Encased within the barber's cape my eyes fall heavy beneath the soothing stroke of brush and fingers and I am immersed in the vibrations of the buzzing clippers, the swift snip and snap of scissors tap-tapping against the teeth of comb, the puppetry of hand and head as he shapes me for the scrape of the razor, the intimate trimming of eyebrows, ears and nose. A flick of flame and smell of burning hair lift me out of my submersion. "Tamam?" he asks. "Çok iyi" I reply, "çok iyi".

clipped peeks

of the barber's bum

in the mirror

A little bit of Turkish: Berber (Barber) Ucun (the tip, end) -dan (suffix meaning from) Az (Little)


Ucundan azıcık
At the barber's "just a trim'.


lit. 'a little from the tip.'


Outside of the barbershop the phrase may cause some hilarity, not sure why, but I suspect it has something to do with circumcision.