Spears sporting shaved head

Britney Spears has shaved her head and is sporting some new tattoos after a Friday visit to a Sherman Oaks, Calif., tattoo parlour.

Spears is reported to have shaved her own head after a Los Angeles-area beauty salon tried to talk her out of taking off all her hair.

"I tried to talk her out of it," salon owner Esther Tognozzi told CNN. "I said: 'Are you sure you're not having a bad day and tomorrow you'll feel differently about it? Why don't we wait a little bit?"'

But Spears appeared determined to go for a new look.

"She said: 'No, I absolutely want it shaved off now.' Next thing I know, she grabbed the buzzer and she went to the back of my salon and she was shaving off her own hair," Tognozzi said.

Her new tattoos, received as fans and onlookers watched from outside the tattoo parlour, are a pair of red and pink lips.

"She just wanted something real small on her wrist, something dainty," said tattoo artist Max Gott.

Police arrived to control the crowd and helped Spears's bodyguards guide her into a waiting SUV.

The mother of two young children, who separated from husband Kevin Federline late last year, left with her head covered by a hooded sweatshirt.

The pop princess, who had hits such as Baby One More Time, has become a regular on the nightclub circuit since the split and her image has been suffering.

Spears and celebutante Paris Hilton recently made the cover of Newsweek magazine with a story headlined "The Girls Gone Wild Effect."

In January, Spears posted a message on her website saying, "I look forward to coming back this year bigger and better than ever and to reaching out to my fans on a more personal level."