Saturday, July 11, 2009

Tied In A Knot

I have had long hair for the majority of my life. In high school, it was to my waist and through college and beyond, not much shorter. When I had Little Miss, I cut it significantly, as she was a hair puller. Since then, I've been growing it out. I recently reached a milestone.



Yep, I can officially tie my hair into a knot. And it stays. It's pretty cool, I think.

I usually wear my hair curly, and it looks much shorter that way, but it's actually pretty long. Gotta love how curls shrink the hair up.



In fact, this gives you an idea of how much curls shrink up your hair:



That is ten inches of my hair. Gone. Chopped.

I donated my hair, and it's officiallly on its way to Pantene's Beautiful Lengths. I've been planning to donate my hair for awhile now, and I wanted to make sure that I had plenty to give.

Most organizations that collect donated hair make wigs for children who need them, obviously replacing hair lost from chemo being the major reason. Pantene is the only one that also makes wigs for adults. After thinking long and hard, I realized that I've been touched by cancer in adults too often lately to not try to go this way.

J's mom is a breast cancer survivor, a neighbor passed away last month of brain cancer, a friend from college passed away Thursday (unbeknownst to me that she was that close to dying when I donated, although I thought of her when making the donation) of breast/brain/liver cancer, a friend's mom passed away yesterday from breast cancer, and the list goes on.

On Wednesday, I took a deep breath and drove to my salon. I told them that I was going to donate my hair, and that they had the freedom to do whatever they want with the end cut. I don't know what my hair looks like short, so I have no real opinion. They thought it was a neat thing, and I think I may have encouraged a few others to go this route, too.

Interestingly, the woman at the post office (we have the nicest post office in the world) is a frequent donor. The first time she donated, she gave 18 inches - wow! Things I learned from her: most places will cut your hair for free if you're donating and they'll also take care of mailing it in if you donate to Locks of Love. However, Pantene appears to be the only organization that will send you a letter confirming your donation.

As for me, I'm planning to grow my hair out again and donate until my hair is more than five percent grey (when they can no longer take it). It was a really neat feeling... and I need some neat feelings these days. There hasn't been nearly enough rainbows and sunshine in my life with the recent passings and other issues (a friend's required hysterecomy due to health issues, another friend's third miscarriage since September). This -- such a great feeling!

So what do you think? This is the cut they gave me from the salon (the girl didn't know how to style curly hair, so she blew it straight).





Fortunately, I've also discovered that my hair is still curly -- or at least somewhat so. I'm still getting used to the new cut, especially when I go to shampoo or brush it and I remember my old length just isn't there.



Have you ever donated your hair? Or thought about it? Just tell me I didn't make a huge mistake with this haircut!

26 comments:

septembermom July 11, 2009 at 9:29 PM  

Michelle, what a wonderful thing to do! So nice:) Your haircut looks great. You and I apparently are both curly girls! I love your hair straight and curly. My hair is used to be long too. It is now your length. Some days it's curly; some days frizzy and crazy. How do the kids like the new hairdo?

Jeff and Charli Lee July 11, 2009 at 10:07 PM  

Looking good!

Hey, I now have longer hair than you... at least on my blog post today.

Mary July 11, 2009 at 10:09 PM  

Love the cut! Very cute!

I donated 21" to Locks of Love in 2004 and I had to pay for my haircut, but the salon took care of mailing it in. About a year later, I got a thank you card from LOL. I've only donated it once, and it was a great feeling. How nice that you could do it! Hope you can donate another 10 or 12 inches sometime again!

Melisa Wells July 11, 2009 at 10:20 PM  

I adore it!

I have never donated; have never been able to deal with my hair getting long enough. :(

My sister on the other hand has done it a couple of times. I think each time she did it with friends and they made an event out of it.

Pop and Ice July 11, 2009 at 11:59 PM  

Oh Michelle, your hair is absolutely gorgeous! I can understand the easiness of the natural curl, but your so lucky so be able to wear it both ways. And the chic swing bob is breathtaking! I bet you knocked hubby over with a feather when he got a look at it! No mistake made at all!

P.S. I've never donated my hair because it has always been on the short side, but my daughter has a ton of gorgeous blond hair that maybe one day she'll think of donating.

Laura July 12, 2009 at 2:08 AM  

YOU? are freaking gorgeous! love the hair! it looks great :)

Unknown July 12, 2009 at 8:19 AM  

I don't think I've ever seen your picture the entire time I've been reading your blog. I think donating your hair is a very generous thing to do. I love the new short and curly style! It's mahhhh-velous dahhhling.

Claudya Martinez July 12, 2009 at 11:57 AM  

Your look great with the new cut! It's wonderful that you donated hair.

Isn't crazy how many people don't know how to style curly hair and instantly opt to straighten it? My hair is not as curly as yours, but this happens to me all the time and I actually prefer my hair curly.

Mandy July 12, 2009 at 6:55 PM  

Wow, you look amazing! I love the shorter look, very sassy and sexy. What a great thing you did. My hair is thin and it takes a long time to grow so I've never donated it before. I think it's a great cause though. Good for you. I just found your blog from another one I was just on. I like it. Consider me a follower now.

morninglight mama July 12, 2009 at 8:22 PM  

You are AWESOME!! What a fantastic donation-- and your new cut looks fabulous both styles! Although, I am partial to the curly style, as I have spent my entire life wishing I had curly hair! Very, very nice!

And it's nice to have a face to put to your blog! :)

Ryan Ashley Scott July 12, 2009 at 10:15 PM  

I love the new cut! Not only did you give to such a great cause, but your hair looks fabulous! Looks good both ways, too. :)

Gina July 13, 2009 at 8:29 AM  

It looks great! I wanted to donate mine the last time I went from long to short, but it's more than 5% gray. sigh.

Roxane July 13, 2009 at 9:50 AM  

Oh you did such a great thing! I love the cut especially the curly look. I donated my hair maybe 6 years ago to locks of love and I have to say I was a bit disappointed never to receive a confirmation letter or anything of the sorts. I wasn't looking for fanfare but perhaps a postcard acknowledging that they received my donation would have put my mind at ease, you know?

Michelle July 13, 2009 at 7:55 PM  

septembermom - It felt wonderful actually. The kids like it, although because it was straight when I came home, Mister Man announced that I looked like Grandma but with black hair. Uh-huh.

Jeff - Yeah, I saw... scary. And I mean that in the nicest possible way :)

Mary - Thank you! Wow, 21" is SO cool! I'm definitely going to go for donating more again. But it'll never get to 21". Wow.

Melisa - Well thank you :) Oh I so should have made an event of it. I didn't even think of that. In fact, I didn't tell ANYone before I did it.

Carol Lynn - Umm nope, didn't knock him over. I think he was too busy dying of laughter after Mister Man's comment (see above).

Laura - That is ummm going above and beyond. I appreciate it, but I respectfully disagree. You're too kind!

Megryansmom - It's quite possible. As a mom, I tend to not be in ANY pictures....

Unknown Mami - It happens all the time. It's partly because I go to the beauty school because I'm cheap and I like to see what they'll do. They're new, so they're not used to it most of the time.

Mandy - Thank you! And welcome! I'm so glad to have you and glad you like it. You can replace the follower who didn't like my whining about work last week ;)

morninglight mama - Ok, again I don't know that I'd go with AWESOME. Awesome maybe, but not really AWESOME. I added the pic to my profile, so now it'll be there forever!

RAS - Aww thanks! who knows when I'll do it straight again, but I love the compliments. Talk about giving me a swelled head!

Gina - Actually, I think that some places do let you donate if it's more than 5% grey, but not Pantene. There are several organizations that take it, and each has their own resetrictions.

Roxane - Very cool that you donated, as well. I love knowing how many people have done this! And YES I know exactly what you mean about putting your mind at ease. Next time, right?

Anonymous July 14, 2009 at 2:43 AM  

How cute! You look younger too.

Karen July 14, 2009 at 7:51 AM  

First of all, kudos for donating. Second - it's absolutely darling! I love it.

Martha July 14, 2009 at 7:37 PM  

I think it looks wonderful! I really need to do the same thing and when I do I will donate it also. I'm scared!

Michelle July 14, 2009 at 11:05 PM  

Elftea - Oh yay! I think I'm finally to the age when I want to look younger ;)

Karen - Thanks! You say the sweetest things :)

Martha - Thank you. It's scary -- especially that first feel of the scissors cutting, but it's such a neat feeling when it's done. Go for it!

Cookie July 15, 2009 at 10:53 AM  

I love the new hair-do! I donated my hair not long after my second child was born. He's 5 now. I might do it again, but they don't take gray hair :S

Michelle July 15, 2009 at 10:33 PM  

Cookie - Very cool! I think there may be one of the places that will take grey, but ... not Beautiful Lengths unfortunately.

Mrs4444 July 16, 2009 at 9:40 AM  

It's beautiful! No, I've never donated my hair; it's too fine and thin to grow too long. I was at Relay for Life this year when a guy with totally gray hair had his hair cut for Locks of Love. Maybe they were just humoring him??

Michelle July 16, 2009 at 10:19 PM  

Mrs4444 - I did the Pantene Beautiful Lengths, and I know each place has different requirements, so Locks of Love may take grey hair. Who knows :)

scrappysue July 18, 2009 at 7:47 PM  

WOW!!! gorgeous! what a change - bet you just love it

Michelle July 18, 2009 at 9:31 PM  

scrappysue - SEE! Now that's the reaction my husband should have had ;) Thank you! I do love it, mostly, but ... sometimes I wonder where my hair is to style!

Pat August 3, 2009 at 6:37 PM  

Wonderful to give your hair for such a good cause! New haircut is very cute, straight or curly.

Michelle August 3, 2009 at 9:02 PM  

Pat - Thank you! That's so sweet :) It's ... very different and I'm still getting used to it. But I'm definitely doing it again!

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