Ms. Barton said that, while there is a boom in high-end barbershops, men with longer or unruly hair often fare better with more instruction. “Most barbers don’t seem to be artful stylists,” she said. She has schooled investment bankers in how to use root concealer to cover gray. Last week, she had a client who paid $670 for a cut, straightening and toning to replenish color. And that didn’t include products and a hefty tip. “The type of guys who pay this are technology entrepreneurs,” she said.
April Barton slipped into the back door of her hair salon, Suite 303, at 7 Bond Street in Lower Manhattan. “I’m late,” she said. “Which means Malcolm will be waiting.”
She was referring to one of her regulars, the curly-haired writer Malcolm Gladwell.
There he was, seated in a metal chair. He waved his hands a little as he described the look he wanted. Ms. Barton nodded along. Then she brandished her Sensei eight-inch professional right-handed hair shears and went to work, making small talk as she started to scissor her way, gently but with purpose, through the fluffy mound atop his head.
