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Tuesday, July 27, 2010

I’m donating my locks

I decided early in 2009 that I was going to grow my hair out to donate it to be used for wigs.  I figured that someone with as much hair as I have should do it at least once.

I had originally planned to donate it to Locks of Love.  Recently, however, I became aware of Pantene’s Beautiful Lengths program which provides wigs for women whereas Locks of Love is for children.  With the amount of gray hair that I have these days, I’ve pretty much decided to go the Beautiful Lengths route. 

However, since the Beautiful Lengths site says that donations should be no more than 5% gray, this may be my one and only donation.  Let’s face it, there’s no turning back the hands of time here.

So, when I made this decision, I talked to my hair stylist and she told me to count on about a two year commitment.  That was probably in April of last year; not even a year and a half ago. 

I went to see my stylist a few months ago and she said, “Okay, are you ready?”  I wasn’t.  So I went home and started surfing the internets and looking at pictures of what kind of style I might want.  The one I kept coming back to was a medium/short style of Rachael Ray’s.  Knowing how thick my hair is, though, I knew that it would not turn out exactly like hers. 

I gave it a couple of more months just to make sure I had plenty of length.  And then last week I made my appointment.

Today, my stylist cut about 12 inches off my hair.

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She had to cut at it for several minutes before she was able to completely cut through the ponytail.  My hair is just that thick.  To give you a reference point, at the top of the ponytail, it is three inches in circumference.  That, my friends, is a lot of hair.

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Then came what I believe is every woman’s favorite part of a hair cut… washing.  Here’s an in-process shot.

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And even after cutting about a foot of hair off in a ponytail, you wouldn’t believe the amount of hair that she still cut off after that.  If only it could be used.  It filled up her little dustpan thingy completely.

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So then we were done.  I even sprung for her to dry and style it for me… I never do that.  I’m always the one that’s headed home with a wet head to dry it myself because it just takes so dang long.

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Before and after pictures:

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And one final shot. 

100_9038If you have the ability to grow out and then cut off and donate your hair, I highly recommend it.  It’s not hard.  It’s not painful.  It’s just hair.  At least to most of us it’s just hair.  To someone suffering from cancer or another illness that causes hair loss, it’s a chance for just a little bit of normal in their life.  And personally I think they deserve a chance at just a little bit of normal.

16 Comments:

Aubrey said...

Beautiful! Both the longer and the shorter versions.

Lisa Fain (Homesick Texan) said...

I love your new look! And for such a great cause.

Kate said...

I love it! Looks great!

marye said...

You look fabulous!

beckyjomama said...

That is so cool - looks beautiful!

Charlene said...

I have long hair with some gray in it, and I've been having dreams about cutting it---woke up this morning and put my hand to my head to see if my hair was still there! Yours is beautiful, if I was sure mine would come out as well I'd go for it, too! Maybe seeing this right after dreaming about it is a sign, lol!

Tammy said...

You look beautiful!!! And such a wonderful thing to do.

Pam said...

I love your new look! It's short and will be much cooler in the hot Texas heat! I had fairly long hair while the boy was sick but then cut it off because I didn't have time for it. Growing it out hasn't worked for me. I'm too spoiled to the quick blow dry and go...and it's cooler!

And I'm sure your beautiful hair will make someone very happy! : )

Beki - TheRustedChain said...

Beautiful!! Congratulations on having it done.

It's a big step. I've donated mine to Locks of Love 3 times and it's a huge leap of faith each time.

Keal said...

Way to go! You look beautiful! Congratulations on reaching your goal!

Kim said...

Congratulations! I guess that means that you don't color your hair. It is lovely.

Donna @ Way More Homemade said...

Thanks y'all for the sweet comments. I don't know why I haven't done this before. I hope to be able to do it again.

Kim - no. I don't color my hair. But both Locks of Love and Pantene will accept colored hair. Just not bleached. Just read the requirements.

~Donna

I just realized I need to change my Blogger avatar. :)

Anonymous said...

I love it Donna! It looks beautiful. I am glad your hair is still thick even though you say it is graying. Since mine has started to change color it isn't as thick. Yours look fab! And lotsa pats on the back for your donation. What a great thing. I had never heard of any but Locks of Love.

you gotta wonder said...

I did the same thing - and am glad to see another donor to Pantene's program. It seems many women reluctant to enter treatment because their hair will fall out.

Thanks for sharing this inspirational message. And I love how you look with your short hair!

Melanie said...

Wow! That is so awesome! Good for you! I also love the shorter "do". Looks very stylish!

Blessings!
Melanie
~ melscoffeebreak.blogspot.com ~

ohAmanda said...

awesome! my daughter's hair is so long, we were just thinking about doing this!

you look gorgeous, by the way! ;)