*sigh* Well, my hair is almost all gone…

I posted this on Instagram and Facebook yesterday. The response was… amusing, to say the least.

Although I hate how I look with short hair, I don’t regret it at all.

Six and a half years ago, I had long BLACK hair. It was admittedly too dark a shade for me and looked harsh, but it didn’t start out that way. I first started dying my hair a nice dark brown colour. I loved that. Blonde does NOT suit me. You would think, because I’m so pale and have light eyes that it would work. Nope! I liked the contrast of the dark hair and paler features.  …Anyway~

When the roots grew in, it was atrocious. And when I’d dye it all to cover them, the remainder would get darker and darker each time so that’s how I eventually ended up at black. That was a nightmare when the roots started to grow even a bit. It became impossible to keep up with, so I decided to grow it out, chop off the black, and start afresh.

went around like this for a good 6 months

Nice, huh?

Whenever some look I try doesn’t work out to be aesthetically pleasing, I always say, “Oh well. It’s just hair. It’ll grow.” I think I’m pretty lucky. My hair grows relatively quickly. Knowing that and the fact that there are so many people who, for many different reasons, CAN’T grow their own gave me the idea that I can give mine to one of those people. I made the decision to grow my hair specifically with the intention to cut it when it was long enough to be made into a wig for someone fighting cancer. It’s such a horrible disease (Who out of us has not been touched in some way or another?) and no one deserves having to fight that battle.

I don’t have a job, so I can’t really give anyone money. I’m not skilled at a lot of things, so I can’t help that way. And let’s face it ~ I’m lazy! So it seems unrealistic to think I would get off my ass to physically help someone. But sitting back and letting nature do what it does with the end result of benefiting someone else seemed like a good way to go. All I had to do was not dye it and let it grow.

Like I said~ that was 6.5 years ago.

I started off with a pixie cut. For some reason, I had always wanted one. (Actually, I started with a cut I did myself in my bathroom, and then decided to have it “cleaned up” professionally and went even shorter.) Well, that curiosity was satisfied and I will never go that short ever again. It was a very awkward two years.

my own handiwork

and what I paid someone to do to me

The last year has been weird, hair wise. A year ago, it had reached the limit for the length of what I would personally want. It ceased to feel like “my hair” and began to feel like I was just holding something for someone else. I’m not sure if that makes sense or if you can liken that to another experience…  It felt like I was growing someone else’s hair. Technically, that’s exactly what I was doing. In the last few months, it’s been almost unmanageable. It was too long for me. It got caught in and under things constantly. It took half an hour to wash and another 15 minutes to comb through and dry. I mostly wore it up in a bun just to keep it out of the way. I was trying to hold out as long as possible but it was time to get rid of it.

the point of no return – taken September 2013

So yesterday, I went to Truly You ~ a salon/clinic that’s part of the Capilia network which specializes in hair loss solutions. They partner with a foundation running a program called Angel Hair for Kids which accepts hair donations to make wigs for sick and financially disadvantaged children. I had contacted them back in February after finding them in an extensive internet search. (I didn’t want to give my hair to a place that would use it for salon training purposes or to make extensions for someone who just couldn’t be bothered to grow their own hair.)

before

after

The whole process is kind of fun and the staff at Truly You are really great. They ooh-ed and ahh-ed over my hair and made me feel really good about what I was doing. After the technician/stylist asked what I wanted as a final style, she sectioned off and bundled up my hair into little ponytails before cutting them off. I didn’t get an actual measurement but I think the longest bits were about 17″. My hair was layered, especially in the front, so some sections were quite a bit shorter.

And now I’m back at square one ~ short hair I must suffer through until I’m comfortable with it again. But if the hair I gave away makes a little girl smile and feel better about herself… that’s all I could ever ask for.

(originally posted to wohngsikneuih)