Surprise!
I chopped off all of my hair for Pantene Beautiful Lengths. And if you’re interested in donating hair to Pantene, I’ll walk you through the process.
If you follow me on Snapchat, you’ve known about my haircut for over six weeks. Plus I debuted it on Instagram just a few days ago.
Seriously, I cut about 10 inches of my long, luscious locks.
I love having long hair. I love all the different options for styling long hair. I love using long hair to dry my hands after washing them in a public restroom sans paper towels. (Seriously).
And yet I cut it all off.
I honestly can’t remember the last time my hair was this short. Even when I cut it short at the end of high school, my hair still wasn’t this short.
But I’ve wanted to donate my hair for cancer wigs for almost 3 years now. However, back in 2013, I got highlights. Twice. And you can’t donate color-treated hair.
So I’ve been growing it out, and cutting it. Growing it out, and cutting it. Growing it out, and cutting it. For 3 years.
Finally I realized the ends of my hair were no longer highlighted. My color-treated hair was gone!
Even though I’d been planning to do this for so long, the actual haircut was a last-minute decision. Dan and I had booked a photography session with Trinity Photography, and my long hair had gotten too long. With the humidity, I didn’t want my out-of-control hair to look bad in our photos.
I took the plunge and cut off about 10 inches of my hair. Pantene’s Beautiful Lengths program only requires 8 inches, but I wanted a bit of contingency. However, my idea of contingency was 9 inches with my ponytail pulled taut. Dan measured my ponytail for the stylist. His idea of contingency was a little over 9 inches with a curly ponytail. So I ended up losing about 10 inches of hair.
[Insert photo that I keep forgetting to take of my ponytail next to a ruler]
It took me about 24 hours to like my new short haircut, but now I love it! And I really love that my hair will go towards a wig for a woman with cancer.
Pantene Beautiful Lengths has partnered with the American Cancer Society to make and distribute wigs to women who have lost their hair from cancer. So far they have donated over 42,000 real-hair wigs.
Pantene Hair Donation Process
It was really easy to donate my hair to Pantene Beautiful Lengths. If you want to make your own Pantene hair donation, here’s how to do it.
- Wash your hair first, but don’t add any styling products.
- Gather your hair into a ponytail with a tight elastic band.*
- Measure the ponytail from the elastic band to the tips. It needs to be at least 8 inches.
- Cut the hair just above the elastic band.
- Let the ponytail dry.
- Place the ponytail, with the elastic band still wrapped around it, in a plastic bag. Seal it.
- Place the plastic bag in a large envelope** and mail it to:
- Pantene Beautiful Lengths
Attn: 192-123
806 SE 18th Ave.
Grand Rapids, MN 55744
- Pantene Beautiful Lengths
Super-easy!
*I actually wish I had gathered my hair into two ponytails, because once my hair was cut, the hair in the back was a lot shorter than the hair in the front. My haircut wouldn’t have been so short if I had gathered my hair into two ponytails.
**The official website says a padded or plastic envelope, but I think any good-sized manila envelope would be fine, or one of those cardboard mailers you buy at the Post Office. That’s just my opinion, not an official statement.
Pantene Beautiful Lengths vs. Locks for Love
Locks of Love is the most popular hair donation program in America. When I was editor of my high school yearbook, we actually featured two senior students who had both donated their long hair to Locks of Love. In fact, until I read Lindsay’s blog post a few years ago, I didn’t even know Pantene Beautiful Lengths existed as an alternate hair donation charity.
My decision between Pantene Beautiful Lengths and Locks of Love was quite easy. I didn’t want to cut off a full 10 inches, the minimum length required for Locks of Love. Pantene Beautiful Lengths only requires 8 inches of hair.
Locks of Love provides wigs for children who have lost their hair, not just from cancer, but also from conditions like alopecia. These wigs are offered on a sliding scale based on income.
Pantene Beautiful Lengths does not accept color-treated/permed hair or hair that is more than 5% gray. Locks of Love, on the other hand, accepts both color-treated/permed hair and gray hair. They sell the gray hair to offset their manufacturing costs. Neither program accepts bleached hair.
If you’re deciding between Pantene Beautiful Lengths and Locks of Love, check out their websites for more information.
Have you ever donated your hair? Why or why not? Share your thoughts in the comments!
