Two Haircuts in One Day by Phil

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This is a story of how I received two haircuts in one day – one fairly ordinary haircut, which I paid for, and one extreme haircut, which I was not expecting.

Eight weeks ago I had a #8 on top and a #3 back and sides. I went to a barbershop at a mall near my house and at the time I was satisfied with the cut. I hadn’t been for a cut since and my hair was beginning to get a bit messy. I have recently met a girl named Nicole at college who I like. I wanted to get a haircut so that I’d look a bit more attractive.

Earlier Today I decided that instead of going to a barber, I would go to a salon downtown where I had been once or twice before. Unlike most salons, there was a separate section for men and women, and the girls knew how to cut a man’s hair. They shaved the neck, and knew how to do tapers and fades like a barber would, but they also knew how to style hair to make it look ‘trendy’. I decided to go there because I wanted a slightly messy / spiky look with a bit of life to it – as opposed to the simple #8 I had received eight weeks earlier.

I caught a train downtown, which is only four stations away and walked the short distance to the salon I had in mind. The salon was very busy, and I didn’t think that they would be able to fit me in without an appointment. I asked anyway, and they asked to come through and take a seat.

I had to wait quite some time. While I was waiting, I had my head shampooed and massaged, and I was offered a cup of coffee. There were two other guys in front of me. Both had fairly short hair already so I was curious to see what they would get. The first had fairly short brown hair, and got a #2 back and sides with 1 – 11/2’ on top spiked up – basically just a trim. This is how I thought I would get my hair cut and I told myself that if I got the same hairdresser I would tell her to cut it “just like the last guy.”



The other guy had bleached blonde hair that had been buzzed at the back. It was rather short, (maybe a #2) and I couldn’t see why he had come for a haircut. I heard the blond guy explain to his hairdresser that he wanted a #0 back and sides blended into a #1, and he wanted the entire colour cut off the top. This left him with less than an inch on top.

A new woman named Mandy came and told me she would be cutting my hair. It wasn’t the same girl who was cutting the first guy’s hair. She asked me what I wanted.

“Just tidy it up a bit” I said. “I’m not sure how long on top” I said, “I’ll let you decide”.

“I think we’ll just cut a little bit off and spike it up a bit…” she offered.

“Yeah, that’s good”

“And just a #2 through the back?” she asked.

“Maybe a #3 or #4” I replied, thinking that I didn’t want my hair too short, or it wouldn’t look very messy.

“If we’re going to do that to the top I think we should use a #3 she said”

“OK” I replied.

Mandy then proceeded to cut my hair. First she ran the #3 clippers half way up the back of my head, working around to my left ear, and finishing off my left side. Meanwhile behind me, the guy with the blonde hair was having the back of his head buzzed with a #1. We engaged in the usual hair salon chitchat about the day I had, what I do etc.

Mandy finished off the right side of my head, and using scissors and a comb began to blend the buzzed hair with the rest. Meanwhile the guy behind me was having the back of his head buzzed with a bare clipper blade, I was surprised at how much hair the clippers didn’t cut, leaving a respectable amount of fuzz. I noted that a #0 back and sides wasn’t as short as I had always thought, and made a mental note that next time I think of getting a #0 back and sides I should just try it and not think too much about it.

Mandy then took a spray bottle and began cutting the top. She didn’t cut much off, but angled the scissors to cut my hair to different lengths, explaining that this would thin out some of my thick hair and ‘texture’ it, meaning that when it grew out it wouldn’t be so messy. She then asked me if I had ever thought about putting colour in my hair. I told her I had thought about it but decided not to.

Before long Mandy was nearly finished and took the edger. She began trimming my hairline, and I asked her to fade it rather than squaring it off – which she did. She then applied shaving cream to my neck and shaved it with a straight edge razor. Then, she applied a hot towel to my neck. It was instantly relaxing bringing a smile to my face. The guy behind me was still having the top of his hair cut, using a comb and scissors.

Mandy then took a tube a gel, explaining how it was the latest greatest new product on the market and styled my hair, sitting it down in a messy way on top, and spiked the front. My hair was about 4cm in length.

Almost an hour after I walked in I thanked her for the cut and paid her. It cost $Aus22, which was a bit more expensive to the $Aus15 that I’d expect to pay at a barbershop, but it was downtown, and I figured it was worth it.

I walked back to the train station and saw on the monitor that my train was leaving in one minute so I sprinted to the platform and hopped on just before the doors closed. Felling somewhat proud of myself I sat down and looked at my reflection in the window. Liking what I saw I decided that I had a good chance of making progress with Nicole.



I arrived at home, made myself a toasted cheese sandwich and sat down to watch the evening news. I decided that after the news I would have a shower. The latest and greatest gel that Mandy had put in my hair had a fragrance that was too pleasant for my liking and I was left with little bits of hair down my shirt. Our local newspaper was on the coffee table and on the front page was a picture of a young guy with a shaved head. He looked like he was in his teens even though the caption said he was 24, and he had freckles and blue eyes. The shaved head looked really good on him. In between ad breaks I kept picking up the paper to look at this man. His eyes staring straight off the page had captured mine. There was a certain confidence about his gaze and I couldn’t stop admiring how good he looked.

The sports report came on; I got up and went to the bathroom. I took off my clothes and saw the tube of shaving cream on the bench. I decided to see what I would look like bald. I washed the gel out of my hair in the basin, squeezed some shaving cream into my hand and spread it over my wet head, slicking my hair back. Whilst it was not a look I was used to, I decided that it didn’t look bad and that I could get used to it… but I wouldn’t be shaving my head today as I had just spent $22 on a perfectly good haircut that I hoped Nicole would notice. I turned the water on and stepped into the shower. As I stepped in, I noticed my razor on the bench. I rinsed out the shaving cream from my hair thinking to myself –

“ Why don’t I shave my head? I have wanted to do it for a long time – it probably won’t look that bad.”

Another voice in my head said: “no, you can do it some other time. You’ve just spent $22 on a haircut”. I knew in my head that I could begin playing this little game with myself and on this occasion it would come to nothing.

“Maybe I can just take the razor off the bench and see if I actually do it.” I felt fairly confident that I wouldn’t be shaving my head today. Unlike other times when I had begun talking myself into giving myself a haircut or shaving my body hair, I wasn’t feeling nervous this time. I stuck my hand out of the shower and took the disposable razor off the bench. I realised that I held in my hand the potential to shave my head, but still I was not feeling nervous. I decided to put the razor to my forehead as if to start shaving my head. I couldn’t quite feel my hairline, but I knew that the razor was below it. Again the conversation in my head ensued:

“I could slide it back slowly”

“No, that’s just asking for trouble” …

“But I’m still far away not to shave any hair” I was still not feeling nervous. I slowly slid the razor back a little, stopping at the hairline. By this time, part of me was feeling confident enough to go further and shave a swath down my head; the other part of me knew that if I did I would later regret it. I stood there for some time, and suddenly moved the razor back just a tiny bit further. There was a small 4 cm long strand of hair on my thumb.

Water still running, I jumped out of the shower and wiped the steam off the mirror. A tiny bit of my hair was missing from the very front of my head. My hairline wasn’t straight. It dipped down in the middle a little like Count Dracula’s, only not so big. This was the bit I had shaved, except I hadn’t shaved it straight, and it was a bit lop-sided.

“I can fix this” I decided, “ I can just shave it so that I have a straight hairline.” I went over to the shower – water still running – to get my razor. I walked straight into the shower and pulled the screen closed. I was now beginning to get nervous. I took the razor and carefully felt me hairline. I again put the razor to my forehead. My hand feeling nervous as I was. “I can just finish this off and shave my head…… no, Nicole won’t like the new look – I’ll shave my head some other time…… you know you really want to do this…… you know if you do this you will regret it.” My hand was shaking; my heart had begun beating harder. I was getting excited.

I moved the razor back, just far enough to straighten up my hairline, and paused… I wanted to push the boundary….. to go just a little bit further… maybe my hairline was still crooked….. Maybe I should check in the mirror. Maybe I should take a gamble … I slid the razor just a little bit further. … and then just a little bit more.

OH S**t! What had I done? I felt a chill run down my body, almost a sense of relief, almost a sense of panic. And the adrenaline was rushing all through me.

There was a somewhat larger clump of hair on the razor and on my thumb. I stepped out of the shower. Again wiped the steam from the mirror, and lifted my fringe. Sure enough there was a 3cm wide and nearly 1cm deep chunk of my hair shaved from my forehead, slightly lop-sided. My heart stepped up a beat or two. What would I do next? I moved my fringe back over my forehead. It covered the little white square, but it would still be visible. Should I leave it and let everybody see my crooked hairline, or should I finish the job off?

I put my fingers to the little shaved rectangle. It felt smooth except for the sandpaper feel along the very edges. I was feeling a part of my head that had never been smooth before. A huge smile came to my face. I had begun doing what I had dreamed of doing for a long time. I stepped back in the shower, picked up the razor, put it to my forehead and moved it a good 4 or 5cm back into my head. There was no going back now. I washed out the hair and took another swipe right next to the first. There was now a nice square shaved into the front of my head. I then put the razor in front of my right ear and ran it straight up. I kept shaving and rinsing out the razor. I moved up and felt the razor pass over my temples, feeling it separate the hairs from my head. OH BOY!!! I was finally SHAVING MY HEAD. I was actually doing it!!! I felt a rush pass through my body.

I felt water running over my newly bald skin. I then went back to the top of my head and shaved a little more, then over to my left side, to liberate my other ear from hair. I kept shaving my head for a while longer. I stepped out of the shower, partly dried myself off, and plugged in the beard trimmer. I dried off my head, felling the towel over the newly bald bits like I had never felt it before. I turned on the clippers and put it to the 4cm long hair above my temple and pushed it backward making short strokes. I buzzed the left side of my head but I left the right side long. I also buzzed the back of my head. Running my hand up the short fuzz that was left behind. I put the clippers down, turned the water on and hopped back in the shower. I started shaving the right side of my head that was still long, taking my time and enjoying the sensation I continued shaving, careful not to cut myself.

I then reached for the shaving cream and applied it to my whole head, to the newly shaved bits and the fuzz I had just buzzed. The sensation was amazing. Why hadn’t I done this sooner? I continued shaving my head until it was smooth all over. I shaved the other side, shaved the temple, behind my ears, slowly feeling my way. I then started at my bottom hairline, slowly working my way up, feeling the bumps as I went. Eventually I was bald. I felt all over to see if I had missed any bits, which I did, and shaved smooth. I then ran the razor over the top of my head a few times, a way of telling myself that I was now well and truly BALD!!!

I stepped out of the shower, slightly pruned from being under the water for so long and dried myself off. I rubbed my hand over my newly shaven head. The feeling was fantastic. Looking in the mirror I saw a very funny looking version of me, not quite the same as when I had shaving cream over my hair, but not too much different. I stared into my eyes and decided that I could get used to the new look. I put on a new change of clothes and again felt the new sensation of my sweater sliding against my scalp.

I walked out of the bathroom, and sat in front of the TV. Leaning my elbow on the armrest and putting my hand to my newly shaved head. I was quickly getting used to the new me, and feeling confident about my new head - the head I had wanted to shave for so long. Why hadn’t I done this sooner?

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