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From an early age, Vince Garcia has been a cut above. Having honed his love for the arts as a young illustrator, a fateful meeting with a childhood barber named Kevin took his razor-sharp ambition to the next level.
A self-described “old-school, textbook barber,” Garcia moved from his hometown in Toronto to Los Angeles at 23 to pursue the trade. “Barbers are never really looked at like an actual career job that you could be successful in, and I wanted to change the whole stigma,” says Garcia, who has appeared on LeBron James’s HBO talk show The Shop. “I just really felt if I was passionate about this, I could make something out of it.”
Recently named a Dior ambassador, Garcia also has his own brand of barber bags dubbed By Appt. Only, born from his need for a protective case for his tools during his travels. “The goal is to create all different bags for all different crafts,” he adds. Sleek and durable, the bags come in various shapes and straps to fit your day-to-day.
Garcia’s eye for detail goes beyond the fringe. Known for his butter-soft fades, Garcia holds an all-star roster of mainly music artists, including Drake, and athletes, from LeBron James to Travis Kelce. “He’s a great dude,” Garcia says of the latter. “He’s got a full beard, it’s his look. He’s one of my clients I take pride in doing. LeBron obviously has a beard. I’ve been with Devin Booker for four or five seasons now. He’s growing his beard out. I actually just saw him earlier this week in Phoenix, and I hadn’t seen him for a month and a half, and his beard is all grown out now.”
Having spent significant time in the industry, Garcia has noticed an uptick in men sharpening up on their grooming rituals, with an arsenal of organic and natural products to choose from. “Over the years it’s cool to see men taking pride in their routine and skin care,” he notes. When putting order to the cool chaos of a freshly grown-out beard, taking time to trim your facial hair is just as important as the growth. “I love maintaining and grooming my clients’ beards and lining them up nice and razor-sharp. I take a lot of pride in making sure it’s even and clean-cut and sharp and edgy and all that.”
Here, find Garcia’s tips on how to take a beard from scruff to sophisticated.
Level Up Your Products
Doing research over the years, it’s about hydrating and stimulating those hair follicles on your face. For me, that means finding a good moisturizer and beard oil that works for your face. What I’ve noticed a lot in the past five to eight years is more and more beard products coming out now. Beard oils are a big thing. For anyone trying to grow a beard or who has somewhat of a beard growing but it’s patchy, I would suggest really looking into beard oils. Having hydrating and stimulating depending on what ingredients are in there can definitely help stimulate those hair follicles to grow. So that’s truly the first step, finding products that work. It’s doing research to see what works for your skin and body.
Stay Committed
For the longest time I would shave out a goatee for this one client, and he’d rock that for so many years that he was like, “I feel like I want to grow a beard,” and I said, “Yeah, you should!” For him, it can get kind of patchy, and I was like, “You should look into a couple of oils and see if it works for you, and if not, we’ll try another one.” It’s just all trial and error and seeing what works. He’s been at it for over a year now, and you can see a lot of growth, and what wasn’t there before is now full. Stay consistent with the oils and products that you find work for you. That’s the main thing—a lot of people are too anxious. They want a beard already, so they’ll try it for two weeks and be like, “I don’t see nothing,” and they’ll stop by. Just like any other product for your face or body, you have to use it for a long time for it to kick in and start to stimulate.
Routine Is Key
When you get out of the shower, you dry your face and beard and put on those oils. Moisturize your skin and facial hair really nicely, and find yourself a soft-bristle brush, and just keep brushing it and combing in it. If you just throw on product, yes, you’ll soften up your hair, but if you don’t brush your hair daily, it can knot up or get dry easily. You’ll end up having a lot of split ends. Just like with your hair, you want to use a beard brush and brush it often when you put products in it. You’ll want it to always lay in one direction. I always suggest brushing your beard just as much as you brush your hair. It’s consistency. You really have to make it part of your daily routine. You fall off one day, you’ll notice a big difference.
Trim When Needed
It’s your preference, depending on what your daily lifestyle is like. I’ve got clients that see me twice a week due to the fact they’re either on camera or in meetings almost every day, so they have to be presentable. It really all depends on your lifestyle. When it comes to facial hair, it grows the fastest. When you get trimmed up and lined up, you’ll see the stubble literally kick in the next day. I would highly suggest at least every other week unless you can maintain it between your haircut.
Scent Is An Added Perk
When I look at aftershave, I look for a good smell. I’ve stuck with one for the longest time all these years. It’s like an old-school aftershave I use, and I love that smell. Finding products with scent already is a two-for-one type of thing. I’ve noticed a lot of men who have sensitive skin find it hard to use products with fragrance. It’s all preference. I always try to look for products that are for sensitive skin just in case and have a good scent.
Drink Water—No, Really!
Hydrate! Drink a lot of water. One thing people don’t really look at is their diet. A lot of foods can stop the stimulation of hair growth. Vitamin intake is a big one: Vitamin B12 and Biotin apply to hair growth, whether it’s for the top of your head or facial hair. It’s essential for hair growth in general. A lot of it is internal and not just topical of what you put on.
