Donating my hair for Daphne
The bald and the beautiful
You may have noticed in some of the pictures I have posted this summer of my niece, Daphne. She doesn't have any hair on her cute little head. No, she is not sick in the traditional sense of the word; she isn't suffering from pain, no chemo, no cancer. (Not that I want to downplay her condition because being bald and being a girl will not be easy). Daphne suffers from alopecia which has caused her hair loss. Basically it is an autoimmune disease in which her body fights her hair. It could grow back or not. The whole situation sucks the big one. For Daphne. For her mom. For all people who don't have hair (except maybe Walter White).
The long and short of it
My sister Chrissie and I have been growing our hair out for some time in order to donate it to a charity that makes wigs for children. We decided to use Children with Hair Loss (www.childrenwithhairloss.us). It is an amazing group that change the lives of kids who need a self esteem boost. There are other charities where you can donate your hair (Locks of Love) but focusing on children for me was very important.
CWHL needed a minimum of eight inches which took a while since my hair grows slowly. I would say that I have been growing it out for at least a year. I stopped heat styling my hair so much a while ago so that it would be healthier when I donated it (this is not a requirement, I just figured the less processed, the better). I did continue to dye my hair to cover my grays because 28 is too damn young to look like a Golden Girl. I knew that I would cut it here in the U.S. before I headed home to Spain and last weekend was finally the time. Chrissie and I headed to Salon Awesome in Plymouth where Michelle G (omg, AMAZING stylist) was super helpful and supportive.
The process itself couldn't have been more simple. You go to the charity's website, print out the donation form and head to your stylist. They ask that you either braid your hair or put it in a pony tail which keeps all the hair in the same direction. After it is cut, you put it in a plastic ziplock bag. Above I am in the chair waiting to be liberated from this mop (I honestly much prefer short hair and always have so this wasn't a tragedy for me).
Here you can see the tail that is now making its way to CWHL to be made into a wig for a child who deserves it. Michelle G finished up my haircut and I honestly love it. This entire experience has been great and super easy (I am in no way mourning the loss of my locks). I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a change in their hair. Donating it will make you feel lighter in more ways than one.
Though my face above is a bit weird, it wasn't from my reaction to my new hair. Rather it was the sort of surreal situation of having a baggie of hair in my purse while having lunch. Believe me, I don't take for granted my locks. Even bad hair days don't hurt so much when you think of the kiddos who might never have that problem. I also want to make clear that I am not writing this blog to make myself seem like a self-less, overly generous person. Rather, I hope that this might inspire other people (guys or gals) to think about donating their hair to this amazing charity. It's worth it.
You may have noticed in some of the pictures I have posted this summer of my niece, Daphne. She doesn't have any hair on her cute little head. No, she is not sick in the traditional sense of the word; she isn't suffering from pain, no chemo, no cancer. (Not that I want to downplay her condition because being bald and being a girl will not be easy). Daphne suffers from alopecia which has caused her hair loss. Basically it is an autoimmune disease in which her body fights her hair. It could grow back or not. The whole situation sucks the big one. For Daphne. For her mom. For all people who don't have hair (except maybe Walter White).
The long and short of it
My sister Chrissie and I have been growing our hair out for some time in order to donate it to a charity that makes wigs for children. We decided to use Children with Hair Loss (www.childrenwithhairloss.us). It is an amazing group that change the lives of kids who need a self esteem boost. There are other charities where you can donate your hair (Locks of Love) but focusing on children for me was very important.
CWHL needed a minimum of eight inches which took a while since my hair grows slowly. I would say that I have been growing it out for at least a year. I stopped heat styling my hair so much a while ago so that it would be healthier when I donated it (this is not a requirement, I just figured the less processed, the better). I did continue to dye my hair to cover my grays because 28 is too damn young to look like a Golden Girl. I knew that I would cut it here in the U.S. before I headed home to Spain and last weekend was finally the time. Chrissie and I headed to Salon Awesome in Plymouth where Michelle G (omg, AMAZING stylist) was super helpful and supportive.
The process itself couldn't have been more simple. You go to the charity's website, print out the donation form and head to your stylist. They ask that you either braid your hair or put it in a pony tail which keeps all the hair in the same direction. After it is cut, you put it in a plastic ziplock bag. Above I am in the chair waiting to be liberated from this mop (I honestly much prefer short hair and always have so this wasn't a tragedy for me).
Here you can see the tail that is now making its way to CWHL to be made into a wig for a child who deserves it. Michelle G finished up my haircut and I honestly love it. This entire experience has been great and super easy (I am in no way mourning the loss of my locks). I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a change in their hair. Donating it will make you feel lighter in more ways than one.
Though my face above is a bit weird, it wasn't from my reaction to my new hair. Rather it was the sort of surreal situation of having a baggie of hair in my purse while having lunch. Believe me, I don't take for granted my locks. Even bad hair days don't hurt so much when you think of the kiddos who might never have that problem. I also want to make clear that I am not writing this blog to make myself seem like a self-less, overly generous person. Rather, I hope that this might inspire other people (guys or gals) to think about donating their hair to this amazing charity. It's worth it.
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