Usapang Barbero
Before Messenger or WhatsApp, the first chat group sat on a swivel chair, wrapped in a striped cape, while someone with a clipper leaned in and asked, “So, what’s new?”
The barbershop was where stories went for a trim and came out taller. If Marites ruled the pantry, the barbero reigned at the mirror. Both ran on the same current of talk; only the voltage differed. Hers was often whispered. His was delivered with the clean edge of a blade.
Men do not call it gossip. Scientific studies show that men talk about others just as frequently as women do, refuting the old stereotype. But they call it kwentuhan. The setup, however, is the same. Someone talks, everyone listens, and before the hair hits the floor, a reputation has fallen with it.
Teng Roma has seen both sides of this ritual. At Emphasis, his flagship salon, the rule is discretion. Clients from Manila’s crème de la crème arrive knowing that whatever they say under the dryer will stay there. “Our staff are trained to be unobtrusive and maintain strict confidentiality,” says Teng. The salon, with its interiors by Conrad Onglao and later by Budji Layug and Royal Pineda, feels more sanctuary than stage. The chitchat here is muted, like perfume. Secrets cost extra.
The barbershop is society’s most honest, if exaggerated, confessional.
Yet in spirit, Emphasis and the neighborhood barbershop share the same roots. Both are places of transformation not only of hair but of mood. They are confessionals disguised as service rooms. One deals in gossip with conviction the other in gossip with discretion.
Also catering to a dedicated clientele, Bench Barbers keeps the ritual grounded in its masculine roots. “Many men, particularly those in their 40s and above, still prefer the straightforward, efficient experience of a barbershop,” says the team behind the brand. “For this generation, the barbershop represents familiarity, speed, and practicality.” The new generation is rediscovering it as “a place that blends heritage with modern grooming needs.”
The service menu includes facial massage, a back rub, and beard grooming, quiet acts of self-care once disguised as necessity. “Beard care is not only a style choice but a meaningful ritual,” they explain. The barbershop remains one of the few places where men can relax and accept being pampered, enjoying the smell of pomade, the slow drag of a comb, the illusion of stoicism.
As the premium concept under the Bench Fix salon umbrella, Alex Carbonell has turned Studio Fix into a modern equalizer. His coed salon has erased the old divide between the barbershop and the beauty parlor, merging them into one clean, gender-neutral space. “We have trained our stylists to think and behave like true professionals, merging science, art, and ethics,” says Alex. “We have defined how our stylists should conduct themselves and how clients should interact with them professionally.”
His salon is quieter than the barbershop of old. “Talking in loud voices is no longer the norm,” he says. “Clients prefer to relax and enjoy every minute of their sessions.” The conversation has not died. It has simply softened. Between haircuts, there is now room for reflection, for scalp analysis, and for the strategic discernment required to sort the facts from the fiction.
Yes, usapang barbero endures. It remains one of the last spaces where men are free to talk about something other than work or sports. It is a place where self-care and self-expression can coexist without irony. The mirror does not lie but it never judges either.
The barbero’s power is also that he is an endless source of entertainment. The true reward of the chair is the sheer juiciness of the human story. When the clippers stop humming, you hear the plot twist you didn’t expect. It could be the account of a greedy politician quietly moving his children abroad before an investigation, the whisper of a fling who became a mistress now carrying a power player’s second child, or the latest breakdown of a family squabbling over their fortune. This is the unexpected dessert of the service, the thrilling knowledge that turns strangers into confidantes. We lean in for these details, consuming them like a shared secret, and walk out feeling lighter for carrying the weight of someone else’s drama.
In the traditional sense, usapang barbero has always been an idiom for unsubstantiated rumor and exaggeration. It was a warning that the story was unreliable, often made up to fill time or passed along from many different customers. Yet that is what makes it powerful. Like Marites, usapang barbero thrives on half-truths that sometimes lead to full ones. Between the towel and the talcum powder, rumor becomes ritual, and talk becomes truth.
Somewhere between the salon and the barbershop, between shampoo and styling gel, lies a portrait of who we are when our guard is down. The tools are simple: a comb, a clipper, and a conversation. The transformations, however, are complex.
The hair grows back, the talk repeats, the world turns. Marites still rules the brunch table, but the barbero has his own court. One spreads news. The other shapes narrative. Both, in their own way, hold a mirror to the Filipino impulse to share, to confess, to embellish, to belong.
The barbershop will never die. It is not only about grooming. It is about storytelling, and the stories we tell when we think no one is taking notes.
When I ask Teng about the secret of longevity in this business, he does not talk about scissors or brands. “It is always about trust,” he says. That is what keeps clients coming back, to the chair, to the story, to the same familiar hum of voices asking, “So, ano na ang balita?”
Where men go for a cut and a conversation
Emphasis Salon
G/F Joya Towers, Rockwell Center, Makati • (02) 8403-0117 / 0917-842-9699
Discretion meets design in Teng Roma’s flagship. Even the shave feels like ceremony. From the P1,500 director’s cut to the P1,650 Boyzilian, Emphasis treats grooming as quiet luxury.
Felipe and Sons
Four/NEO, BGC • +63 927 573 7573
The Barberdashery: Get your classic cut and your bespoke suit fitted in the same hour. Haircuts start at P680.
Fix Salon
Concierge Hotline: 0917-683-8349 (0917-68-FIX)
A barbershop for everyman. Cleanse, fix, and style from P500. Treatments run from Bonacure to Kerasilk, bridging routine and ritual.
Studio Fix by bench
by Alex Carbonell
Greenbelt 5, Makati • (02) 7238-5498 / 0927-576-7698
Shangri-La at The Fort, BGC • (02) 8807-0491 / 0906-564-2980
Genderless, minimalist, precise. Haircuts by Alex start at P4,000. Scalp rituals and quiet reflection come standard.
Henri Calayag Salon
The Residences at Greenbelt • 0920-918-1880
A salon with a soul. Men’s cuts start at P1,000, P2,500, if you want Henri himself to do it. Hair treatments come complete with back massage.
Jing Monis Salon
The Residences at Greenbelt • 0917-830-6515
For power cuts and polish. Services range from P700 to Jing’s signature P6,000.
Zero 1 Story
2/F Uptown Parade, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig • 0905-570-2697
Where the K-cut rules. Two-block trims, digital perms, and milk-tea tones, with men’s cuts starting at P1,000.
Moridu Art
67-B Scout Rallos St., Diliman, QC • 0966-496-8080
K-Grooming made local. Services include down perms, sleek color, and director cuts from P1,000.
