🇺🇸 When Jarred Hesse from the USA Came To Ghent
Some people you expect to teach.
Others walk in and you realise very quickly: this is going to be an exchange, not a one-way lesson.
Jarred Hesse didn’t come to Ghent for tourism.
He came to ROMAIN Barbershop & Academy to learn – specifically to dive deeper into straight razor honing and shaving under my wings here in Belgium. And this wasn’t a beginner. Jarred has more than twenty years of experience behind the chair. Two decades of clients, hair, beards, good days and bad days.
He didn’t just randomly pick ROMAIN on Google either.
He was sent our way by someone who knows exactly what we do here: Danilo Alfonso from Lisbon. Danilo thought, “If you want to see how they approach honing and open razor work in Ghent, you should go there in person.”
So he did.
Straight razors, stones and small corrections
From the moment Jarred arrived, it was clear we were speaking the same language: steel, skin, detail.
We pulled out razors – old ones, new ones, beat-up blades with potential, and trusted workhorses. We restored some, evaluated others, argued politely about grinds, bevels, pressure and stones. Belgian natural stones, synthetics, strops, pastes – everything was on the table.
This wasn’t a “here’s how you hold a razor” kind of training. This was straight razor honing and shaving for someone who already knows how to work, but wants to sharpen the last 10–20%:
– How to feel when the edge is truly ready instead of “good enough”
– How tiny changes in angle wake up or kill the edge
– How to balance efficiency with comfort on real skin
– How to build a shave that feels intentional from first towel to last touch
Small actions, big results
The most interesting part with barbers like Jarred is always the same: it’s not the big tricks that change everything, it’s the small ones.
The way you stretch the skin.
The exact height of the elbow.
The direction of the last finishing strokes on the neck.
How long you let the lather sit before the first pass.
Where you stand in relation to the chair on different parts of the face.
These micro-movements don’t look sexy on camera, but they separate a “fine” shave from one that makes a client sit up a little straighter and think, “I didn’t know it could feel like that.”
We went through all of it. Slowly, repeatedly, obsessively. Honing sessions at the table, razor in hand, lights low, watching water and slurry and reflection. Shaving sessions in the shop, working on live faces, stopping mid-pass to adjust something small that will change everything for the next fifty years if you let it.
Not just technique: philosophy, food and the future
Of course, it wasn’t all stone and steel.
We ate well – as you should when you come to Ghent. We talked long after the shop was closed: about the industry, about where barbering is heading, about the difference between being busy and being good. About straight razor shaving as a skill and as a responsibility.
Jarred brought his own perspective from more than twenty years in the field. I brought mine from ROMAIN, from the Scapicchio world, from travelling and teaching. Somewhere in between, we met: two barbers from different places, trying in our own way to keep real craft alive while the rest of the world runs on fast cuts and disposable blades.
That’s what these visits are really about.
Yes, “straight razor training in Ghent” and “honing course in Belgium” look nice in a blog title, and yes, they help people find us. But beneath the SEO and the headlines, it’s simple: one barber travels to another because he wants to get better. He wants to take that knowledge home, to his own clients, his own chair, his own shop.
We were honoured that someone with Jarred’s experience chose to do that at ROMAIN.
Thank you, Jarred, for the trust, the conversation, the razors on the table and the proof that even after twenty years behind the chair, the good ones are still curious. Our door, and our stones, are always ready for your next visit.
Want to join the Scapicchio Academy at ROMAIN in Ghent, belgium?
Get in touch to plan your 1-on-1 training with Master barber Stijn De Sutter and take your straight razor, honing and shaving services to the next level. Send us a Email
Ready for the real thing?
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—no noise, no shortcuts.
Book a service in ROMAIN
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Stijn on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@desutter_stijn
Academy info, courses or questions
Email: info@romainghent.be and we’ll take it from there.
Website ROMAIN: http://www.romainghent.be
Website Scapicchio Academy: http://www.scapicchioacademy.com
