Buzz

I didn't want to shave my head by myself. I asked my close friends to come over to be with me. And I'm glad I did.

My friends are constantly late so instead of the event starting at 8 PM we started at 9:30 PM.

I wanted to keep my hair for future extensions (you can donate your hair up to ten years later. So after my hair grows back out I'll donate) so before shaving I put my hair into about 9 ponytails. They were perhaps a little too loose. If I did it again I'd make the ponytails tighter and then pull them a few inches from the scalp.

When we got started I was petrified. All week I was so nervous that I could barely eat. So I sat myself in the stool in front of my friends and I didn't know how to start. I had my brother's beard trimmer (note - get a real shear for this - it's necessary and can be found at TJ Maxx for like 16 bucks then you can donate it.) in my hand and I just couldn't. My friends just stood there in nervous anticipation.

Then my mom stepped in. She grabbed the razor and cut the first ponytail off. We did the side first so if I chickened out I could rock the side shave. It was crazy to feel the razor and then to have her hand me a lock of my own hair. I was freaking out in my own head - but trying to put on an excited face.

Once she did the first one we decided each of my friends could shave a ponytail and then I'd do the top front. One by one they did theirs - it may have behooved me to give them some pointers before we started. Hold the razor right up to the scalp (after you apply the correct guard) and make long smooth strokes.

And then I shaved my own head - right down the center. It was awesome. After I had those three ponytails off we moved as a group to the mirror. It was there that I first saw myself and then kept shearing.

My mother stepped in and started evening the hair out. She was almost finished when I heard "OOPS!" I looked in the mirror. One stroke above my ear was done on a 2 (the rest of my head had been done on a 3). It was obvious. I wanted to shave it all lower but I could see my friends getting antsy. So I quickly showered and changed and we went out to the bar. (Find a funny story from that night here.)

The next day I woke up and I wanted it shorter. A three? I couldn't even see my scalp. Go big or go home, right? I'm a little disappointed that I didn't go full shaved - no guard. But I did take it down to a one (the smallest guard). I was doing it myself the next morning - again with the beard trimmer (When would I learn?). I took the guard off to clean the blade. Then I saw an uneven spot and picked up the razor and made a lovely little square. It was at this point that I freaked out and sat on the bathroom floor until my mother found me and told me to go to a professional. So I went down to Fantastic Sam's where they ran the real shears across my scalp at a 1. The stylist told me the patch would grow out quickly so we kept the 1 length. So I went from this to this:

Below is literally every single photo taken while I shaved my head...I tried to cull through them but there are SO many.