This is the last time I had cut my hair. It was right before my senior year of high school, and my long hair had been too much to take care of, so I made the chop. I didn’t like myself before the cut, and I didn’t like myself any better with short hair. In fact, I thought I looked too young, and I regretted the cut almost immediately. I vowed to never cut my hair short again.
Fast forward five years.
I’m now a senior in college. I love myself for the first time in my life, and I am ten times happier, more confident, and more comfortable in my own skin than I was the last time I cut my hair short. And it was time.
My hair was down to my waist. It took 25 minutes or more to wash, it took 24 hours to dry, and it hung out of the end of my towel. I loved my long hair, it was beautiful, but it was time for a change. And this time, I knew that I was beautiful whether my hair was long and flowing or short and cute.
I actually wasn’t planning on getting a haircut the day I did it. I had gone to my mechanic in Newark, Ohio, and noticed there was a mall nearby. But when I dropped into Ulta, and noticed that there was a salon, I figured it couldn’t hurt to ask about haircut prices. When the person behind the counter told me that Ulta gives free haircuts if you donate your hair to Locks of Love, I was sold!
My stylist, (also named Maggie), was super excited to be doing her first Locks of Love cut, and took lots of pictures! This is what my hair looked like just before I cut it: long, beautiful, and totally unmanageable.
For Locks of Love, they had to portion off my hair with ponytail holders, and then chop off the ponytail. It was weird holding my own ponytail, because it was super heavy, and somehow, it felt even thicker when it wasn’t attached to my head!
After we took off the part that was going to be donated, then my stylist washed what was left of my hair, finished up the cut, and styled it. I wanted a lob (long bob) that was longer in the front and shorter in the back. Even with shoulder-length hair, I still have a lot of it because it’s so thick, and so it took a long time to finish the cutting and styling. The whole time, all I could think of was how I couldn’t wait to see how it would look!
I was also getting curious snaps the whole time because I had posted the “before” photo to snapchat without telling anyone what I was planning on doing. I looked at the snaps, but didn’t respond until I could show off the finished product.
When I finally saw the finished result, I was thrilled! It was so cute! I also couldn’t believe how light my head felt! I went to the front, checked out (with the 100% Locks of Love discount code), and OF COURSE, took a celebratory selfie!
They also gave me my hair (in a shopping bag) to mail to Locks of Love!
A few weeks later, I still love my cut! I have naturally wavy hair, so it looks pretty different than it did in the salon, but it’s so cute, and I love the change of pace! If you’re considering donating your hair to Locks of Love, do it! Your hair will be way easier to take care of, you’ll have an awesome story to tell, and most importantly, you’ll help give a wig to a child with cancer!
Have you ever donated your hair? Tell us in the comments!
Image credits: Maggie Griffin