love to be clipped
Chrissy checked her reflection in the mirrored glass as she approached Metamorphosis Salon. The last time she had been here it was just for a light dusting off her ends, Heather had been cutting her hair for many many years, since Heather had been in beauty school. Tonight though, Chrissy had a feeling that she’d be leaving with hair shorter than it had ever been. The plan had been to do one haircut a night, but they had done two last week and she assumed they’d do the same tonight.
Taking a breath to calm her nerves Chrissy pulled open the door to the salon. The smells of shampoos and hair products wafted out immediately as the door opened. She stepped into the fragrant air, scanning the room to see that she was the first to arrive and Heather was still finishing up with her last client of the day. It was a woman in the chair with the thickest, most luscious brunette locks. It looked like Heather was giving the lightest of trim.
Trying not to stare, Chrissy made her way over to the waiting area, relieving herself of the wine and whiskey-filled tote bag that she had been lugging around. Just as Chrissy sat down, Heather and the client looked over to see who had come in, Heather greeted her, “Hey babe, I’ll be with you in a few minutes, would you mind pulling the blinds and flipping the closed sign for me please?”.
“You’ve got it, take your time,” Chrissy called back as she got up and started doing as she was asked. It took her a moment to find the pull for the first blind but then after that they all were easy to lower. By the time she was done and had flipped the sign to Closed, Heather was ushering her client out of the chair, taking her up to the front to pay, and bidding her a good evening as she saw the long haired beauty out the door.
Moments after the client left, Janine and Megan came through the door. “Hey ladies,” Heather greeted them, “that was my last client and my colleagues left a few hours ago, Chrissy just got all the blinds closed for me, so the salon is ours.”
Janine cheered, but Megan paused, eyeing Heather, “did you shave your head again?” she asked with a sly smile.
“Oh my god, you totally did, I can’t believe I didn’t notice that when I first came in,” Chrissy gasped with surprise and excitement.
“Maybe I fell in love with the look,” Heather said laughing at her friends’ excitement, “you know that barbershop two doors down? Well, Jim and I have become friends over the years, I cut his wife’s hair and recommend him to the husbands of some of my clients who don’t want to come to a salon. Saturday morning I was feeling scratchy and he invited me in before we both opened for the day. He gave me a hot towel head shave with a straight razor and everything.”
“Oh my god,” Janine exclaimed, “you got it done by a barber, look at you being Ms. Adventurous!”
“And it was heavenly,” Heather gushed, “who better to go to than someone I trust who shaves faces and heads all day? The hot towel and the shave felt amazing, I am going to struggle to give up head shaves if I eventually decide to grow my hair out.”
“Well the way you talk about it, maybe if I end up with the buzzcut, I’ll take you up on a full shave instead,” Chrissy said, reflexively stroking her hair as it lay over her shoulder.
“Ok ladies, I’m not sure about you all, but I’m so excited to get started, I propose we start with wine and haircuts and then have food after, how does that sound?” Heather asked, looking around at the ladies who all voiced their agreement. She continued, “ok, Megan, I’m going to freshen up your bob for you, and then we’ll go on to the main event. Come over and take a seat for me at my station. Janine, could you please be our bartender while Chrissy gets the cylinders set up?”
They all jokingly shouted “Yes ma’am” and proceeded to their tasks, Megan followed Heather over, sitting gracefully in the black styling chair. Heather grabbed a white cape and draped it over Megan, gathering it around her neck and then clipping it into place.
“Ok,” Heather started, running her hands up under Megan’s bob at the nape, “do you want me to trim your nape up before we get you styled?”
“Yeah, let’s go for it, I’ve been loving the style so let’s get it trimmed while I’m here.”
“I’m on it!” Heather affirmed, grabbing a few clips and clipping the upper layer against Megan’s head in a few twisted sections. Picking up the clippers, she stated, rather than asked, “We’ll take you all the way down to the skin, I want you to experience that before too long.”
Before Megan could confirm or protest, Heather was behind her, pressing her head down against her chest, clippers already buzzing in hand. This time instead of the guard, she felt the bare blades against her neck, cool after sitting idle for a while. The tone of the machine shifted as it started crunching into her hair, easily peeling away the short fuzz.
“Ooh, I love the way this is looking, it’s so fun that you’re going all the way,” Janine enthused, setting two wine glasses on the counter, “these are here for you ladies once you’re ready for them.”
“Thanks, babe,” Heather said, barely looking up from the task at hand.
Chrissy and Janine came over after a moment, just in time to see Heather making the final pass up Megan’s nape. They watched as Heather checked for any strays before turning the clippers off. Megan immediately reached back to feel it, “Oh my god,” she exclaimed, “It’s almost fully bald and feels so cool!”
“Don’t you love it?” Heather asked grinning, “Wait until I get a chance to give you a scalp massage in a second, you’ll struggle to it up.”
“Before you ladies do that,” Chrissy interjected as Heather was starting to remove the clips from Megan’s hair and brush off the small pieces on her neck and the cape, “can we talk operations here for a moment? I think it’s been decided that we’re doing two cuts tonight and frankly, I couldn’t wait another week if I don’t have mine cut tonight anyway.”
“I could probably hold onto my hair another week,” Janine chimed in, “but it is probably best to just take the plunge now, last week was so exciting and I want to honor my commitment to you ladies. ”
“That’s the spirit,” Chrissy said, chuckling at Janine’s gumption despite the cold feet, “so what I’m thinking is the die rolls don’t make as much sense since we know we’re both losing our hair and whoever goes second gets assigned a cut through elimination. I’m thinking we write a cut on each remote, one pixie, one buzzcut, and then shuffle them and the cutting cylinders. We’ll each take a chair, get caped, get the cylinders on, and then take turns pressing the buttons. Whoever ended up with each remote gets the corresponding cut.”
The others nodded their assent and Heather proceeded to help Megan out of the chair, leading her over to the nearby wash station while Chrissy went to finish the preparations. Janine followed Megan and Heather to the wash station to spectate the proceedings.
Megan settled into the wash station, leaning back as Heather adjusted the neckrest to the perfect position. The ceramic basin felt cool against her neck as she reclined. Heather turned on the water, testing the temperature with her wrist until it was just right.
“Let me know if the temperature needs adjusting,” Heather said, beginning to wet Megan’s blonde bob the color darkening as the hair was saturated. Megan closed her eyes, relaxing into the sensations as the water cascaded over her head. Janine leaned on the neighboring wash station, sipping her wine and watching with interest.
Heather reached for her favorite shampoo, a botanical blend with hints of lavender and mint. She worked it between her palms before applying it to Megan’s hair, starting at the crown and working her way down to the freshly clipped nape. Her fingers moved in small, precise circles, building up a rich lather.
“Now for the best part,” Heather announced, increasing the pressure of her fingertips against Megan’s nape. She worked methodically, using her thumbs to massage the tension points at the base of the skull, then moving up to the crown with firm, circular motions; Heather’s expert touch making Megan practically melt into the chair.
“Oh wow,” Megan murmured, “you weren’t kidding about the scalp massage. This is incredible with the undercut.”
“The sensitivity there is amazing, isn’t it?” Heather agreed, continuing to massage the suds across Megan’s recently bared nape.
Heather took her time rinsing the shampoo, making sure every trace of lather was gone before reaching for the conditioner. She slowly worked the mint-scented conditioner through the wet hair, being sure it was evenly distributed.
“I love how much easier it’s been to wash and condition,” Megan noted as she let her head get gently rocked by the motions of Heather’s hands. “And I think I’m going to be spending the extra time I have in the shower on giving my nape an extra massage, I’ll be coming back to you for a touch-up as well.”
Heather smiled knowingly as she began the final rinse. “Just wait until these two join us in the short hair club,” she said, nodding toward Chrissy and Janine. “Something tells me we’ll be meeting here more regularly for bi-weekly trims once they feel what it’s like to go short.”
Once Megan’s hair was thoroughly rinsed, Heather gently squeezed out the excess water before proficiently wrapping a towel around Megan’s head, tucking the ends in on themselves to secure it. Heather helped Megan up out of the chair and led her back over to the styling chair, helping her to re-straighten the cape as she sat back down. As Heather was removing the towel, setting Megan’s hair free, Chrissy came over and laid the cutting cylinders on the counter. “Janine,” Chrissy said, looking over to her fellow long-haired friend, “why don’t you come over here and shuffle these around a bit so be sure I don’t know which is which, then Heather can pick at random.”
Janine did as she was told, shuffling them around on the counter and then turning them over in her hand a few times until she was content that they had been fully shuffled at which point she set them carefully back down. Meanwhile, after Heather had sprayed on some heat protectant and combed it into Megan’s hair, she picked up a round brush and a hair dryer and began blow-drying the blonde locks into a nice and neat bob.
“Ok beautiful,” Heather announced, setting her tools down, “you are all set, let’s get to cutting now!” She pulled off the cape from Megan, draping it over her shoulder and helping Megan up out of the chair.
Megan gently felt her hair, especially the nape. “Thanks so much! It looks perfect, I can never get it this professional at home!”
“Anytime babe,” Heather responded, smiling. She then shifted her attention over to Chrissy and Janine, “Ok ladies, pick a chair, any chair, one of you in this one that Megan just vacated and then the other to my right here.”
Janine was already leaning against the other chair so she took a seat while Chrissy walked over and hopped up into the recently vacated chair. Heather tossed the cape down into a nearby hamper and picked up one of the two cutting cylinders. Slipping it into her apron pocket she came back over and stood behind Chrissy, using her hands she gathered Chrissy’s hair into a mid-height ponytail, about halfway up the nape. “This will allow me to do either the pixie or the buzzcut,” she commented, placing the cylinder around the hair.
Hair tied out of the way, Heather picked up a fresh cape, and threw it over Chrissy, easily securing it around her neck and snapping it into place. “Ok, sit tight for a second while I take care of Janine,” she said, giving Chrissy a pat on the shoulder as she walked over to Janine.
Heather repeated the same process with Janine as Megan looked on. First grabbing the second cutting cylinder, then gathering Janine’s hair into a mid-nape pony and securing the cylinder around it, finally completing the ensemble with a fresh cape secured snuggly around Janine’s neck.
“Ok ladies,” Chrissy announced from her chair, “on the back of each of the remotes is a number, face down on the counter. Without looking at the number you should each pick a remote. Once you have picked, you can take a look and on the count of three whoever has #1 should press their remote. We’ll press the second after another count of three, we just need to know who has which one. Janine, which cut do you want for #1?”
“Let’s do the buzzcut for #1,” Janine decided from her chair, “that way we can find the most dramatic one first.”
“Works for me,” Chrissy confirmed, “ok, Megan and Heather, go ahead and grab remotes.”
Each woman grabbed the remote closest to them and then flipped them over to see the numbers. “I’ve got number one,” Megan announced, holding her remote in the air.
“Ok, then ladies,” Heather started the ceremonies, “on the count of three, Megan will press her button. One, two, three,” the ladies counted the numbers together, and then with a click from the remote Chrissy’s ponytail plunged to the floor, the cylinder’s fall being muffled by the floor mat.
“Looks like I’m going to get that buzzcut,” Chrissy said with a smile, ruefully feeling the now short ends of her hair.
“Let’s not leave Janine hanging over here ladies,” Heather said, holding her remote up, “ on the count of three I’ll press mine, one, two, three,” with the press, the final ponytail fell to the ground in a chaotic pile of red waves. Without the long lengths weighing her hair down, Janine’s hair instantly gained some more curl and gave her a red halo, normally the life of the party, she tentatively played with it while everyone cheered.
Heather picked up both ponytails, holding them up in the air, she exclaimed, “This is it ladies, the final ponytails!”
“I never thought I’d do it, but I think I’m glad that I did,” Janine chimed in, still getting accustomed to the new length and newfound volume and curls.
“Are you glad you got the pixie instead of the buzz,” Chrissy asked, smiling from her chair, still riding the rush of the chop.
“You can say that again, I was nervous about going through with this if I got the buzz, I can handle the pixie I think though.” Janine laughed with relief.
Heather gently set the two ponytails down next to each other on the counter in front of the unused station. “Let’s see,” she said, turning around and surveying the scene, “Megan, why don’t you buzz down Chrissy’s hair while I do Janine’s, we’ll do a half inch to start, and then I’ll fade down the sides once I’m done with Janine.”
“Oooh, I’m excited to use the clippers again,” Megan said, bounding over to the counter to survey the tools, her excitement getting a laugh out of Chrissy. Heather helped her attach the #4 guard and then turned Chrissy’s chair to face the other station. Heather then grabbed her other set of clippers, attaching a number 2 guard and bringing them over to Janine.
Heather positioned herself behind Janine’s chair, taking a moment to run her fingers through the choppy remains of what had been long, flowing hair just moments ago. “Are you ready to see what these clippers can do?” she asked, already flicking the switch on the clippers, their steady hum filling the air.
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Janine replied, her voice betraying a mix of nervousness and excitement.
“Let’s start with the right side,” Heather said, using her free hand to tilt Janine’s head slightly to the left. She placed the #2 guarded clippers at Janine’s temple, the clippers glided smoothly into the hair, leaving a neat path of quarter-inch stubble in their wake. Heather continued working, methodically moving around the right side of Janine’s head, dumping a near-continuous feed of 6-inch pieces to pile up on the cape toward the front and the floor as she moved further back.
After completing both sides with the #2, Heather switched to a #1.5 guard. “Now we’re going to create some gradual fading,” she explained, working in horizontal passes about an inch lower than where the #2 had stopped. The transition began taking shape as she worked, the hair becoming progressively shorter toward the bottom. Finally, she switched to a #1 guard for the lowest section, carefully tapering the hairline and around the ears.
“Time for your wash,” Heather announced, helping Janine up from the chair.
Janine glanced around the chair as she stood up, “wow that’s a lot of hair,” she said in awe as she surveyed the multiple piles Heather had left.
“Yep, and there’s still more to come off,” Heather said with a smile, Janine gulped nervously at her friend’s excitement as she allowed Heather to guide her into the shampoo chair and helped her lean back into the bowl.
While Heather had been hard at work, Megan and Chrissy had watched on as Megan reduced the remains of Chrissy’s glorious hair to a short pelt of fuzz. Starting in the front, Megan had gone right up Chrissy’s center part, sending waterfalls of hair down both sides. The clippers missed some strands with the longer guard so she did a second pass before continuing on. Chrissy watched Janine’s cut unfolding for a bit but then closed her eyes to relax into the clippers. Megan noticed Chrissy had closed her eyes and guided her head down to attack the back, the clippers making short work of the shorter lengths.
Janine settled into the shampoo chair, leaning back as Heather adjusted the neckrest. The warm water began flowing over her head, and she couldn’t help but sigh slightly at how good it felt to have the warm water flowing over the freshly buzzed back and sides. Heather’s fingers worked through what remained of the longer hair on top, thoroughly saturating it before reaching for the shampoo.
“I’m using my favorite hydrating shampoo,” Heather explained, working the product into a rich lather. “I didn’t realize you were hiding these beautiful curls and it’s time you made the most of them!” Heather took her time massaging the product into Janine’s scalp with just the right amount of pressure, paying special attention to the freshly clipped areas just as she had done for Megan earlier. Janine was fully relaxed in the chair, quieter than Heather had ever seen her as she enjoyed the new sensations. Heather rinsed out the shampoo and then gently worked in a nice rich conditioner, continuing the nape and temple massage as she let the conditioner sit in the longer hair. After conditioning and a final rinse, Heather wrapped Janine’s head in a fresh towel and led her back to the styling chair, adjusting the cape nicely over the back as Janine settled. Heather removed the towel and combed through the longer hair on top, which though much darker now that it was wet, still stood in stark contrast to the closely clipped sides.
“Now let’s get this cut finished for you,” Heather said, once she had gotten the still bob-length hair all combed out. Picking up her scissors and a comb, she pulled up a vertical section from the crown of Janine’s head and lopped off all but 5 inches, while the hair up here was the shortest, due to the mid-nape ponytail they’d started with, she still cast off a nice 4-inch chunk, casually dropping it to the floor. While she continued to leave roughly 5 inches, as she worked her way down Janine’s head, longer and longer lengths were getting lopped off and the pile of wet curls was growing on the floor. Eventually Heather got to the front of Janine’s head and combed the hair one way, point-cutting the ends into a rough shape, and then combed it back the other direction, point-cutting further to finish off a versatile front layer.
Satisfied with the rough shape, Heather picked up her razor and started picking up clumps of hair, scrunching off a bit of length with the razor to add some texture. Small pieces of hair floated down onto the cape as she worked, each pass of the razor adding another layer of dimension to the cut as it crunched through the quickly drying hair.
“Time for product and the blow dry,” Heather announced, reaching for a volumizing mousse. She sprayed a fluffy pile of product into her hand and then worked it through the longer sections on top, scrunching it in to enhance the natural texture. With a diffuser she gently scrunched and formed curls, holding each clump of curls against Janine’s head as she gently dried the curls. Once the hair was mostly dried, Heather played with it, showing Janine that she could part it in either direction, and either way, it would lay nicely.
Once the demo was complete, Heather went around Janine’s head triple triple-checking that there were no hairs out of place, and ensuring the sides blended nicely into the top. Finally, with one last dusting, she declared Janine done and freed her from the cape, grabbing a hand mirror to showcase the full 360 view.
“I love it!” Janine exclaimed excitedly, feeling the newly buzzed back and sides, “You did an amazing job, Heather, you took me from a skeptic to a lover of short hair!”
“I’m so happy you like it! It looks great on you!” Heather responded, smiling, “Now let’s see where these two are at,” she said, heading over to where Megan was doing some final passes on Chrissy’s half-inch buzz cut. “It’s looking good, just a bit halo-like with the single longer length. You did a great job Megan, I’ll just put the finishing touches on and you’ll be all set Chrissy.” Heather took the clippers from Megan as she discussed this and switched out the guard for a number two. Turning them back on, she started working to peel off the hair at Chrissy’s right temple, the short fuzz putting up no resistance. It was quick for Heather to work around Chrissy’s head, dumping little clumps of hair to the floor with each pass. Once she was done with the number two guard, Heather swapped out for a number one and eased it up around Chrissy’s hairline, fading down to barely anything. After one final inspection, Heather declared Chrissy done and whipped off the cape.
“I guess that’s it,” Chrissy said, feeling her new buzzcut with a smile, “we were supposed to make this last 4 weeks but we’ve finished in two, I’m not sure how we’ll ever top this.”
“Well first of all, let’s eat, I’m ravenous after all this cutting,” Heather said, smiling as she led the way over to their bags of food and started laying it all out on the counter while Janine refreshed all of their glasses.
After eating for a bit with some idle conversation, a comfortable silence fell over the group. Chrissy was the first to break it, running her fingers over her fresh buzz. “You know,” she said, looking over at Heather, “I was in this for the excitement of the whole thing, but I could get used to the feel of this. I can’t believe I waited so long to experience this.”
Heather chuckled, her eyes sparkling with a familiar mischievous glint. “Speaking of disbelief,” she began, setting down her wine glass, “remember that client I was finishing up with when you all arrived? The one with the amazing hair?”
Chrissy nodded, leaning forward with curiosity. “Yeah, I thought I had amazing hair before this, but she put mine to shame. What about her?”
“Well,” Heather continued, her voice taking on a playful tone, “she was absolutely shocked by my new look, she’s been coming to me for years and thought I was in the long hair forever club. We got to talking about our little haircut game, and she couldn’t believe how bold we’ve been. She made this comment though, about how nobody would be crazy enough to go as far as I have.”
“I think I know where this is going,” Megan rolled her eyes while listening in.
“Yeah, well I may have bet her that if I could convince two of you ladies to join me at Jim’s next week for a head shave, that she’d shave her head as well. I tried for just one but when I told her about the cuts she figured whoever got the buzzcut would be too easy to convince so she insisted on 2 people.”
“Well to see that glorious mane get chopped off, I’m definitely in!” Chrissy immediately piped up, “I was honestly already considering it after our brief conversation earlier and having come this far. Megan, Janine, any takers?” Both ladies were looking a bit skeptical.
Janine took a long sip of her wine, “I don’t know, Heather. This is getting serious. A full head shave at a barbershop? I’m rather attached now to these beautiful curls you helped me discover.”
Megan leaned forward, her eyebrows raised skeptically. “Just to see some woman we don’t know to shave her head? This was fun but I’m loving this bob.”
Heather got a glint in her eye, she was never one to back away from a challenge, “She said there was no way I would get two of you to go through with a full head shave. You wouldn’t want to let me lose a bet would you?”
“Ah,” Chrissy gave Heather a head nod and grin, “so your mouth is writing checks you can’t cash again eh?”
“Hey now!” Heather laughed. “You’re already committed, don’t you want these two to join us?”
“Right, right, I did say that didn’t I,” Chrissy responded chuckling, “Come on ladies it’ll be fun, we can all do it together, then grow out our hair all together!”
The room filled with a mix of nervous laughter and anticipation, waiting to see who would step up to the dare.
Megan sighed, looking thoughtful. “You know what? Screw it. I’m in, but only if Janine joins us.”
Janine looked between them, caught between disbelief and amusement. “You two are actually serious? A full head shave? Heather only committed two other people, why are you dragging me into it?”
“All for one and one for all?” Chrissy asked, before turning on the puppy dog eyes, “Why don’t you do it for our friendship, think of how much we’ve done together.”
“No fair,” Janine laughed, “you know I can’t resist puppy dog eyes.”
“To bold moves,” Chrissy said, raising her glass. The others clinked theirs against it, sealing their pact.
The ladies all ate and drank into the evening before making their way into an Uber XL for a multi-stop trip home. Janine chattered with the driver as usual, while the other ladies were mostly quiet. At one point Chrissy looked over and noticed Megan looking out the window, absentmindedly feeling her undercut. Chrissy gave her a gentle nudge, “It feels so good to have the clippers go all over, you’ll be glad you tried it.”
“I’ll miss this style, but I think I’m looking forward to it, y’all are bad influences,” Megan responded with a smile.
