Enzo
I was looking in the newspaper and saw an ad that stated: Hair models needed for unique styles. Top $$$ paid.
The ad had me curious, so I called. The salon, located in NYC, was looking for girls willing to get unique hairstyles. The amount paid would depend on the style you got. I was 22 at the time and in my final year of college. I was looking to earn extra money and this seemed like an easy way to do it. I told my best friend Kate about it who agreed to accompany me to NYC
Together, Kate and I took the train to NYC. We took a cab to the address that was given to me. It’s a very small salon located in Greenwich Village. We entered the salon and were met by a woman who was in the midst of blow drying a woman’s hair. I told her we were there to meet Michael. She yelled out there were people here to see him.
Michael came out from a back room and asked if he could help us. I told him we spoke about the ad. He remembers and asked who Kate was. I told him she was just along for moral support. He then invited us to the back.
In the back room, there was a salon chair and counter. There were numerous capes hung to the side, and camera equipment set up. Michael invited Kate and I to take a seat in a set of waiting chairs nearby.
While seated, he brought over a folder. He opened it and said, let me explain how this works. You let me what works for you, or if your friend is interested. He said, “whatever we style we get will be photographed before and after., OK?” We agreed to that term. He told me he works in stages. He then took out a photo of a woman with a retro 1970s halo cut. He said, “I’ll pay you $200 to get this cut.” He then took out a photo of an extreme bob cut with a high shaved nape. He said, “I’ll pay $400 for this cut. Next, showed a photo of a bowlcut. He said “$600 for the bowlcut. Moving on, he showed a photo of a woman with a military flattop. He said $800 for this. His final photo was of a bald woman. She said I’ll pay you a full $1,000 dollars to shave your head, and I’ll double it if you allow us to video the whole process.
That was a lot to take in. I asked if I got the extreme bob for $400, is he going to double it to video? She said “No, we only video head-shaves.” I then asked if I agreed to the bowlcut, did he start there? He replied, no, we work in stages, unless you want to video a head shave. Then we start fresh and shave it all off on video.
I looked at Kate and she said to me, “you don’t want to be bald.” She was right. The money was tempting, but I didn’t want to be bald. I then asked if we started, can we stop at any time? He told me we can stop whenever I feel comfortable. No pressure”. I figured it’s just a haircut, I’d been growing my hair through out college, the bob I once had had grow well past my shoulders. I planned on cutting it short when I graduated. So I agreed.
Michael had me change out of my clothes and into a retro 1970s romper. He then took my hair down and had me stand against a wall. He took numerous before photos. He had me laughing while taking the photos. He then had me sit at the wash station where he washed my hair. After my hair was washed, I sat in the styling chair. Michael picked out a floral cape and secured it around my neck.
Once seated in the chair wearing a romper, the reality set in that I was about to look like I stepped back in time. I got a little nervous as he started brushing my hair. He combed my hair in front of my face. I couldn’t see a thing. I then felt the blade of the scissor on my forehead. I heard the snip of the blades before I saw anything. Slowly, the blade glided across my forehead, uncovering my eyes. As the blade finished its path, I could see my reflection in the mirror. I HAD BANGS! I hadn’t had bangs since I was 12 years old. I started second guessing if this was a good idea.
The scissors continued cutting on a downward angle below my ear to the back of my head on the left, then the right side. I felt Michael comb the back of my hair, just before he cut it off my length making both sides of my hair meet.
When he was done cutting, he began blow drying with a round brush, curling the ends under. When it was dry, he sprayed my hair stiff. Pleased with the results, he took off the cape and said, “let’s take some pictures”. I posed for the photos and smiled, but I was mortified. I looked ridiculous. The haircut and romper made me look like a librarian. I looked so silly, Kate and I had to laugh.
After the photos, Michael asked, ”shall we continue?” I said yes. He then asked me to change into a gothic black dress. I went back to the wash station and he informed me that he was putting a rinse in my hair to darken it, and not to worry, it wasn’t permanent. It washes out. Back in the styling chair, he covered me in a black cape with images of skulls on it. He then combed my hair and sectioned it at the back. I felt a comb on the back of my head and heard the buzzing hum of the clippers. My heart began to race, as I quickly realized this was going to be a very short haircut. At first, I only felt the comb against my head, as the clippers were removing the bulk of my hair at the back. The clippers turned off and I breathed a sigh of relief that it wasn’t too bad. But then, Michael changed the clipper attached and fired them up again. This time, they were placed directly on the base of my neck and started running up the back of my head to my ears! As the clippers continued to eat the hair at the back of my head, I saw the look of shock on Kate’s face. Finally, Michael was done buzzing the back. He combed all of my hair straight down and began cutting my hair from the back, to the front on a downward angle. He cut both sides and trimmed the back leaving me with a very steep angled bob. While he was doing so, I figured this wouldn’t be so bad. I’d take my $400 for this cut and leave.
But Michael wasn’t finished. He then placed the scissors right at my temple and began cutting downward towards the center of my forehead. Moving to the other temple he did the same, forming a V shaped bang and opening my face up. It was a strange look that I definitely did not like. He then dried my hair and prepped me for photos with some jewelry.
After the photo shoot, I asked him if he could just even my bangs and we could stop. He told me there were no deviations. The bangs would get evened with the bowlcut. If I wanted the bangs evened, I’d have to go somewhere else. I looked towards Kate, and she said to me, “You can’t leave like that. You’re not gothic. You gotta go for it.” I knew she was right. I wouldn’t dare leave looking like that. So I told Michael to keep going.
He then handed me a 1960s mod dress. This time, instead of going to the wash station, he had me go directly to the styling chair. He placed a tie dyed cape on me and with a spray bottle, he wet down my hair. Placing a comb across the side of my head, he turned on the clippers and quickly zipped off the hair that was covering my ears. He then moved to the other side and zipped that side off too. Having removed most of the bulk, he then took his scissors and began forming a perfect circle from the side, around the back, and to the other side. Seeing my ears exposed like that made me realize this was a big mistake. But the real regret came when he cut the bangs. Thus far, I’d gone from no bangs, to brow length bangs, to V bangs, and now my bangs ended at mid forehead, connecting to the hair dangling above my ears. I looked towards Kate, who was holding her hand over her mouth to conceal her laughter. Michael blew dried it and had me pose for photos. At this point, I struggled to conjure up a smile. I looked ridiculous and Kate’s laughter only reassured it. But I handled it like a pro and took great photos. Michael asked what we were going to do. I knew I could never go in public with a bowlcut, and knew it would be cut pretty short to hide it. I asked Michael, what was the next step. “Flattop” he replied. Admittedly, I wasn’t exactly sure what a flattop was, but I agreed to it, as so far, I hadn’t had a haircut that I’d be comfortable walking out the door with. So I told him, let’s do one more.
Going back to the clothes rack, he brought out military camouflage shirt and pants. After putting them on, he had me sit in the styling chair. He placed a camouflage cape on me. Then, I heard the clippers fire up again, and I immediately regretted what I’d done, but I kept thinking, $800. A large hair pick was placed around my head. Michael kept clipping, forming my head into a block. My sides were buzzed short. My top was squared to the sides. When finished, her applied gel to make my hair stand up straight. I looked towards Kate, who was smiling with approval. She said I looked like a bass ass woman. I felt better about myself after hearing that. I walked to the wall and took numerous photos. Once finished, Michael asked, “Are you ready to go all the way?”
I told Michael that I was done, and would like to stop now and collect my $800. He was very respectful and said it was a pleasure working with me. As I changed back into my clothes, He reached into his pocket, peeled off eight hundred dollar bills, and said “thank you ladies for some great photos”.
Just then, Kate, who’d watched the whole thing, pipped up and said “Is that 2 thousand dollar video offer still good for a full head-shave? Michael asked, “are you interested?” Kate simply said, “bring out your video camera”
As Michael began setting up the video equipment, I asked Kate if she knew what she was doing. She said I watched this whole process, and I know exactly what I’m doing. I’m going to walk out of here with 2 thousand dollars.
I watched as Michael took photos of Kate with her shoulder length blonde hair. He then turned on the video and had her sit in the styling chair. He placed a white neck strip around her neck, then a red and white striped barber cape around her. He fired up his clippers, placing them at the center of Kate’s forehead, proceeded to peel back her hair like he was peeling a banana. With each pass of the clippers, more and more hair fell from Kate’s head. Within minutes, her golden locks were reduced to stubble. Michael then covered her head in lather, and with a razor, proceeded to shave her head clean. He finished by wiping her head down with a wet towel, then massaging cream into her scalp, giving it a shine.
Throughout the ordeal, Kate was euphoric. She smiled from ear to ear as Michael sheared her, and with good reason. I only had a little bit more hair than her, but she had a lot more money than me.
