.

A barber has a mens hair cutting education, license, and skill set that differentiates them from stylists, hair dressers and cosmetologists. The latter three will be referred to hereinafter as Cosmetologists as the state board of governance which licenses them, calls them.

Unlike Cosmetologists, barbers have been schooled with the clippers and the straight edge razor and have spent their entire school life learning how to use perhaps 8 different clippers (maybe more) to cut your hair like a guy should look. That clipper work is simply not learnt in Cosmetology school where the focus is on long hair, coloring, and perms. Cosmetologists also cut mens hair, but mainly to increase their paycheck, not because they are particularly well schooled in authentic old school barbering techniques. Barbers on the other hand, know only mens styles. They do them day in, day out. They are masters of the many clippers and the straight edge razor they use and know how to use these “unique to barbering” tools.

Finding a barber though can be tricky, unless you live in “The Hood”. Many chains which call themselves “barbershops” and have a pole spinning out front are in fact “Cosmetology Shops”,and use the word “Barbershop” because it has become cool, hip,& retro to call a stylist shop a barbershop. Avoid these places as you will not find barbers in these “Unisex Styling Shops”. You’ll find good music, but not barbers. If in doubt, ask the person who will cut your hair if they have a barbers license or a cosmetology license.

2) Choose a Taper

Many dudes don’t even know what a taper is . That’s because barbers have not been cutting their hair. A taper is a way to finish the back of a mens haircut such that the hair tapers down to skin at the nape without a “demarcation line” across the back of the head. That line, either squared off or rounded is a horrible way to finish a dudes haircut. That’s because it is sudden and severe. The muscular angularity of a mans back of head, neck, shoulders, and back is the very essence of definition of physique which makes a guy look like a guy. A properly executed taper (which is much more difficult to cut than a simple line), creates angularity, texture, and interest in the back of a mans head. It looks good. And it feels good. Get a taper. You’ll be glad you did.

3)Don’t conceal hair loss.

Going bald? Shave your head. Hair line receding? Have your barber line up the front to accentuate your face and forehead. Bald spot in the back? Go high and tight on the sides. Under no circumstances should you ever conceal hair loss. No comb overs dudes. They look horrible. And the only person you are kidding is yourself.

Mohawk Matt is Founder and Chief Barber at Bolt Barbers LLC in West Hollywood & in Downtown LA. All barbers at Bolt Barbers are licensed Barbers! Visit http://www.boltbarbers.com for more information.

Groomsmen Parties For Social Beasts

admin — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 09:19:05 +0000

Looking for a unique experience for the Groomsmen at your wedding, not available at Costco?

Bolt Barbers is available for Mobile shearing, shaving, & shining for your wedding party event. Or book the dudesmen in for a morning (or evening) of shearing, shaving, & shining at a private party event at Bolt Barbers Monkey House in West Hollywood OR our DTLA Flagship. Whether you choose to take Bolt Barbers “On Location” or bring the boys to our two barbershops, we’ll make sure they are taken care of without girly salon pampering or snobish gentlemens club crap that guys generally hate. Authentic old school barbering in a terrific environment with good convivial conversation will make your special day awesome. For more details, contact our recently married chief dude greeter and supreme coordinator of wedding events at Bolt Barbers, Phil “The Drill” DeCastro at 213 232 4716. He’ll make sure in laws will not fret over clashing cape and smock colors and provide well deserved dude air cover so the social beasts in your gang can just be social beasts. Call him homies & homettes!