A former firefighter from Atlantis has won gold for his gevaarlike haircuts during the annual barber competition at Kingspride in Parow Valley on Sunday.
Vernon “Vegas” Rosen, 45, from Robinvale has been cutting hair since the age of 16, but never did the father of three think it would become such a big deal.
“I’ve always enjoyed cutting hair. I’ve been doing it as a hobby since the age of 16,” he says.
“It’s something I like doing but mostly it’s because I love making people feel good about themselves. If my customers feel good, I feel great,” Vernon explains.
He says he’s a Jack of all trades but is now hoping to pursue his hobby full-time.
“I am an ex-fireman. Besides being a barber I also do electrical insulations, I install CCTV cameras and dabble in renovations.
“I turned a room in our house into a little barber shop, it has its own entrance and everything,” Vernon says proudly.
He says although he always knew about the competition, he entered for the first time this year.
“It was the first time I entered this competition and I was competing against nine other contestants,” he says.
“The competition has various categories but I entered into the most creative cuts.
“Each competitor only had one head to cut and that was it. And I got first place,” he says humbly.
He also cuts women’s hair and says: “People come to me for patterns, many times for special occasions like matric balls, even weddings.
“Sometimes I cut a ‘just married’ or a flower for the females, they even come for their eyebrows,” he says.
Another Atlantis barber, Wesley Perrang, won third prize for the most classical cut.
The Daily Voice tried getting a hold of Wesley yesterday but he was unavailable.
robin.francke@inl.co.za