It was early Summer, and Ameri Kisaki had been growing her hair out from shoulder length since late she was 14 years old.
Now at the age of nineteen,it reached her lower back, and when braided, it measured in at around 16″. She was at a strange crossroads, where she wanted the impossible.
Ameri wanted so badly to cut her hair off… while, at the same time wanted to keep it long. This wasn't a new sensation for her, it's been the way she felt ever since she was a young teen. Always feeling that pull… wanting to grow her hair out as long as humanly possible, and yet… almost physically aching to have it braided and cut off. She kept imagining how it would feel to be braided tighter than ever… and feel the tension release as the scissors worked their way through it. Freeing her hair from the rope that she loved wearing for so long.
Ameri have shared a lot of her experiences here.Her hair was extremely long, beautifully thick, shiny, and healthy.
She had taken to researching stylists on social media… it had become an obsession, where she would check out their image galleries to see if they did a lot of donation cuts… and, if they did, how they went about it. Were they pony chops? Pigtail chops? Loose chops? Or… were they braid chops? I eventually found a stylist who, it seemed as though every other row of photos in her gallery featured a braid being cut off for donation. Her salon wasn't too far from my house, maybe 15 minutes. Oddly, it was inside of a professional building, which she had never seen before.
For the next slew of pictures she shared, Ameri couldn't help but notice that this insane braid was in the background, laid out over her counter. For the next few days, she kept sharing pictures of new cuts and styles she'd done… and, in every single one, that braid made an appearance. She wanted to see this braid in person… and she wanted hers to suffer the same fate.
She decided to call one afternoon to see if she had any availability for a "consultation". She didn't tell her she had long hair, or that she was considering donating a considerable amount of it. It was just a consultation… and maybe a cut. She told her that her entire afternoon was free, and She could head in now.
At this point, Ameri felt herself begin to hyperventilate. She threw her hair into a pony-bun, and hopped in the car. She thought it might be more dramatic to have a "bun drop" while in her chair… and, Ameri also wanted to "tempt fate" a bit by not going in braided. If she did decide on getting the big cut, and it didn't look like she was going to braid it first… this time she would speak up and ask for the braid. She wasn't too worried, however, considering her usual method of long-hair-removal.
The drive only took 15 minutes, but it felt as though she hit every single red light and traffic jam. She was absolutely freaking out at this point… knowing she was literally minutes away from the haircut she wanted to get for over years. She just couldn't believe that today was finally the day.
Ameri arrived at the building where her salon was located, and she was waiting for me at the door. Ameri guess she really did have her entire afternoon free. She introduced herself as Katsumi and welcomed her inside, and Ameri was sat at her station. The massive cut off braid was still there. She couldn't believe she was sitting only a couple of feet away from it. She asked to get a better look at her hair… and, so, she dropped her bun.
Katsumi's eyes bugged and she let out a "wow".
Ameri sheepishly stammered her way through asking if she did cuts for hair donations… which seemed to really surprise her.
She went over to the counter and picked up that cut-off braid to show me that, yes, she does cut hair for charities. She playfully dropped the braid in her lap before walking around behind her to run her fingers through my length. The next couple of minutes felt like something out of a dream.
Ameri told her she wasn't sure how short she wanted to cut it… or what style she might want after the cut. She took her hair and folded it at around bottom of chest length, asking if she wanted it cut to "about there".
Ameri kind of shrugged. she was prepared to go shorter, From here, she folded her hair a bit higher, to around collar bone. The way she held her hair made it look like Ameri had a long bob on one side of her head. She couldn't believe she was experiencing this… this is the sort of thing she would see stylists do in videos online… but, she never thought for a second she would get to live it out.
She then rolled Ameri's hair up even more, showing how it would look cut to my shoulders and asking what she thought. Ameri could barely make out words at this point, but tried to hide her terror and excitement the best she could. Finally, she folded it up to around her chin. She said that the woman whose braid she was currently holding cut her hair "to here". She then ran the side of her index finger up the nape of my neck, while she explained that she also cut her nape close and asked if she wanted something kind of like that.
She laughed saying that the woman also got bangs, but she didn't think she had be interested in that part
Ameri told her she wasn't really sure. She said she's kind of still wanted to be able to pull it into a ponytail after the cut… which eliminated the chin-length option. The other three were still definitely on the table.
Next, was another unbelievable experience as she went over to her hairstyle catalogs so they could decide on Ameri's cut and style. She had seen women go through these books with their stylists, but again, never thought they get the same treatment. Ameri would have bet it all that this was just going to be me sitting back, getting my braid cut, and getting booted from the chair. She didn't expect such a wonderful, welcoming, and relaxing salon experience leading up to the snip.
The photos in her binders were all of women, naturally… so, every style she showed her came with a bit of a caveat. "We can cut it like this… only, without the curls", "We can cut it to here… only, without the bangs". At this point, she could have told me these cuts came with non-negotiable curls and bangs, Ameri have let her do whatever she wanted.
While she struggled to decide her final length, she recommended we get the shampoo out of the way. She told her that she didn't like cutting braids wet… so, they need to let it air dry for a little while before the cut. Ameri's heart could have exploded… she just literally said she was going to cut my braid off.
The shampoo session was nice, but she couldn't lose her self in it. Ameri kept picturing what was about to happen. Was it too late to back out? Part of me wanted to get up and run for the door… headful of suds and all. While she kept discussing potential cuts, Ameri managed to calm myself down.
Once the conditioner was rinsed out, she wrapped her head in a towel, and gave it a good tousle. Ameri was directed back to her station, and caped before she let her sopping wet hair down. She combed through it for several minutes with a wide-toothed "wet comb". She continued making suggestions about the cut. Ameri finally asked her how much she thought she should donate. She rummaged through her station to find her tape-measure. She measured her entire length, from nape to tip. She told that, if Ameri wanted to still pull it in a ponytail, she could cut "well over a foot" and still have one.
she nodded. pretty sure she could tell she could've passed out at any moment. She smiled and said something along the lines of "How about we just do the eight inches?"
Ameri asked where that would leave her hair, so she got back in there with the tape measure. If they only cut 8″, it would be to just above mid-back. She said that, on a woman, it would be considered bra-strap length. She retrieved her binder again to see if they could find a good style at that length.
She was really making Ameri feel comfortable. She was patient and gentle, and knew this was a very big decision. Ameri finally asked if she would still be able to put it in a ponytail if they cut it to her shoulders. She smiled and told she could guarantee it. She then warned that Ameri be losing a foot of hair… and asked if I was sure about it.
Ameri kind of half nodded. She laughed that her hair was just about dry enough to cut… so, she didn't have much time left to decide.
She combed Ameri out a few more times before telling her she was going to braid it. Ameri couldn't believe this was happening. She told her she'd "braid it slow" to give me a few more moments to make up her mind. It was as though she was reading her mind at this point.
With each tug on the back of my head. Tug after tug, link after link… she slowly and methodically braided me from nape to tip. When she was done she draped it over Ameri's left shoulder and smiled, as if to ask "You really wanna do this?"
Ameri reached up and touched her braid, almost instinctively. It was still a bit damp, but it was soft and thick. She wrapped her fist around it, and just kind of held it, squeezing it… before pushing it back over my shoulder, where it hung, waiting for what was about to happen next.
She grabbed another elastic and kind of stretched it out between her fingers. She draped the braid over Ameri's shoulder again and asked where Ameri wanted her to put the second hair tie. She swallowed, and asked her how it would look cut to her shoulders. She nodded as she picked up the full length of her braid, and tied off that second elastic right between my shoulders. She spun the chair around and handed her a small mirror so she could see where she would be cutting if Ameri was 100% sure about a shoulder length cut.
Seeing over a foot of her beautiful, thick, shiny braid hanging under that elastic was almost too much to take. She felt flushed… it was almost as though she was having an out of body experience. While she was admiring it, she had fetched another style binder. At this point, Ameri didn't care what cut she was going to show me in that book, she was going to take it.
Watching her return to the counter to pick up her scissors was something she wasn't prepared for. Seeing the scissors that would soon be chewing through Ameri's braid really got to her. She spun the chair back around, held her braid out taut, and was just about to sink the shears into it, when…
Instead, she asked her if it would be okay if she recorded the cut. This was a moment she had been waiting for forever. Finally, everything was in place.
She ran her fist down the entire length of Ameri's braid once, before grabbing it just under the elastic placed at her shoulders. She seemed to be enjoying the drama and tension of this cut as much as Ameri was. Then, finally, she placed the open scissors about an inch above the elastic and asked her one last time if she was ready. Ameri gave a small nod… and the next sound she heard was the first amazing crunch. The braid was thick, especially that high up. She struggled cutting through it, and even said so… which was part of the fantasy Ameri didn't even know she wanted.
The cut was so slow… it almost hurt. Seconds later, she cut through the first section of the braid, causing the freed hair above the elastic to almost explode free. The tension on her nape lessened, as she continued to snip. The sight of her braid only being half-attached was intense. She was full of panic, relief, and disbelief that, after over twenty years, Ameri was actually living this moment.
She kept snipping, until finally… her braid was cut. At this point, it felt like it had been five minutes since her last breath. She dangled the severed braid in front of her, which was when Ameri stopped the recording. Then… she took it in her hands. After all the fantasizing, all the dreaming, all the near-misses and wishes… she was finally holding her cut-off braid in her hands. It wasn't near as thick and impressive as that woman's braid on the counter… but it had heft. she could squeeze it and manipulate it in her hands. She was so wrapped up in playing with her braid that she has almost forgotten how much shorter my hair now was.
Her head felt so light… everything felt so light. The cathartic release of finally having her braid cut is something she couldn't possibly even begin to put into words. She squeezed her braid before the stylist took it, and laid it right next to that last one she'd cut.
The next half hour or so consisted of her getting, perhaps the most gentle and meticulous cut she ever gotten. The stylist surely saw how on edge sge was about such a drastic change, and so after the so-exciting-it-was-almost-traumatic braid removal, the rest of the cutting session was painless. Katsumi sprayed down her remaining length, showed Ameri the picture of the cut they were going for in her binder… which she was finally able to actually focus on this time. It was a woman with a very sleek and rounded shoulder-length bob. Ameri got excited, and suddenly couldn't wait to see the finished product.
She worked her way around her head, evening out the length at her shoulders, before adding some soft and cute layers to give the cut a rounded look and feel. Before she started her blow dry and style, she showed her that she could still tie it back in a ponytail. It wasn't much of a pony anymore, but she loved that she still had one… especially after chopping off what turned out to be a 14″ braid.
From here was the blowout, which was wonderful. Ameri loved it when stylists used the round brush to curl in her ends. When she was done,Ameri had a picture perfect shoulder length bob. It ended in a blunt line, and since it was curled in, it kind of danced on her shoulders when she turned her head. It was the kind of bob you can "feel" if you primp the ends of it with the palm of your hand. It was gorgeous. She was not sure it suited her, and she probably looked kind of silly… but, loved it.
As she stood up, she went to grab her braid.katsumi told her she'd happily send it in to the charity with the rest of the braids she'd cut.
Before Ameri left, she asked to snap a picture of her holding her cut off braid. Ameri agreed, and asked if she'd take that same picture with her phone as well. The picture, along with the video of it being cut, are still things she look at regularly, even to this day.
When she got home , Her Boyfriend checked out her new "bob". He was shocked that Ameri decided to go that short. She think he was expecting her to only cut the minimum 8″ required to donate. He then asked to "see it", meaning, she wanted to see her braid. Ameri told him that she left it with the stylist to send in, but did show him the picture of her holding it… which he really seemed to like. Ameri never showed him or told about the video she had recorded… Ameri wasn't sure he'd understand.
The rest of the evening, Ameri couldn't stop touching her hair. She asked the boyfriend to play with it, and he actually seemed interested in seeing how this cut "felt". He ended his hairplay session by giving her first short-hair french braid, which Ameri went to bed wearing… and which resulted in an amazing tangle of adorable short waves the next morning.