I’be officially set up shop at The Barber Lounge in San Francisco.

1(415)9340411
854 Folsom St
San Francisco‎ CA‎ 94107

So come on out and book an appointment with me!

Pomp Hard!

I remember pulling up to the school to check it out and thinking, “Can I do this?” and had the want of driving back home and say fuck it. I mean, I’ve postponed looking into a barber school for nearly three years, and to suddenly find a school and show up to it? Yeah, it was scary! Of course, it’s always intimidating to jump into something so new such as barbering, and even more intimidating considering I’ve never cut hair whatsoever prior to! And being around people who more than likely cut hair on a regular? Man… Then you gotta think about you actually have to cut someones hair for the very first time?!?! Fuuuck…

But alas, I stuck with it, had great people help me throughout the duration of school, and I’m proud to say that as of April 8, 2013, I am officially a licensed barber! Now, I’m not attaching “barber” to my title, because I want my skill-level to be at a certain place first, and that won’t be for a good few years! Even so, I’ll be wanting my skills to be at a different place by then!

So, will I ever be “Jan Hella The Barber?” “The Rebel Barber?” “Hella The Barber” Shit, who knows!

Big thanks to everyone who has supported this journey! Grant’s Golden Brand, Layrite, Crown Shaving Co., Frankie The Barber, Chops Barbershop, each and every barber I’ve had the pleasure to meet and cut along side with throughout school, all my readers and followers, especially the ones who came down and entrusted me with their hair and faces, and whoever else I may have forgotten!

It’s been a blast and now my journey continues in the barber shop!

Until the next time…

Nick Curran & The Nightlifes – No Fun.

To add some “spirituality” to the mix, I decided not to wash these whatsoever until I took State Board (April 8, 2013.) Ya know- cleanse the barber school juju and get that fresh start in the barber shop, type of deal…

Anyways, picture time!

Before the wash:

For me, I don’t have the time nor care to do all the “special” denim washing techniques. I mean, if I did, I wouldn’t mind it. But, I don’t really want to spend too much time washing my jeans, especially since I just wash them whenever I feel like it.

After:

Not too much going on, but for 10 months, I can’t complain! Next update will be sometime in August.

Thanks for watching!

Until the next time.

Stay Greasy & Pomp Hard!

One thing that I dig and the likes of Nick Wooster must surely dig, is the packaging. Coming in a plastic container with a silver lid, the packaging is very minimal, yet catches your eye instantly. A clean white label with black letter, and bold red lettering to distinguish which product you’re buying, is clean and simple, and I dig it! Sometimes, you don’t need all of the glitz & glam that some pomade companies are using to make their products “noticeable.” (No brand in particular, nor in mind. ‘Just sayin’)

Aside from the minimalistic design of the packaging, they add sophisticated detail with a seal.

This little detail shows American quality and attention to detail in all of their products, and that’s something I can definitely appreciate…

… and couldn’t wait to break!

Being packaged in a clear jar, you already see what you get. A clear gel-type pomade. But… how does it smell?

Unlike most water-soluble pomades, Imperial went with a colorless gel-type product to match their minimal packaging. Had they gone with anything other than, it would bring a level of cheesy-ness to their products, which is not their goal. Sometimes, less is more, and while different colors are cool to see, it’s not always needed.

Accompanying the colorless pomade, is a subtle fruity scent that isn’t overbearing or makes you feel any less than a man. I know a lot of cats want that masculine scent to match their pomades and for whatever reason feel less than man when wearing something fruity or floral, but this stuff won’t do any of that except bring in the ladies! Trust me, with my previous experiences with Bath & Body Works lotions and girls, they don’t mind it one bit!

… ladies…

Scooping it out you find that this stuff is thicker than most. If that isn’t enough, there’s a “Hold Strength” stat indicator on the packaging, with the number 4 being the highest.

Running this pomade is great. It goes through completely dried hair perfectly and combs through just as well. Applying it through damp hair is no different. So if you’re one to apply pomade dry, definitely take this stuff into consideration!

Combing up a pomp is buttery smooth. Fine toothed combs run through effortlessly and I never had any streaks or glob patches give me any trouble. This pomade is malleable enough comb up anything from a tight combover to a big pomp. It works especially well with a blowdryer. So if you’ve picked up that trick from me, try it out with this stuff! But, I dig how easy it is to comb and set a pomp, take a look:

The hold will last you all day long. While it’s not entirely recombable, it still won’t flake on you if you do decide to recomb it without water. Like the rest of the water-soluble pomades, it’s best to recomb using water. But, if you like to recomb your pomps, why even go with water-soluble pomades? Something cats need to start considering from here on out! (Watch this be mentioned on every pomade review blog.)

Now, is this the strongest water-soluble pomade I’ve tried? No. As I mentioned, water-soluble pomades dry, which is pretty much the pre-determined hold. Is it one of the thickest ones out there? Yes. The thickness will help you comb a bigger pomp, but in the end, the hold will be determined when the product dries.

Overall, I’m definitely glad to have finally gotten some of this stuff! It’s definitely in the top 5 water-soluble brands out there. I only got their pomade, but they have a full range of products for y’all to try. If you like the feeling of combing thick water-soluble pomades and letting it set, and don’t like overbearing scents, this stuff is definitely worth looking into! But, if you like to recomb throughout the day, you just may need to reconsider the products you’re using.

Big thanks again to the Imperial crew!

Until the next time.

Pomp Hard.

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Knowing this was going to be a long trip, I told a buddy to come along since it was going to be the furthest I’ve ever driven as this was my first road trip. This “plan” was to leave at 5:00am and see how things play out. Whether we actually did make it out to Vegas or not, it was going to be interesting!

What better way to start off the early morning than to be hit with allergies! Pretty as fuck, I know. But hey, I was able to drive with one nostril and one eye!

Though we’ve made quite a few stops along the way, we happened to land in a McDonalds where top-secret plans were being discussed…

… in the Playplace…

You know the saying- “It’s not a pissing contest?” Well folks, it really isn’t, unless you’re in the official Pissing Contest Arena, which happens to be hidden away long the roads to Vegas…

Unfortunately for me, there was a “brotha” inside, and with me being aZn… Well… let’s just say we all must lose sometime… though in these types of situations, 90% of the time I lose every time……………………………..

… anyways…

Once we hit the desert, every city in between gave us a glimmering hope that we were already in Vegas, only to disappoint us and make us endure more desert traffic in a car with the AC on full blast. You know you want to be in this car!

No hope, no hope at all…

Once we finally saw Las Vegas hotels, we knew we made it. But, we didn’t make a “success” video, as we did that a few times prior to, and just didn’t have the energy to do it again as it would’ve turned Las Vegas into a mirage.

Las Vegas… yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay…………………………….

Now that we landed in Las Vegas, the reality of not having a room and event tickets came to fruition, but fortunately my homie Casey from Self Edge LA shared his room and Don from Dax had two spare carshow tickets. Big thanks, fellas!

First we made a quick jaunt to the vendor room before we weren’t allowed up there. Funny enough, right when we went to the Layrite booth, my styling video was playing! Luckily, there was no audio, or else I wouldn’t have stuck around to take the pic.

Stay tuned, folks, this video will be posted up later this week!

With little to nothing to do but wait for some homies to finish getting ready, it was time for some draaaaaaaaaanks!!!

After some Coronas and Jack Daniels, it was time to have a ball and run into some folks!

Unlike last year, I thought to finally take a picture with the lovely and busy Lydia DeCarllo!

Clearly those Coronas hit me and gave me a lazy eye… WHERE EXACTLY ARE THE CAMERAS!?!?! Probably should’ve used the picture she posted, as I was actually looking at the camera and had two straight eyes…

Unfortunately, this meet didn’t last long as I apparently… left…? It happened a lot this weekend, so if you were around me while I was more than likely alone, let me know when and where we were, because I wandered about quite a bit, apparently!

Fortunately for this moment, my buddy Carlos ever-so kindly reminded me with this picture he just posted on Instagram.

I’m 300 pounds when I pass out…

Saturday was a long day, since I was leaving on Sunday. So I guess this premature nap was a good thing… Though, who doesn’t like to drink with burlesque dancers?! Apparently me…

Unlike last years car show, I figured I’d play it safe as both Dax and Layrite kindly reminded me how drunk I was… and most of y’all have seen the bathroom pictures, so let’s just leave it at that…

Checked out the Layrite booth and saw…

My hair!!! We all know I’m not pretty enough, but Mike decided that I seriously wasn’t pretty enough for the flyer! HAHAHA! I’m just kidding. It’s cool enough to be on the card, since I didn’t know they were gonna do that!

Good times with these fuckers…

The only act I wanted to catch at VLV, was Little Richard. Now, he’s one of the last old-timers that made music and rock & roll what it is today. But, there was absolutely no reason for him to be up on stage. He’s a legend and it was fucked up having him on stage just to make money off of him. I’m sure money would’ve been made had he just had a booth out to do some signings, and people would still be awestruck! Maybe even more-so! Y’all can agree to disagree, but I would’ve been just fine seeing him in person, instead of hearing him trying to live up to his own image.

Time to go inside and get me a beer…

Since I didn’t get wild drunk like last year, it was time to go indoors and… get… drunk! Ran into good ol’ Rusty and drank like we should have last year!

You didn’t see us drink this bottle of Jameson in the casino…

Good times, my friend! Definitely gotta make my way out to Chicago!

I don’t usually gamble, but when I do…

I’m glad I come out with anything! Up $12, motherfuckers! WHERE’S THE BAR?!?!?!

More hours of drinking, disappearing and reappearing, let’s just say the night was fun. Hell, even took a picture with Di Lovely, even though I hadn’t known about her until this moment!

Note: If you walk around with your own personal photographer, know that I will take advantage of any and all opportunities to be apart of the picture.

Sunday was a day to relax, run into more people, and have a good time without the consumption of alcohol… Because if I kept on drinkin’, I wouldn’t have left Vegas until Monday!

Ran into the Dr. Rubin’s brothers. Definitely need to drink with them next time around.

The rest of the day was left with relaxing, finding out when traffic was gonna die down, and making $57 out of $11, but losing some of it when I went to test my luck… Oh well… WHERE’S THE BAR?!?!

But in the end, it was time to leave behind the Viva Las Vegas fun and head back home…

But not without my first attempt at planking…

Currently falling in this pic…

Didn’t take photos at the car show, so parking garage pics will have to do!

No turning back now… Farewell Viva Las Vegas 16!

Lots of drunk people waste food.

One thing I can say I liked about driving to Vegas than from, was that at least you knew who was on the road! You had fuckers driving to party and have fun. But some of these fuckers driving out… man… What’s the point of staying behind me flashing your lights trying to get me to move to the right lane, for two or so miles, when you could’ve done the same? What difference does it make? If I could move to the right lane, so could you! Ok, I get the whole move over bullshit, but they would’ve had an easier time just switching. Normally I’d try to act on my road rage, but I was way too tired to even bother trying to get this cat to pull over.

For those who don’t know what this is… This is the most intricate thing potheads have done to score weed. They’ve built an inspection point to confiscate your weed.

“You got any weed? No? Ok go ahead.”

The last hour of the drive was the hardest. Swerving here and there, a transmission that was going to shit, it was just time to have this trip come to an end…

After a long 12 hours and a long and odd game of “Would You Rather,” I was finally home… As much as I wanted to just lay down and clock out, I had to wash off that Vegas musk! Sorry folks, no in-shower pictures this time around…

Overall, I had a ball, regardless of not having a room to myself and no event tickets. A long, yet, short trip had me wishing I got to hang out with folks longer than I did. Got stopped by a number of folks and I should’ve taken pictures. FUCK!!! Next time we’ll have to snap a quick pic and kick back a beer or two… Actually, I know what I’ll do when I get stopped by blog/YouTube cats (granted I go next year.) ‘What’ will I do exactly? Well… we’ll just have to wait and see! But, for the guys and gals I did get to hang out with, it was a blast and I can only hope to do it all over again next year! Just hope I end up taking my pants off the next time around…

Big thanks to anyone and everyone I met and hung out with this past weekend! It was a blast and it makes me want to do it again next year. Hopefully, with some better planning (or planning in general) I’ll be able to come out to Viva Las Vegas 17!

Until the next time, folks.

Stay Greasy and Pomp Hard!

As we all know, I’ve been to the last two VLVs and they’ve been nothing but fun and amazing, especially since I’ve met a lot of cats and gals who read this here blog! In turn, I’ve also missed one too many Easter Sundays with my kid. So, I’ll be making this VLV16 my last VLV. I would skip this one completely, but it’s the right time for me to gain inspiration that will help mold my creative angle for my barbering career.

And hey, since this is my last VLV (at least for a while,) let’s make it worth while!

I’m looking to book haircut appointments for this upcoming Viva Las Vegas 16… last minute, I know… But, if you’re interested in booking a haircut appointment with me, I’ll be around from Friday to Monday. Shoot me an email to set an appointment.

Thanks all, I hope to see you all there and have a ball!

- Jan
therebelrouser@yahoo.com

The Cues – Killer Diller

One thing that Layrite fans wanted, was some shine. As we all know, most/all water-soluble pomades dry with a matte finish- for the most part. People have been asking me for ways to add shine to such water-soluble pomades. And well, Layrite heeds the call! They’ve kicked things up a notch, by releasing their newly developed Super Shine pomade.

This stuff comes packed in the same white plastic container as the other Layrite products. Using a deep wine red label with gold foil trim helps differentiate it from its Layrite brethren. Personally, I think the color is odd in comparison to the other two products, but since it is an entirely different product type- it gets a pass.

Opening it up, you see a pastel orange cream-type product. This throws off many cats, as they’re used to seeing a gel-type product. Well folks, let’s introduce you to something new!

Getting this stuff out of the container is not difficult whatsoever, you’ll find that this stuff feels like a cream-type pomade. The closest product I’d compare the product consistency to, is 360 Styles (with Layrite being much lighter.)

The only real downside this product has is the scent… For the most part, it is scentless. But, it has the smell of plastic, which I’m assuming is from the plastic container. From what I’ve heard from gossiping pomade enthusiasts, is that they’re working on developing a (new) scent for it. With the lack of a desirable scent/any scent, it has turned off a number of cats from using it on a daily basis. Hopefully we’ll see and smell something fresh in the near future!

Applying this stuff to your hair may be tricky. Due to the sticky texture of the product, you have to make sure your hair has the “right” amount of moisture in it, to ensure even distribution. Trust me, I’ve got stuck with a fat skidmark right down the center of my head, when I had too much water in my hair! I guess I could’ve passed it off as the bleach streak some cats rock?

Combing up a pomp with Layrite Super Shine can be tricky, especially if you’re used to how the original two products comb. Unlike most water-soluble pomades, this stuff combs just like a grease. No really, it does! One thing that attracted me to this stuff, was the ability to effortlessly shape a well-rounded pomp with it, without any tugging (giggity.) And since this stuff combs through like a grease, you won’t be left with flat shield pomps, that most water-soluble pomades leave you with if you don’t comb them right. Definitely something that I can dig!

The hold of this stuff is like a light medium-weight pomade. So don’t expect any crazy height like you’d get from their Super Hold pomade! But, you will have a greasy lookin’ pomp, without the worry of staining your ladies pillow cases or couch cushions, all while having a slick ‘do! Take a look…

This stuff will retain its hold throughout the day… for the most part. I found that if you try to slick through it dry, it’ll cause it to looks the slickness from the original styling, causing you to (pretty much) restyle your hair completely. For most cats, this isn’t a big deal, but for the rest of you– make sure you got your comb or brush near by a sink!

Overall, I gotta say I really dig this product. You all know how much I dig 360 Styles, and since this is like it’s completely water-soluble little brother, I’ve got no complaints whatsoever! It’s great for modest pomps and for when you want that greasy look, without actually having to go to that “greasy kid stuff.” For you cats looking to add some shine to your flat water-soluble pomades, or if you just want to retain that greasy look while you’re degreasing, this is definitely one to look into!

Now, this review is only for it as a standalone product. So stay tuned for the video, showing you how to use it as a top-coat, adding the nice greasy sheen to your Layrite Super Hold or Layrite Original pomade!

Big thanks again to Mike and the folks at Layrite. Hopefully, we’ll see a little somethin’ somethin’ between Layrite and The Rebel Rouser in the near future!

Until the next time.

Stay Greasy & Pomp Hard!

But seriously though, it was great meeting local Bay Area barbers for the first time in SoCal, as well as kicking back a few with some badass SoCal barbers!

Big ups to Lou, Richie, Jonathan, as well as Mike from Layrite for the warm welcome down in SoCal! Hopefully I’ll be back sometime this year to catch up, kick back a few, and actually cut some hair!

Check out this cats on Instagram:
Lou- barber_louie_
Richie: richiethebarber
Jonathan- tizzthebarber

Thanks again fellas, it was killer to finally meet y’all!

Until the next time folks.

POMP HARD!