My hair is terribly unwieldy right now... doesn't do updos well, doesn't make a braid, takes way too long to dry after washing... just a hassle to deal with. It does all that when it's too long. I wanted to cut it several weeks (read: a month) ago, but I chose to wait for a family beautician friend to be able to cut it to my requested specs. Come on, if you're going to whack off THAT MUCH hair, you might as well do it right and donate it to Locks of Love.
www.locksoflove.org
There are a lot of wonderful pictures on their website... a number of people who donated hair with their lopped-off ponytails and braids in their hands... and a number of the kids who are recipients of the very special wigs. They all go to financially-tried kids who have medical-related hair loss. It takes 6-10 ponytails to make a wig for a child, but this organization does a quality job. The wig fits THEIR HEAD and creates a tight vacuum seal that only they can release. The kids can swim with it, play sports with it, take showers and sleep with it... and it won't do the Donald Trump toupee slide.
Now that's worth putting up with my "Cousin It" imitation until my friend was available to do the cut the way the organization specifies.
The pictures on the website prompted me to want to do some documenting of my own, namely taking the "before" shots tonight. The first "before" picture was easy enough... brush out the hair, aim the backside to the mirror, point the camera over my shoulder, make sure the LCD shows the view I want in a hand mirror, and snap the picture. Voila, first "before" picture done. Then I decided I wanted pictures with some sort of measuring device to show how long this ponytail was going to be... and THAT'S where the trouble began.
I can put my hair into a ponytail easily enough. I can point and aim a camera over my shoulder easily enough with a hand mirror as my guide. I can even hold the camera still in this pose as the first "before" picture proved (first attempt was just fine). I can hold a wooden yardstick behind my back easily enough. Doing all of these things at once made for some really off-kilter and blurry shots, and I knew I had to try something a little different. At least I can just delete the boo-boos from the memory card.
I left the ponytail in, but I scooted the band down and put a barrette just above the band. Before I closed the barrette, I put the endmost piece of a cloth tape measure inside. Imagine, if you will, a nice 16-inch ponytail with a tape measure hanging from it. Yes, I looked kinda silly - but it worked. THEN I used my trusty hand-held mirror to aim the camera and get the picture I wanted on the FIRST shot. HA! Triumph at last... Not the most focused in the world, I may get my mother's help on Thursday night just to be sure... but at least I know I have SOME "before" pictures.
Oh, and I'm not getting it whacked short... I remember from high school that is NOT a look that flatters me. Chin-length is the shortest I would ever go again, and I'm trying for shoulder-length this time so that LFL has a nice-sized ponytail of good hair for one of their kids.
Still wish I could have gotten help from a friendly neighborhood octopus instead... maybe I wouldn't be so sore in my arms & shoulders from all that reaching this way and that.
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