Is Head Shaving Britney's Cry for Help?

LOS ANGELES (1010 WINS)  -- Pop princess Britney Spears appeared in a tattoo parlor in the San Fernando Valley Friday night with her head shaved completely bald.

PHOTOS: Britney Shaves Her Own Head (courtesy X17 Online)

Video on KABC-TV showed the newly shorn Spears with tiny tattoos on the back of her neck as she sits for a new tattoo, a pair of red and pink lips.

1010 WINS VIDEO: Why is Britney Bald?

``She just wanted something real small on her wrist, something dainty,'' Max Gott, the tattoo artist at Body and Soul in Sherman Oaks told the TV station. ``She got some cute little lips on her wrist.''

PHOTO: Britney in December 2006

Derrik Snell, who works at the tattoo parlor, said Spears showed up without notice and stayed for about 90 minutes as about 60 fans, photographers and gawkers gathered outside.

``She seemed fine,'' Snell said. ``I didn't really notice (the hairdo) at first, she had a hood on when she showed up.''
The appearance came the same day as reports on TV and Web sites that Spears, who has drawn criticism for her recent partying and sloppy behavior, had briefly checked into rehab.

Larry Rudolph, Spears' manager, couldn't be reached for comment.

Earlier, US Magazine reports that Spears walked into a Los Angeles area salon and said she wanted them to shave her head. According to the magazine's source, when the hairdresser refused, Spears grabbed a hair clipper and started doing it herself.

But Britney's night of self-defiling had only just begun.

Syndicated entertainment TV show ``Extra'' first reported that Spears had entered a treatment facility. Celebrity Web site TMZ.com then said the singer had entered a treatment center but had checked out one day later. Neither revealed their sources.

PHOTO: Britney in November 2006

People magazine's Web site, citing ``a source,'' said Spears had gone in and out of rehab, and identified the facility as Eric Clapton's Crossroads center in Antigua, in the Caribbean.

``Access Hollywood'' then said the reports weren't true, but didn't cite a source.

A woman who answered the phone at Crossroads told The Associated Press that she couldn't confirm or deny anyone's presence at the facility.

PHOTO: Britney in February 2006

Angelique Uram, a Spears fan who stood on the tattoo parlor's sidewalk for Friday night's spectacle, was aghast at the singer's new look.

``We could see her in the mirror, and her head is completely shaved,'' she told KABC. ``It looks terrible.''
Police arrived to control the crowd and helped Spears' bodyguards guide her into a waiting SUV, her head covered by a hooded sweatshirt.