Snipshaver
Four weeks had passed since Georgia’s world had been rewritten in ink and steel. Her debut campaign had been an astronomical success; the fashion world was obsessed with the “Vantage Vixen” and her razor-sharp jet-black bob. Yet, as Georgia walked back toward the heavy glass doors of the Vantage Salon for a second time, her heart hammered against her ribs with a familiar, sickening thud.
Every morning, she had woken up to the alien sensation of the air hitting the skin of her nape. She missed the weight of her honey-blonde waves, the way they used to bounce down to her chest like a waterfall. Now, looking in the shop window, she saw a girl whose sharp black bob had grown out to midway down her neck, her thick cut fringe beggining split into curtain bangs. At the roots, a pale halo of natural blonde was peeking through the glossy, midnight colored hair.
The doors swung shut, sealing out the city. Mary was waiting, looking different herself. Her edgy shag was gone, her bleach blond hair cut down into a blunt bob tucked neatly behind her ears, and a new silver bridge piercing glinted between her eyes, drawing your attention up to her.
“Georgia! So good to see you diva” Mary beamed, her smile as genuine as ever. “I can’t believe it’s already time for the second look. This black bob looks stunning on you, but I’m so excited for this next one”
Mary’s warm personality and genuine smile comforted Georgia’s nerves, but she hoped the makeover would be less dramatic than her first. “Can I watch this time?” she asked, her voice trembling slightly.
“Of course, honey. No curtains today,” Mary said, gesturing to the heavy leather chair.
Georgia sat, noticing that her body was beginning to shake. Mary worked with practiced efficiency. She wrapped the dry, rough strip of neck paper snugly around Georgia’s throat, and then snapped the heavy black satin cape shut at the collar. It was tight, and Georgia could feel her pulse starting against the fabric. She was back under the cape that caught her treasured blonde hair as it was shaved from her nape, not even a month before. She could still picture the sight of Mary holding her long, severed ponytail of natural blonde.
“Are we just… trimming the back?” Georgia asked hopefully, watching Mary’s reflection.
Mary laughed softly. Georgia gave her a wry smile, but chills shot down her spine as she realised she wasn’t just here for a small trim.
Mary began sectioning the hair, tying the top into a glossy black knot and letting the back and sides hang loose. Then came the metallic clack. The low, aggressive hum of the clippers filled the air.
“Relax, honey,” Mary said, placing a firm hand on the crown of Georgia’s head.
The clippers, fitted with a number 4 guard, touched her skin. The vibration was a violent, buzzing sensation felt like it shook her while body. Georgia’s eyes went wide as she watched the first clump of black hair fall away, leaving behind it a tiny layer of stubble. Mary refreshed Georgia’s underxut at the nape in seconds. She worked methodically, pushing Georgia’s head from side to side, moving the clippers higher and higher. Eventually, she pushed Georgia’s chin to her chest, and pushed the clippers far up, througher undercut, and past her ears into her thick, jet black hair.
“Wait—Mary, no!” Georgia gasped, tears welling in her eyes. Mary turned off the clippers, and looked her in the eye, giving Georgia a close view of her new bridge piercing, and the beautifully intricate goth tattoos that ran up her shoulders onto her neck. “Trust me, babe. You have to trust me. It’ll grow back one day, I promise.” she told her softly. Georgia wanted to trust her, she looked deeply into Mary’s eyes and felt a strong twinge of excitement, deep within her. “Okay” she whispered back, unable to look away.
The hum returned, with a slightly higher pitch. Mary swapped to a number 3 guard, and began to push the clippers up, and through the remaining hair on the back and sides. Georgia watched in frozen horror as the stylist mowed away across her temples. She held Georgia’s head in place with her left hand, and with her right she shaved everything but a small part beneath the top section down to a number 3. Clumps of glossy, thick black hair fell to the flaw, and Georgia felt the cold air around her ears. Mary replaced the guard, and began to shave up from the bottom again. After a few minutes, she removed the guard completely, and lined it up on Georgia’s neck.
The he silver teeth of the clippers moved against her scalp, carving away everything until the skin behind her ears was bare and exposed. Georgia began to cry, the hot tears spilling down her red cheeks onto the black satin cape. She could see the hair that once defined her identity falling in dark rain onto her tears.
“Almost there,” Mary murmured. She untied the top knot and sprayed the remaining hair with a water bottle, brushing it out.
With surgical precision, Mary drew a lock of hair forward, lined it up in her fingers and snipped. Inches of black hair fell away. Georgia watched in shock as Mary continued to slice away. It wasnt being cut as short as her skin fade, but it was no more than a couple of inches long. The fringe was cut blunt, hovering just above her dark, arched eyebrows.
“Oh my god,” was all Georgia could bring herself to say as she watched her new look take form. A striking yet feminine pixie, melting perfectly into the fade on the back and sides.
Once the cutting finished, Mary left the chair to go to her work station. Georgia reached up. Her fingers grazed the velvet-soft, clean skin of the fade, then slid to the short, prickly bristles higher up. She could barely grab the hair on top ina fist, and even her fringe was lighter and choppier.
Her blonde history was gone, replaced by this aggressive, black crop. She began to sob uncontrollably, cfying “oh my god, no” as Mary returned from the color station with a bowl of thick, white paste.
“We’re almost done, Georgia. Trust the process,” Mary whispered.
The bleach was applied with a heavy brush, the cold sludge saturating the hair it ran over. She brushed thick, heaped layers of the paste into Georgia’s newly cut pixie. Within minutes, the chemical smell of ammonia filled the air. As Mary began to massage the paste into the roots with her hands, it began to burn. Georgia winced, complaining of the stinging heat on her scalp.
“It’ll be over quickly,” Mary assured her.
At the sink, the warm water felt like a relief, washing away the chemicals and cooling her inflamed skin. Georgia felt the water tickling the freshly shaved back of her neck, she had never felt a sensation like it. After a toner treatment, Mary wrapped her head in a towel and led her back to the mirror.
When the towel was pulled back, Georgia’s mouth dropped open. The jet black dye had been stripped completely. She was a blonde again, but she wasn’t back to her old self. Her hair was now a striking, clean platinum blonde. Unlike the honey-gold locks she had spent years growing, it was almost completely white, all the pigment had been bleached out into a glamorous platinum.
Mary blow-dried the hair, brushing it back and neatly laying it flat across her head. She turned off the hairdryer, and applied a blob of mousse to her hands. She ran it through Georgia’s freshly-bleached fringe and smoothed it out, with a small, cute flick of volume at the front. “One of the things I LOVE about this style” Mary said as she smoothed back what was left of the hair above her ears, “is how it can be slicked back. It’s so perfect for a glamorous, high-fashion look and, babe, it looks even better on you than I hoped.”
Georgia stared into her reflection. She looked powerful and sharp, like a true supermodel. But Georgia sat in shock, not just at her new look, but the knowledge that this was irreversible. ‘This is the new me, the new Georgia.’ she told herself. But it wouldn’t sink in. Tears welled in her eyes and she took a deep breath.
“This is the new you.” Mary told her.
Georgia closed her eyes.
“Okay.”
When Georgia opened eyes, she saw a gorgeous, confident young woman looking back.
Her naturally pretty features remained, but now her face felt more dramatic. Her blue eyes locked your gaze in hers, her short, slicked back platinum hair enhanced her cheekbones and jawline perfectly.
Mary then brushed the hair forward, relaxing it into a softer, feminine pixie that hung down onto her forehead. The cut was still bold and attention grabbing, especially with the skinfaded sides and platinum blonde color, but the fringe broughtback some of her natural, innocent prettiness
“Holy shit” she said, taking another deep breath. “Mary, it’s incredible. I had no idea I could ever like this.”
“Honestly, i could kiss you tight now” Mary said, biting her lip as she looked Georgia’s reflection in the eye.
Georgia blushed and looked away, smiling truly for the first time that day.
“touch it”
Georgia reacged up to touch her hair nervously. It felt less soft, as she ran her hand across what remained she realised the bleach had left it feeling rougher and thinner than her natural strands. She looked into the mirror with a face of slight worry, biting her lip.
She looked beautiful, like a star, but the woman in the reflection was a total stranger. The Georgia she knew herself as for her whole life was gone, her natural light blind hair shorn down to a pixie, dyed jet black, then bleached to a clean platinum. She had to embrace it. This would take a long time to grow back, if the agents even let her.
Mary then brushed the hair forward, relaxing it into a softer, feminine pixie that hung down onto her forehead. The cut was still bold and attention grabbing, especially with the skinfaded sides and platinum blonde color, but the fringe broughtback some of her natural, innocent prettiness.
Mary unsealed the cape and hugged her. Georgia returned the hug, her mind a whirlwind of conflict.
“We have one more session, in two weeks.” Mary told her. “I think you’re ready for your final look. It’s taken a while to an everything, but it had to be perfect, and you will be”
“Okay” replied the model. “I trust you”.
Georgia left the salon, the cool air hitting her naked neck and ears. She couldn’t really believe that gad just happened, but as she touched her neck she felt just exposed skin. It was real. And there was more to come
