Last year a friend of mine cut her super gorgeous long hair off and donated it to Locks of Love. I just had to steal her idea! Last summer I roasted alive in the heat. There were days in the 90’s in north western Washington. We aren’t built for that. Or at least I’m not anymore.

     Since last summer I grew my hair out further to make sure I had enough to cut off and enough to play around with(yes I ended a sentence with a preposition). It took forever! I got so sick of it. I reminisced about my high school days of short hair, even the short “do” I sported three years ago.

     Finally, two weeks ago I made an appointment. I had my hair chopped off last Thursday! I had 12 inches for Locks of Love and several more for experimentation, most of which ended up on the floor. If only my compost was ready! Though I’m not sure one should put hair, especially lots of hair in a compost. Have yet to run across that in an article.

     It’s done! I have very little hair left! What’s left is a fabulous bob that I love! Even a small amount of bangs, which I have not had in almost 14 years. Shoot, I need to be careful that my inner vanity doesn’t splatter all over this post. Hehe.

New hair

     Now, I have my hair in an envelope, under the bathroom sink, safe from Milo’s destructive path. Since my hair is so fine it’s really slippery and started to get all over the place and come out of the pony tail while I was at the salon. I’ve got to carefully place it back in order, which could prove to be a challenge. I want it to be useful for some little girl or boy whom has gone bald due to chemo. So, if you are planning to chop your locks in the near future, give this a thought. Locks of Love provides kids with cancer wigs of real hair. It’s a charity. And though it may not seem like making a wig is all that important. Could you imagine being a prepubescent or pubescent girl/boy already very insecure with their new feelings and on top of that an illness and subsequent treatments that completely reform their body? Plus, it’s way better than tossing the hair in the garbage. Win, win for me.

     I will say that there are other ways to “recycle” your hair cuttings. There is a company, Matter of Trust, that uses it to make something, a rug or whatever, to soak up oil. And since there is a huge spill in the Gulf Coast, now might be a good time to bring a baggie to the stylist, to bring back your hair that is too short for Locks of Love. I’ll be researching how I might be able to acquire hair from salons around here and send it to the company for all those poor marine creatures. Stay tuned!

Note: A friend of mine also chopped her locks this weekend for Locks of Love. As long as she doesn’t mind I’ll add a before and after picture of her hair.
For detailed information about how to donate your hair click, Locks of Love. For information about Matter of Trust, the company that makes the stuff to clean up spills, click here. I’m going to read more about them. It appears that they take pet hair and wool as well, which is nifty.

Missy the Modern Hippy

     Something new I’ve started is when the ends of my hair seem a little dry – they have been since it got really cold. By the end of the day I have enormous dreads. According to my hair stylist whom trimmed my hair recently, it’s fairly common in the winter. So I’m using the oil blend I made for my faceon my ends. It is jojoba, avocado, and olive oils along a few essential oils.
     I’m still not using product. Giving my scalp a break, letting it do it’s job without a lot of unnatural things seems like the best idea for me. Also, at the beginning of the 2010 summer I plan to cut a lot of my hair for Locks of Love. The healthier it looks the better. I am mildly concerned about having short hair and not using product. But as something I’ve noticed, while my hair is rarely greasy, its own natural oils seem to work like a gel sometimes, making it shiny and manageable. Our co-op does seem to have more natural product alternatives. Something will work. I might even be lucky enough to find something that will further help to nourish my hair. Until the next hair experiment!

My Hair Experiments – The Modern Hippy Way