Questions
Straight answers.
Prices, booking, the policy, and the two or three things this shop does not do. If something you need is missing, ask in the chat and it will end up on this page.
Booking
- Do you take walk-ins?
- No. Onyx & Aurum is appointment only, so there is no walk-in queue and no waiting on a bench hoping a chair opens. Your slot is yours, and the chair is empty when you arrive. There is a seat in the room for whoever comes with you.
- How do I book?
- Booking opens online when the shop opens. Until then, leave your email on the front page and you will hear the day before the book opens to everyone else.
- Do I need a card on file?
- Yes, a card on file is required to book, and no deposit is taken. The card is only ever charged if you cancel or move inside the 24-hour window, which is half the service, or if you do not show at all, which is the full price of the service booked.
- What happens if I am running late?
- There is a ten-minute grace. Inside those ten minutes you will still be seen, though the cut may be trimmed to fit the time that is left. Later than that and the appointment is rebooked and charged as a late change, which is half the service.
- What is the cancellation policy?
- Twenty-four hours' notice to cancel or move an appointment, and that is one window for every reason. Inside it, half the service is charged to the card on file. A no-show is the full price of the service booked.
- I woke up sick. Am I charged the full price?
- No. A same-day cancellation because you are ill is the half, never the full. The window is the same for every reason, and the amount is where the fairness lives.
The haircut
- How much is a haircut?
- A haircut is $40 and books a 40-minute slot. That includes the blow-dry and styling, and it includes bald and skin fades: there is no separate price for a longer fade.
- How long does a haircut take?
- Forty minutes. A buzz cut is twenty, a haircut with a beard trim is sixty, a haircut with a steam shave is seventy-five, and The Signature is ninety.
- What is included in every haircut?
- Every cut is finished the same way, whoever is in the chair: brows, nose and ears detailed, a hot-lather neck shave, then a hot towel and a shoulder rub. That finish is not an add-on and is never sold back to you.
- Do you do bald fades and skin fades?
- Yes, at the same $40 as any other haircut. The 40-minute slot exists so a bald fade has the time it needs rather than a separate line on the menu.
- Do you cut long hair, or only short?
- Both. The haircut is cut to you and finished with a blow-dry and styling, whatever the length.
- What if I do not know what to ask for?
- Bring a photo, or say what you liked and did not like about the last one. The guide on this site walks through fade heights, tapers and beard lines in plain language, but nobody is expected to arrive fluent.
Beards and shaves
- What is the difference between a beard trim and a shave?
- The deluxe beard trim is $30 and shapes and details the beard, with a hot towel and the edges cleaned with a straight razor, finished with aftershave, a cold towel and beard oil or balm. The hot towel steam shave is $50 and takes the face down with pre-shave oil, steam, hot towels, hot lather and a straight razor.
- What is a line-up?
- The hairline, neck and edges cleaned up between haircuts, with a light taper in the nape if it is not too long. It is $15 and books its own fifteen minutes, because it takes its own time.
What is and is not on the menu
- Do you color hair or blend gray?
- No. Color, gray blending, perms and relaxers are chemical services, and the license this shop operates under is Barber Nonchemical, which covers everything else. It is a straight answer rather than a preference.
- Do you wax nose and ear hair?
- No. Nose and ear hair is trimmed, and that trim is part of the detailing included in every haircut. Waxing is an esthetics service under Montana law and sits outside this license.
- Do you offer discounts?
- Military, veterans, police, fire, EMS and anyone 65 or over take $5 off any service. Tell us once and it stays on your file. It is applied at the chair rather than through the booking page.
The shop
- Where is the shop?
- 45 6th Ave W, Unit 4, Kalispell, Montana 59901. It is a single-chair room built for one barber and one client at a time.
- Are you Montana's Okayest Barber?
- Same barber. Gus has been behind a chair in Kalispell for years and Montana's Okayest Barber is his own name for himself. Onyx & Aurum is the shop. The name on the door is new; the chair is not.
- Can I bring someone with me?
- Yes. There is a seat in the room for a partner, a parent or whoever came along. There is no waiting queue, but there is somewhere to sit.
Still deciding
Not sure what to ask for?
Fade heights, tapers, beard lines and the three numbers that actually matter, in plain language.