For the past 3 years or so, I’ve been growing my hair long; it started out as just missing a haircut here and there, as life got busier and busier with a toddler, then morphed into a more dedicated effort to have enough hair to donate to Pantene Beautiful Lengths campaign.
A couple of weeks ago, my friend Robin, a wonderful hair specialist at Genacelli Salon here in Chicago, cut 8 inches off for me to donate. She then did a beautiful job shaping it into what she calls, “Not a bob, a Robert,” but what I call, “Not a Robert, a Robin.” It’s chin-length, incredibly light, and makes me feel chic and sophisticated.
Four ponytails
First, she divided my hair into four ponytails, so as to get as much even length from what I had to offer. She cut off the first ponytail, and I laughed—she was worried that I’d freak out at the amount she was cutting, but I wasn’t nervous at all. I’ve had all kinds of different hairstyles, including a chin length bob, way past shoulder blades, a Demi-Moore-in-Ghost short ‘do, even a ¼ inch all over my head. So this quick cut was not an issue for me at all.
Soon after, she had all four ponytails cut off, and slid them into an envelope for me to send to Pantene Beautiful Lengths (she mentioned that this is the best hair donation agency, and was glad that I had chosen them in my somewhat extensive, obsessive Google research of hair donation agencies).
As she shaped my haircut, Robin mentioned that all hair, no matter the color, is jet black on the inside. She showed me the ends of the ponys, as proof. Fascinating!
She also talked me through a lot of the ways to better care for my hair: a good conditioner is a must, especially in the winter when radiators dry out our air. A good shampoo also makes a difference, and, if you need to economize, TRESemme is a decent choice.
Cutting it off!
A smoother is a good idea, and putting it on when your hair is extremely wet and using the heat from the blowdrier to help it coat your hair and seal the cuticle was another tip she offered. For chin length straight hair, she recommended a pea sized amount, then follow up after drying with a tiny bit more to smooth the fly-aways.
One of the more interesting things she pointed out was that the front of my hair will always be thinner and more ragged than the rest—because I run. She said it’s like when you look at a flag, flying on a flagpole; the ends tatter more and more frequently than the rest of the flag, because that’s what the wind is whipping around. The same can be said with the front of my hair (where bangs would be if I had them), because I run.
In the next few weeks, I’ll be talking with Robin some more about the best way to care for different kinds and textures of hair; what coloring your hair actually does to it, chemically; and how what we eat affects our hair. I look forward to sharing those conversations with you, Lovely Readers!
As for my own new haircut, I love it. It’s been a couple of weeks, and it’s grown out quite nicely. The thing I love the most about it is that it’s perfect for summer—-and that it still feels like a big change.
I’ve sent my locks into Pantene, anonymously; I didn’t feel like I needed to have any kind of acknowledgement, since everyone I’ve seen since the cut has complimented me on my new ‘do. What a difference 8 inches make! I’ve sent them all Robin’s way and mentioned Pantene Beautiful Lengths, which is such a worthy cause. I just hope that some people are inspired to either visit Robin at Genacelli for a wonderful cut or color, or to donate their hair. That’s all I need!
