From the UK to Ghent: Ben’s Two-Day Step Into Classic Straight Razor Shaving

Not every trip is about holidays or sightseeing.

Sometimes you get on a plane because you’re tired of “good enough” and you want better.

Ben, a barber from the UK, came to Ghent, Belgium for exactly that reason.

Two days at ROMAIN Barbershop & Academy

a focused Scapicchio Academy training with Master Barber Stijn De Sutter,

to refine his craft with the traditional straight razor.

No ego, no circus.

Just a barber, a chair, and a clear intention:

offer a cleaner, calmer, more authentic shave back home.

The first morning at ROMAIN Coupure est 1884 starts simple: coffee, a talk, and a straight line into the work.

Day one was about building a real foundation – the kind most people skip:

Proper skin preparation and hot-towel ritual

Real shaving lather, built by hand, not from a can

How to hold and control a cut-throat straight razor or traditional straight razor without tension

The basics of stropping and edge care

An introduction to honing on a natural stone from the Belgian Ardennes

No magic formulas.

Just clear explanations, repetition, and small corrections until the razor starts to feel like an extension of the hand instead of a weapon.

Day two went a level deeper.

Taking what we had built on the first day and putting it on real faces, real beards, real pressure.

Ben worked with his own straight razor, sharpened on natural stone, applying classic Italian-inspired shaving technique in a Belgian barbershop that’s older than most countries’ trends.

With every client, you could see it click a bit more:

Smoother razor angle

More confident strokes

Cleaner lines and a more deliberate rhythm behind the chair

By the end of the second day, he didn’t just leave with some notes and a certificate.

He left with a stronger base in traditional straight razor shaving,

a better feel for stone, steel and skin,

and a new perspective on what a high-end barber service can look like in his UK shop.

For us at ROMAIN Ghent and Scapicchio Academy, this is what it’s about:

barbers from all over the world – Chicago, the UK, wherever –

coming to the oldest barbershop in Belgium not for trends, but for timeless technique.

Ben, you’re always welcome back in Ghent.

The chair – and the stones – will be ready when you are.

---

If you want more than just a good story and you’re ready to sharpen your craft or your own look, you know where to find us.
From straight razor training and honing on natural stone to classic shaves and serious beard work in the chair, ROMAIN Barbershop & Academy in Ghent is where it actually happens – not just where people talk about it.

Want to book a service?
https://booking.optios.net/6064/select-location

Want to follow the journey?
ROMAIN on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/romain_ghent
Stijn on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/desutter_stijn
Stijn on YouTube (more adventures, more razors, more stories): https://www.youtube.com/@desutter_stijn

For Academy info, courses or questions, send an email to info@romaighent.be – and we’ll take it from there.