After living in Costa Rica for 10 years, you would think that I would have found the perfect barber or hairstylist by now.
I mean, we are talking about 120 haircuts which in my case, means about 57 different places that I have tried out without too much luck.
Some haircuts have been great others have been bad while others have been expensive and others cheap.
I had pretty much given up on finding a barber or hairstylist in Costa Rica that I could call MY barber or MY stylist until two months ago when I was walking towards Downtown, Guadalupe to meet a friend of mine at a the park.
I had gotten off the bus a bit too early and had to walk a couple of blocks towards the park when a young man approached me and asked if I needed a haircut. He was standing in front of what I first thought was a garage until I took a closer look and saw that it was a barbershop.
Looking at my reflection of a car parked next to the barber shop, I did need a haircut and since I had nothing to lose except my hair, I followed the young man inside.
It turned out that he was a barber as he showed me to a chair and asked me how I wanted my hair cut. On a side note, I have a lot of respect for this young man because he was not satisfied with just waiting inside the barber shop for clients. He actually stood in front of the shop waiting for shaggy looking people like me that could use a haircut to actively look for clients.
I am not a vain person but I do like to look my best. My hairstyle is fairly simple as I have a conservative hairstyle with my hair parted and no sideburns.
I explained in my broken Spanish what I wanted and he proceeded to cut my hair starting with the clippers and finishing with the scissors.
Fifteen minutes later he handed me a mirror to go over his work and I was very pleased with the results. Every strand of hair was in the right position and all of my hair was exactly the correct length.
They are four types of haircuts. Bad ones, good ones, great ones and ones that are good after you go home and fix your hair. This haircut was a great one! After I acknowledge his great work my barber gave me a piece of cardboard with a number on it and told me to give it to a lady sitting at a desk at the back of the barbershop.
She told me the total was ₡2.500 colones which in my book is a bargain haircut as I am used to paying between ₡5.000-₡20.000 colones and the results are not always good.
Yesterday, I went back to la Barberia Paris to see if my first haircut from them was a fluke or to see if the quality of their work would remain the same. This time, my young barber was not working. Instead, an older man gave me a haircut. I gave him instructions and he went to work like a professional. After 15 minutes of work, this master barber was done and my hair never looked better.
Once again, I was given this piece of cardboard with a number on it and when I gave it to the lady, the price remained the same at ₡2500! So with confidence, I can say that Barberia Paris in Guadalupe, Costa Rica is officially my barber as I intend to go back there every month. I was not able to find a telephone number but the address is:
Barberia Paris
Guadalupe Centro
Al lado del Banco Nacional
Guadalupe, Costa Rica.
I encourage everyone who is in need of a haircut at bargain prices to visit them. I guarantee you will not regret it!
About the Author: Jimmy Johnson is a successful entrepreneur who has been living in Costa Rica for over 10 years. He specializes in Costa Rica real estate investments but has been known to dabble in online sports betting as well as in the home security industry and pet stores in Costa Rica.