A grueling year of postgraduate studies had finally come to an end. My roommates had all packed up for new jobs in different cities, leaving me alone in our apartment. With the freedom of summer stretching out before me and the temperature in the city rising to a sweltering peak, I knew it was time for the transformation I’d been planning for months.
I looked in the mirror at my medium-length, heat-damaged hair. It was time to become a baldgirl.
I didn't want a quick, five-minute job. I wanted to savor the transition. I started my Sunday by visiting my regular stylist. "Just a trim today," I lied. She thinned out my layers and shortened the back, barely changing my look, but it was step one. An hour later, I found a second shop. "Take it much shorter," I told the barber. He used a #2 guard on the sides and cropped the top into a boyish pixie. I took a few selfies, admiring the edgy look, but the true goal was still ahead.
Finally, I found what I was looking for: a bustling, crowded shop at a busy junction. I wanted witnesses for my ultimate headshave. I walked in, and the entire room went silent. A girl with a fresh pixie cut walking into a traditional barbershop was a rare sight. My heart hammered when I saw one of the stylists—she was a baldgirl herself, her scalp gleaming with a soft, two-day shadow.
When it was my turn, I sat in her chair. "I want it like yours," I said, meeting her eyes in the mirror. "A total headshaving. I want a smooth shaved head."
The shop fell into a stunned hush. She smiled, draped the cape tightly around my neck, and picked up the heavy professional clippers. She popped the guard off, leaving the naked steel teeth exposed.
The sound was the first thing that hit me—a deep, aggressive thrum-buzz that vibrated right through my skull. She started at the nape of my neck, pushing the cold metal upward. I watched in the mirror as a thick carpet of dark hair slid down the cape. The sensation was electric; the cool air of the shop hit my skin for the first time, sending shivers down my spine. Within minutes, the clippers had mowed down every last strand to a #0 stubble.
"Ready for the blade?" she whispered.
She misted my scalp with warm water and massaged a thick, cooling shaving gel onto my head. The lather was dense and white, making me look like a marble statue. She snapped a fresh blade into her straight razor with a metallic click.
Then came the silence, broken only by the rhythmic skritch... skritch... skritch of the razor. She started at the forehead, dragging the blade in long, slow strokes toward the crown. The feeling was hypnotic—the sharp, cold edge of the straight razor stripping away the stubble to reveal the pale, soft skin underneath. She was meticulous, going over every curve of my scalp until it was flawless. After a second pass for extra smoothness and a splash of stinging, minty aftershave, I was finished. I looked incredible—the bald head emphasized my eyes and cheekbones in a way hair never could.
I returned home, obsessed with the tactile sensation of my own scalp. I spent the next few days constantly rubbing my palm against the grain, loving the velvet-to-silk transition.
On Wednesday, there was a knock at my door. It was Maya, my best friend from the PG course who I thought had already moved away. She walked in and froze, her eyes widening as she took in my gleaming bald head.
"You actually did it," she breathed, reaching out to touch the smooth surface. "It looks... powerful."
"I love it," I said, "but I can already feel the stubble coming back. I want it even smoother."
Maya smiled, reaching into her bag and pulling out a professional grooming kit she’d bought on a whim. "I was actually hoping you'd say that. I've been watching videos all week, wondering if I had the nerve to do mine too."
She sat me down in the kitchen chair and draped a towel over me. As she tilted my head back and began reapplying the warm lather, she whispered, "If I do a perfect job on you... you have to do mine next. " I closed my eyes, listening to the familiar click of the razor, realizing this wasn't just a summer whim—it was the start of something much more permanent.
