The Grand(?) Reveal

As you may have noticed from my post on Wednesday, I donated my hair to Pantene Beautiful Lengths. This isn't the first time I've done this. I donated my hair almost two years ago, as well.

When it donated my hair that time around, I went to my usual hair place, and while I was a little nervous about short hair - having not had it for a long time - they found a way to work with my hair: the partial curl, the cowlicks, the tendency to flip, etc.

This time around, I'd been told that Great Clips does this on a regular basis - they'll cut your hair for free and send it off for you. Or so I'd been told. Me being me, I looked it up on their website. I called to ask about this, and my local salon verified. I was set.

I went into my salon a few days later and explained to them what I wanted to do. The woman knew what we had to do for the donation and asked me what I wanted for my cut. Hmm.

Since I haven't done short hair in a really long time, I don't know what works so well for my hair. I explained that it's curly and that makes cutting and styling it fun. I did not want bangs, and it needed to be long enough to pull back for sports and the like. I showed her my two cowlicks, as well. Beyond that, so long as it was flattering, I was open to suggestion.

She recommended cutting it about ear length, which was fine with me. She asked again if I wanted bangs, and I reiterated the no. My hair went into a few different ponytails, and snip snip went the scissors.

And let me be clear ... I'm not looking for compliments here. I'm being honest in my assessment.

When the woman was done, she started tucking my hair behind my ears furiously. As a public service announcement, that is never a good sign when your hairdresser tries this maneuver in an attempt to keep it from sticking out everywhere.

A) I now have bangs. Lots of bangs. The bounce in my eye as I run.
B) The bangs accentuate my cowlick on my forehead because the hair isn't heavy enough to control it but too long to hide it.
C) This is not ear length hair, except for the longer part in the back of my head.
D) It is not long enough to pull back for sports by a long (pun intended) stretch.
E) In fact, there is much of my hair that is not long enough to even tuck behind my ears.
F) My hair isn't long enough to straighten.
G) My hair is too short to curl properly.
H) My hair is short enough that it is "extra full bodied" as one friend put it. That cowlick in the back of my head? It's taking massive effort to keep it from popping up like Alfalfa.

All in all, when I left the salon, my hair looked to my eyes like the late 70s or early 80s perms with the super short hair. Very androgynous. And it stuck out in various places.

My motto was to give it a week. In a week, I'd have time to adjust to it and learn how to style it. It would feel more natural to me. Today is that week. And I still hate it. I've tried different things each day, and nothing looks good to me. At the same time, I feel like I don't want to cut it shorter because it will just have to grow out later anyway.

Any styling suggestions? And no, I won't be heading back to Great Clips again until it's for a simple trim of my once again long hair. This should not scare anyone away from donating hair - it's a great cause and so easy to do. This was my fault for trying something new while attempting to save money.

Oh, best part? When I went to the front, the woman charged me full price. When I asked about the hair donation and free haircuts, she looked at me blankly. And yes, by that time I was just done and wanted to leave to lick my wounds.

Done whining. Here's the hair:

Styled to minimize the "poof" - in person you can see more of the issues than the photo shows.

This is as straight as it gets. Note the still super high poofy cowlick in front.

This is me after walking down the stairs - note how my hair is now falling in my face and flopping around. Boo.

Hair donation is way cool though. I will be growing my hair out and then donating it again. There are several places that will accept hair - each with varying requirements.

The most common is Locks of Love - it can be colored but not bleached and must be 10 inches or longer, stored in a ponytail or braid before cutting.

Pantene Beautiful Lengths is the charity I ended up donating to (though I would have done it to Locks of Love had the Great Clips done that for me), as they are the only ones I know of making wigs for adults and not just kids. For them, your hair must be eight inches or longer, and only semi-permanent dyes are allowed.

Wigs for Kids is another option where hair needs to be at least 12 inches and free from any permanent dyes.

My last suggestion for donation organizations is Children with Hair Loss. Hair needs to be 8 inches or longer. While they will accept any hair (including grey hair - most will take hair that is 5% or less grey only), they prefer it to have not been chemically treated.

I am happy to have donated. It feels good, and I love that someone will be able to make use of it. But the grand reveal? Sadly, it's not so grand after all!

Freschetta By the Slice giveaway here
$35 gift certificate to DaySpring here