The Syndicate: It Even Sounds Sexy
As I’m sure a lot of you lesbians, with short do’s have a hell of a time finding someone that cuts your hair just the way you want it, so does Remi. In fact, her hair cuts have been a source of stress since we got together.
When we first started dating, she had short hair but it was longer then it is now. On my constant urging and “Oh baby, I think you would look so hot if it was little shorter” spiel, she surprised me on my birthday two years ago by showing up at my door with a shorter hair cut and a faux hawk. I loved it! …. and I showed her my appreciation with all the public sex we had later that night at Girl Bar and in her car on the way home.
That was quite a few haircuts ago and every time she goes in, I beg her to go shorter in the back. But she’s always been afraid to go to short and look to boy-ish or dare I say, butch.
Her last disastrous haircut at the Loft in Long Beach was not only bad enough to almost bring her to tears of anger but it also set her back $65! As luck would have it, several days later, LB_Boi posted a rave review of a cool little barber shop called The Syndicate.
Now, had Remi not just undergone the most traumatizing haircut to date, which left her the unwilling owner of the “lesbian mullet” as we have lovingly named the current trend of hairstyles we are seeing everywhere we look, she may not have been open to going to a good old barber. Which is exactly what I knew she needed.
LB_Boi’s recommendation coupled with her recent nightmare helmet hair and my not so subtle urging to go try out the Syndicate was finally enough to get her to go.
But this time we went prepared and took a little insurance. We scoured the internet for a picture of the perfect haircut and found it on Pink. (Who sets of my gaydar like crazy, but that’s another story.) 
We walked into the Syndicate at about 3 p.m. on a Tuesday. The decor was exactly as described. I would say it was rockabilly meets skater punk meets old school barber shop. It was just pretty cool all around.
When we walked in Tim (one of the owners I believe) was getting his hair cut in a chair but that didn’t stop him from welcoming us. Actually, everyone in the shop gave us a friendly nod.
We sat down and asked who would be the best at cutting women’s short hair. Tim gestured to the back of the shop to another barber, named Chris (who I think is one of the other owners, not totally sure). Who was currently finishing up on a client more meticulously then I have seen most stylists in high end salons do.
So we sat there and waited, taking in the ambiance of the whole place. All the men that work there are pretty hot, even Remi and I had to admit that. And the whole tatted up, bad boy thing they have going on mixed with their friendly, laid back way didn’t hurt either. I’m sure if straight girls knew these guys where here, they’d make their men get their hair cut here just so they could sit and watch the eye candy.
Tim was friendly and talked to us about the local scene and was even cool enough to know that the Broadway (a lesbian bar down the street) had moved. Cool points stacking up for this place. I can’t tell you how nice it was to go into a place that is 100% straight/manly but the guys there are clearly comfortable with the LGBT crowd. We felt totally at ease there.
So when Chris was done with his other client, he welcomed us to the back of the shop and Remi showed him the picture of Pink and the EXACT haircut she was hoping for. Chris actually took the time to look at it and then began cutting her hair. Again, he is the most meticulous cutter I have seen in a long time. As he worked on fixing the disaster the Loft had made, he kept up an easy banter between all of us and we learned that he worked for 7 years at high end salons. Which explained his comfort level with working on women.
About half an hour later, Remi had a hair cut shorter then she has EVER had and I was totally stoked. It wasn’t close to the picture she showed him, it was EXACTLY like what she asked for! And it only cost $20! We were both so pleased and relieved she left a nice little tip on that, and it was still extremely reasonable.
So Remi has a new barber. Chris at the Syndicate and if you need a really sexy haircut, I would suggest you do the same.
Oh and if they ask how you found them, just tell them the girls from CardCarryingLesbian.com sent you.
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Man, I’m sort of envious of girls like Remi who can be cool with the short hair, but alas, I’ve never even once wanted it on myself. Tack on my phobia of letting ANYONe ANYWHERE ANYTIME touch a hair on my head for non-sexy purposes, and I’m sort of fucked in the style department. I end up cutting my own hair into the same old bland style. Last year I upgraded to bangs. Woo.
Haircuts are hard. Congratulations to Remi on a) getting a hot one and b) finding someone she knows can do it over and over again.
Argh! I’m dying to find someone who actually cuts my hair the way I want it, and doesn’t attack it with the clippers. I have a certain style that I like. My last hair cutting lady was fantastic, but alas, she moved to another state. My hair hasn’t been the same since! That place sounds great, though I’ll have to keep searching 🙁 I’m so sick of crap haircuts.
A good stylist is worth his/her weight in GOLD! and I’m damn lucky I found a lesbian in Portland who has the chops. And because we were once FWB, I get the lesbian discount! hehehe.