Egyptian unique barber cuts, styles hair with fire

Seeing flames of fire on top of a client's head is not a common scene in barbershops anywhere in the world, but it is now becoming more familiar and interesting at "Last Haircut" store in a neighborhood in Egypt's Giza province near the capital Cairo.

Hairstylist Hamada Ramadan's small barbershop in Kafr Tohormos neighborhood buzzed with clients, mostly teens and children, who came to get their hair cut and styled using fire balls, a new technique used by the young man to attract his clients and develop his career.

On the left side of the shop door, a monitor was playing a video clip displaying Ramadan styling a client's hair with fire balls as a kind of reassurance to new visitors who might be scared to try the weird and unconventional way of haircutting.

"I have learned it from an online video but I added my own development. It has become popular, especially among teens. Most of those who try it once come again and bring newcomers with them," said the special barber who is nicknamed by his friends and clients as "H."

H added that straightening hair using the heat of fire is healthier and more durable than hairdryers, noting that long hair straightened by fire can last for six months while short hair for three months.

"Straightening and styling hair using fire is also so affordable while using proteins and creatines is much more expensive, which is another reason why clients like the new technique," the hairstylist told Xinhua.

Ahmed Hassan, a 17-year-old student, is an old customer of H and he has brought three of his friends with him to try the new fire-based hairdressing way.

"When H showed me some of his videos and told me about the new way I was interested to try it. My hairstyle used to be curly before it was straightened with fire like this," Hassan said.

Mohamed Sayyid, 14, a prep school student, looked both interested and reluctant at the same time while waiting for his turn to try fire haircutting for the first time.

"It makes me a little nervous to think of getting my hair straightened with fire, but I would like to try it as a new idea, and if I like it I will do it again and again," the boy told Xinhua.

H, assisted by his brother Medhat, does not only use fire flames for hair straightening and styling but for haircutting and face masking too.

His neighbors praised H's creativity and willingness to develop his own career and make something new to become popular and attract more clients.

"Hamada H is a hardworking young man who tries to create new things to be distinguished from other barbers. He learns about new hairstyles and now he develops fire hair styling, which is so positive and smart," said Mohsen Hussein, 52, owner of a nearby small grocery shop.

A lot of Egyptian men generally prefer to have their hair cut on holiday eves, which is another reason why H's store is busier than usual, as the countdown is now ticking for the beginning of the Muslim Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of Sacrifice, that will start on Friday.

"I did not feel worried when my 13-year-old grandson asked me for permission to go to Hamada to have his hair cut with fire. I let him go and I think he will enjoy it," said Umm Khaled, a lady in her 50s who owns a vegetable shop opposite to Last Haircut.

Unexpectedly, nine-year-old boy Abdel-Rahman was not scared when he saw the fire in the barber's hand approaching his head.

"I saw other children doing it so I wanted to do it too, and I liked it," the child told Xinhua.

Although H is not the creator of this new technique that has previously appeared in Pakistan, India and the Palestinian Gaza Strip, his Last Haircut barbershop has now become so popular that a client came from Matrouh province, some 430 km away, just to have his hair styled with fire.