When Lindsey Austin talks about cutting hair, she draws parallels to her charcoal and pencil drawings.

“To me, it’s all an art,” she said, discussing the differences between barbering and hairdressing.

“I prefer barbering because it’s more about precision and you can’t make any mistakes,” she said. “It’s about shading and fading.”

Traditional women’s styles and similar men’s styles are more like abstract watercolor paintings, she said, “whereas I like to draw 3D things.”

That is why her new partnership with hairdresser Jess Waltman makes for such a perfect match, Austin said.

“She’s the color queen,” Austin said of Walton.

“It’s my specialty,” Waltman said. “I think I love color because it’s the one thing I can be most creative with, and I feel like I can create almost anything with color.”

“It’s your art,” Austin said.

When she wanted to color her hair, Austin went to Waltman.

Waltman had just opened her own beauty shop in Nashville. Austin told her she had wanted to come back to her hometown as a barber, and Waltman immediately offered the partnership idea.

They decided on the name “Altruistic Beauty and Barbering Concepts.”

Waltman said she wanted the concept of altruism to play into the theme of the business from the start.

“I want people to be comfortable coming to me and know that I’m concerned about them, and I want to help them feel better about themselves,” Waltman said.

Waltman said she wanted it to be the kind of salon where people talk each other up rather than gossip and judge.

“I just want it to be an upbeat place where people can come in, get their hair done and not leave and feel like someone’s talking about them,” she said.

“Which is why guys like barber shops,” Austin said.

They don’t want men who are looking for the customary feel of a barber shop to feel like they are walking into a beauty shop, but they don’t want women to feel any less invited either.

Between them, the only thing they can’t do is nails, Waltman said. Every other service someone would expect from a barber or hairdresser, they can do.

They have even considered offering couples packages. While a husband is getting an old-school straight razor shave and haircut, his wife could have her hair done.

“They can both get pampered,” Waltman said.

Currently, Altruistic Beauty and Barbering Concepts is on the second floor of the Professional Building, and they only work by appointment. The best way for customers to contact them is through their Facebook page.

They will start moving into their new space on the southeast corner of Van Buren and Mound streets at the beginning of April. They don’t know how long the move-in will take, but they will announce the grand opening on their Facebook page.

They plan to set the new shop up with a feeling that mixes vintage with modern, “Like a shabby chic look,” Waltman said.

Austin said she would also like to give back to the community through barbering if she can. She has had several clients in Bloomington who needed special care, such as an Alzheimer’s patient who would not let anyone else touch his hair.

The experience opened her eyes to the possibility of doing barbering as more than just a profession and an art.

Austin still stays in contact with her Bloomington client but would like to find a way to cut older men’s hair as a public service here as well, she said.

“I have a little soft spot,” Austin admitted. “I never had a grandpa, so the older gentlemen are like — I want to care for them.”

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Who: Barber Lindsey Austin and hairdresser Jess Waltman

Where: The Professional Building, Van Buren and West Main Street; moving to Van Buren and Mound streets in April

Hours: By appointment only

Schedule an appointment: Search “Altruistic Beauty & Barbering Concepts” on Facebook

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