Locks of Love

Ok, so talk about my inability to follow through on something.

That picture you are looking at up there, that's my hair. My long, gorgeous straight hair. In case you didn't already know, I have an overwhelming love hate relationship w/ my hair. Naturally, it is a fluffy curly mass. Its super thick, and super annoying. When it looks good, its my best feature. When its unhappy with me... well... yeah.

A couple of years ago I chemically straightened it. Best thing ever. Loved it. Got back to the states, price is 4x as much here, and they didn't do it as well. After two years, I've decided I can't afford to keep straitening my hair, and just need to let it go back to being a wild beast. This is not an easy task, and requires uber amounts of patience.

One major step towards this end, was cutting it all off. I had been planning the big cut for about 5 months. I measured my hair regularly. Tried to imagine what I would look like with short hair. Contemplated whether or not I could handle the regrowth of curly hair without the weight of the long hair pulling it down.

The only thing I didn't debate about was donating it. Mom thought I was going to chicken out and just get a few inches off. I stuck to my guns, off came the 10 inches. *on a side note, I balled my eyes out for weeks getting used to the fact a lopped off all of my hair... which might explain why the ponytail has been sitting in a drawer now for over a year. So I figured I would make the post, and say my final goodbye, and hope there is a child out there that will love my hair even more than I do.

I think Locks of Love is one of my favorite organizations. I'm a big softy when it comes to kids. And I know the value hair has with a persons identity. And its something I could do without paying an arm and a leg. I always thought it was just for cancer kids, but most of them lost their hair due to alopecia areata, which tends to be a little more permanent than chemo hair loss.

There are so many organizations that raise money and are so focused on fund-raising, that they don't seem to realize the people they tend to ask for money from, or that would be most willing to donate, are those of us who probably need it, or have too many other expenses.

A random tidbit you might not know. If you have shorter hair, or there is shorter hair in your pony tail, or even if you have grey hair, you can still donate it. LoL actually sells that hair to pay for the manufacturing of wigs. The only thing they can't use is bleached hair b/c it reacts badly w/ certain chemicals. But even my chemically straightened hair, or dyed hair can still be used.

So if you are looking for a way to contribute, and money is tight, take a look in the mirror and see if its time for a new hair cut.

On a totally different random freak out note... I take the bar tomorrow.