Barbering used to be a craft—something you earned through years of dedication, apprenticeship, and hands-on experience under seasoned mentors. Today, it’s quickly becoming a self-declared trend. The rise of social media barbers and online tutorial “experts” has created a generation of self-taught stylists who have never stepped foot in a real shop, never understood the weight of a proper consultation, and never experienced the grind of perfecting a fade over years—not likes.
In most professions—whether it’s medicine, law, or architecture—there’s structure. There are schools, licenses, systems in place to ensure skill, safety, and service. Barbering deserves the same. You don’t become a surgeon from YouTube. You shouldn’t become a barber behind a bedroom mirror.
In Singapore, the situation is dire. Fewer young people see barbering as a respected profession. It’s often disrespected, misunderstood, and undervalued. And when someone with no real shop experience launches a “brand” and starts charging $80 a cut, it sends the wrong message. If that’s the standard now, then those of us with decades behind the chair should be charging $8000.
To clients searching for a barber: please do your research. It’s important to know who’s cutting your hair. Don’t overpay for wannabes with zero experience—you’ll just end up in our chair asking us to fix it. At Rogue & Beyond, every barber is personally QC’d and trained by Joel, who is meticulous and precise. If a barber isn’t up to standard, they don’t stay. We only keep the best, and we follow the Sassoon standard—precision, suitability, and craft. If you don’t look good, we don’t look good.
The point isn’t the price—it’s the principle. The craft is dying not because the skills are lost, but because the standards are gone. At Rogue & Beyond, we’re here to restore them. Not through hype—but through mastery.
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