The Long and Short of It

My 10 year old daughter has been growing her hair out for about 2.5 years.  She decided to get it cut short but only after her ballet recital since she would be wearing it in a bun then.  The recital was on Saturday, so Monday after school we set out to get her hair cut.  I did not call ahead to make an appointment, some places don't take appointments for hair cuts.  The first place we went to had a 2 hour wait time.  So we tried every hair salon on our way home.  Five hair salons in total and all 5 were too busy to take us right away.  Persistence did not pay off in this case.  As we had somewhere to be by 6pm, we decided to try again on Tuesday when we had more time.

After deciding to get her long hair cut, she also decided she wanted to donate her hair.  A quick Internet search listed several places that take hair donations.  I researched each one, told my daughter about them and let her decide which to donate to.

I think the most well know hair donation organization is Locks of Love.  Other organizations that I researched were Pantene and Wigs For Kids.  They each had different requirements for hair length and a difference focus on who they helped.  Some salons are affiliated with an organization and will cut the hair for free, although that was not the case for any salons in our area.

Locks of Love mostly helps children who suffer from alopecia areata, and not all their hair pieces are free.  To donate hair, it must be at least 10 inches in length.

Pantene creates free hair pieces for women affected by hair loss from cancer.  To donate hair, it must be at least 8 inches in length.

Wigs For Kids provides hair pieces for children who have lost their hair for a variety of medical conditions.  To donate hair, it must be 12 inches in length.

My daughter chose to donate to Wigs For Kids.  We reviewed the donation instructions on their website and then headed to the salon.  We told the hair stylist that she would be donating her hair and the stylist knew to braid it, cut it and bag it.  It was such a dramatic difference and we all love the new look.  

Here my daughter is with her long hair before the cut:

During:

That's 12 inches of hair:

After:

And here's more before and afters:

I told my daughter that I love her new hair cut so much, maybe I'll get the same style.  I'm partial to short hair anyway and think this haircut shows off her beautiful facial features.  Now she looks more grown up then ever (sniff, sniff).

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