I’ve known a lot of people to do hair donation in the past, and I have toyed with the idea of doing it for a number of years. Like most people, lockdown and hair dressers being closed meant that I wasn’t able to get my haircut for quite some time. So by the time the hair dressers were open again, although I was itching to get my hair sorted out like the rest of the public, I held off and decided to look seriously into donating my hair. I had seen people in the past donate their hair to different charities, but the one that stood out in my mind was Little Princess Trust, who make wigs for children who lose their hair due to cancer.
I did a bit of research on their website, and found out that they currently need hair donations of 12 inches and over (the minimum they accept is 7 inches) as they currently have a large supply of hair between 7-11 inches. So I measured my hair to get an idea of how long my hair was, and how much I needed to grow it so that I’d feel comfortable cutting it off. I haven’t had short hair since I was around 9 years old, that’s 16 years of long hair, so I didn’t want to go to a pixie cut or anything too short because I was worried I wouldn’t suit it and that I’d hate it.
At the time I first measured my hair it was around 22-23 inches long, so I decided to give it another month or 2 to grow a bit more, but to also look after it so that it was in tip top condition. I did a deep condition once a week, started using salon quality hair products, bought a microfibre towel, massaged my scalp and slept with my hair in a loose plait. I can honestly say that all of this helped massively, because my hair was 24 inches after around a month but it was also silky smooth! So I booked in with my sister (who is my hair dresser) to come and have the big cut!
Before the date we discussed lengths and colours and what we both thought would suit me until we agreed on a style and colouring.
The night before I washed my hair with just shampoo and left it to dry naturally (this is how they ask the hair to be sent to them), and took some resealable bags and a tape measure with me to the hair dressers. When I sat in the chair my sister measured my hair and said she felt 12 inches would be absolutely fine, and technically it would be over that as you have to cut the hair slightly above the first hairband so that the hair stays in the bands. We split the hair into 4 sections and plaited them all, before my sister cut them off and handed them to me to bag up.
My sister and the other girl helping both commented on how calm I was at the prospect of losing so much hair, but this was something I’d thought about a lot (you need to make sure that you are 100% happy to lose that much hair) and I knew my hair would grow back eventually if I hated it so this wasn’t a big deal for me. More than anything, I knew that it would be going to a good cause and helping someone who needed it more than me. My sister is also an incredible hair dresser, so I knew that she would make my hair look brilliant.
My hair now sits just above my shoulders, and I’m surprised at how much it does suit me. Mark was worried when he came to pick me up from the hair dressers I would burst into tears, but I was so happy with my hair and what I’d done that there were no tears in sight!
If you want to donate your hair to a charity then I would say, absolutely go for it! Little Princess Trust are a wonderful charity, but they aren’t the only one. So I would recommend doing your research and finding a charity that you want to donate to, you should then check over their guidelines and what they do and don’t accept for hair: for example, Little Princess Trust don’t accept hair that’s under 7inches or hair that’s an un-natural colour (pink, blue etc). So it’s always important to check the details. I’d also say try to keep your hair in the best condition possible, if you don’t usually, find a hair mask that leaves your hair feeling healthy or tie your hair up loosely when you go to bed so it doesn’t get pulled about in the night.
Overall, I’m incredibly happy with my decision and I would do it again in a heartbeat.
