Burn Baby Burn: Use of fire to style hair

Years ago I had an online gamer friend from Pakistan. It was through text chatting that I first learned about electricity brownouts and blackouts, and he’d often warn me about having to jump off at a specific time so he could power down the electronics.

I tend to take electircity for granted. I want it to be available when convenient to me, instead of me adapting to the convenience of the powergrid. When a storm knocks out power, the first thing I do is check my phone for the projected restoration time. But what if brownouts or rolling blackouts or were part of our daily lives, or our business didn't have electric at all? Would we fire-up the generator and keep going? Would we adapt to earning an income without the convenience of power??

A barber in the Gaza Strip adapted. Since the shop lacks electricity, he devised a creative way to solve the need to do the ‘blow out’ that’s used to coax hair into a desired style. Ingenious.

UPI Feb. 3, 2017 at 12:27 PM: Palestinian barber uses flames to straighten hair

Ramadan Edwan, 37, has adopted the blazing technique instead of using blowdryers, due to the lack of electricity at his salon in the southern Gaza Strip.

I searched to see if it is done elsewhere, and found various stories and vids. Here’s one titled, "Hot Pakistani guy amazing new haircut using fire”




This trend may spread like wild fire.

a reply to: EightAhoy

The way they are going in Cali, the stylists out there will definitely need this info soon.

That's one of the strangest, yet most interesting haircutting technique that I have ever seen.

Wouldn't want to try it though 😕

Those men also have very thick hair .

a reply to: Sheye

Imagine the odor. Incense anyone?

I remember an episode of the game show 'To Tell The Truth' in the 1960's where the person trying to fool the panel was a hairstylist that used fire to cut hair. After the reveal, he styled Soupy Sales' hair using a cone of burning paper.

originally posted by: butcherguy
I remember an episode of the game show 'To Tell The Truth' in the 1960's where the person trying to fool the panel was a hairstylist that used fire to cut hair. After the reveal, he styled Soupy Sales' hair using a cone of burning paper.

Everything that's old is new again, eh? Soupy Sales ~ now that's a name I haven't heard or thought about in years. I bet he hammed it up with facial expressions and raised eye brows during the demonstration.

a reply to: EightAhoy

He certainly did. I met him when I was a kid, he was traveling with the Harlem Globe Trotters when I went to one of their exhibitions.

a reply to: EightAhoy

I've seen it done with drunken malice, usually accompianing empty containers of crazy glue, "Light me up" is now a thing?

originally posted by: gription
a reply to: EightAhoy

I've seen it done with drunken malice, usually accompianing empty containers of crazy glue, "Light me up" is now a thing?

That was funny. Thanks for the chuckle.

Fire is one of the earliest hair cutting techniques. People are just catching onto this now?

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: EightAhoy

The way they are going in Cali, the stylists out there will definitely need this info soon.

Very old news in Cali.
It does take awhile for the evolution to spread inland.

Hipsters are going to eat this # up. I have other things to say but none of them are nice.

a reply to: EightAhoy

Nothing new,I remember my uncle saying there were barbers who cut hair like that in Mexico,yes all these antiquated technics,making it's way to the mid west and south

Yeah, it's not a new thing by any means, hair history wise and recent trend wise. Gonna have to side with the beauty experts on this one, that it's risky. Even with split end burning, good luck there if interested.