Scotland invades Australia!
Hairdressing was an unlikely career choice for a working class lad from deepest, darkest Scotland. But for 17-year-old Alan MacDonald, banned by his worried mum from working on construction sites, there weren’t many other employment options in Wick, a small fishing town on the north-eastern fringes of Scotland.
“When mum told me her hairdresser was willing to give me an apprenticeship, the first thing I thought was that it would probably be a good place to meet ladies,” Al says.
“I wasn’t sure, but my mates said go for it.”
Good fortune soon smiled on our scissor-wielding Scot. Two years later the town of Wick found itself without a barber, and Al, a hairdressing apprenticeship under his belt, took up the challenge.
With a £2000 loan from his dad, Al set up a barbershop – in his parent’s house.
“I worked from the ground floor so everyone else had to move up a level,” Al explains.
Two years of hard graft took its toll on young Al, so, at 21, he packed his bags to travel the globe. In a Sydney backpacker hostel he met his future wife, Rizwana, and the pair pledged that they would return to Australia, together, within ten years.
Two barbershops, 12 years, and about 40,000km later, Al and Riz now call Brisbane home. And so does PUREMAN, the best thing in male hairdressing this side of Hadrian’s Wall.
So, why Brisbane? “Our intention was always to go to Sydney,” says Al. “But me brother came to Brisbane in 2002 and spent 12 months here and said how great it was.
“In Wick we drew up a list of criteria; what we were looking for. And Brisbane ticked every box. The people here are just so positive. Whenever you ask how someone is, they always say, ‘Good!’”
The PUREMAN Concept
It’s slightly disturbing just how excited a man can get about cutting hair. But then Al is from a country that calls minced sheep’s organs boiled in a sheep’s stomach its national dish.
“It’s not a traditional barber shop, but it’s not quite a salon either,” Al says. “It’s basically a really, really fancy barbershop. We’re offering an environment for guys where they can feel totally comfortable and enjoy the quality of work that they can get from a chick’s place.”
The shop screams “bloke”. From the waiting area with its brown leather bench, to the six tobacco coloured Belmont Apollo barber chairs (“They rock! They’re the coolest thing ever,” says Al) with individual LCD monitors, and the warehouse-style interior design, it’s the kind of place a man can learn to love.
The highlight of the fit out is the enormous 4550mm by 2600mm mural, created by Brisbane graphic design company RED-i Design. Dominating the entire salon, it’s a collage of all-time great men and iconic man images, including Clint Eastwood’s Dirty Harry, Al Pacino’s Tony Montana in Scarface, Mohammed Ali, James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, and Evil Kenevil.
“The mural’s bloody massive,” says Al. “Ali and Hendrix are life size.”
PUREMAN services
Recognising that most men aren’t comfortable shelling out $80 to get their hair cut, PUREMAN targets the middle ground. For $35 you can get what Al calls a “corporate cut”, a standard trim for the suited and booted. A style cut only costs $45.
For a bit of luxury, $40 will get you an express wet shave. Another $10 will get you the executive version, performed with a traditional cutthroat razor.
PUREMAN products
Al is especially excited by his range of products, available for purchase from the shop and online at PUREMAN’s website, www.pureman.com.au. Apart from a full range of American Crew hair products, PUREMAN will stock hot US skin care and shaving brands, Men-U, Sharps USA and Baxter of California, previously unavailable in Australian retail outlets.
“We’ve also got this wicked little tool for bald guys,” Al says. “It’s called Headblade. It’s for blokes who wet shave their own head. It has this great finger grip that you use to push, rather than pull the blade across your scalp.
“It doesn’t have a presence in Australia apart from online. I think it will do really well.”
PUREMAN is located at the Sebel Building, 121 Albert St, Brisbane.