30+ reasons why I shaved my head for World's Greatest Shave

I first wrote this post about taking part in the World’s Greatest Shave nine months ago: last December. I considered starting from scratch today when I came back to it but I thought one paragraph was worth keeping.

“As a girl, a shaved head is not a common hairstyle at all. But we’ve all thought of doing it, right? The first time the idea popped into my head was back in 2014. My mum was doing my hair for a gymnastics competition, lathering it up with gel and hairspray and more gel, pulling it back so tight I thought it would rip right off. It would be so easy if had no hair at all, I thought. Since then the urge to buzz it all off has come more and more often. And while, no, I don’t have any actual experience being bald, I have done the research. If I’m being honest, this list is more to convince myself to go for it than anything else.”

I did end up convincing myself to go for it, and you can find that original list at the bottom of this post, but now with the first-hand experience, I want to share my journey as well as some things you might not have thought about.

The decision

As I said, I started writing this post last December. The idea had already been planted in my head and I was considering it seriously. However, I was yet to convince my parents to let me do it. I was not having a great time with people at school so I decided that I would definitely shave my head if I was going to start the new year with the same year group. I was past the point of caring what they thought of me. On the other hand, if I went into a new year group I wanted to wait until I made some friends before I shaved my head.

When I found out I was going into the new cohort, I postponed the idea and only returned to it at about the end of term one. I remember that it was late one night and my hair was in an atrocious tangle when I committed to the idea. Yes, it was impulsive, and no, I wasn’t thinking straight, but I’m glad I wasn’t. I went to the World’s Greatest Shave website, signed up, set a date, and posted the donation link on my Instagram. Once the first person donated there was no turning back. To say my family was surprised in the morning is an understatement.

The preparation

To prepare for the big day I organized with my gymnastics club how the afternoon would look. This was a very quick, straight-forward process. I also ordered some merchandise from the World’s Greatest Shave website. The cape, bandana, and temporary tattoos really made the experience and were definitely worth the small extra cost.

The biggest challenge, however, was getting people to donate. There are plenty of resources available on the website but what I found to be the most helpful was to first donate $50 yourself – that way people can see that the fundraising is legitimate and that it is of cause you are passionate about. Next thing I did was let everyone know that whoever donated the most would be the person doing the shaving. I put the link up on my Instagram and other social medias as well as notifying my school (although they actually did nothing except tell me not to shave it too short???)

The day I shaved

24th of June, the big day. It was a Thursday, the last day of the school term when my school friends saw me with long hair for the last time. After all of the support I had received from everyone who donated I wanted to make the big day memorable and to get as many people involved as possible.

I checked with the coaches at my gymnastics club if it was okay that I shaved my head during training which they agreed to. One by one my teammates chopped off sections of my hair until it was short enough to be shaved. My family was there as well, and my dad ended up doing the shaving because it turned out to be harder than we expected. You can see the video I put together from shaving my head by clicking here or by going to our Instagram reels. This was the most fun part of the process so make sure you surround yourself with positive people!

After I shaved it off (aka the grow out phase)

A few things that really stood out to me, some of which I was not expecting, include how fast my hair has grown. I originally cut mine on a number three but if I were to do it again I would cut it on a number one. This is because within a week my hair was already looking like a ‘boys cut’ or ‘pixie cut’. The only thing is I reached the awkward afro stage much sooner than I expected – nothing a beanie couldn’t fix though.

Another thing that I wasn’t expecting was how much fun it is to style. Before I shave my head I tried to do a ‘last 15 hairstyles’ because I thought I wouldn’t get a chance to experiment with my hair after I shaved it but I was very wrong. Since then I have bought two wigs from Amazon, both of decent enough quality and cheap (under $30). This has given me an opportunity to play around with style and see what different colours, lengths, and hair types suit me. I did mention this down below in the original list but it has been much easier to die my hair different colours. I have had brown, blonde, blue, and purple hair all in the past three months simply because it is so convenient.

The last thing that stood up to me amongst all of the other positives was that it is so much more convenient in every other aspect of life. I don’t dread washing my hair, it is so quick to dry after swimming, there’s no time spent detangling in the morning or getting ready for training, and my hair doesn’t get in the way when I am exercising or even at school when my hair would usually flip onto my paper.

Support the cause!

If you too are looking to participate in this great cause please visit the World’s Greatest Shave’s website and sign up. If you’re not wanting to participate in this yourself, but you still want to support the great cause of Leukaemia Research and Patient Accommodation, you can still donate to my donation page here (all donations go directly to the leukemia foundation)

30+ reasons why I shaved for World’s Greatest Shave

no more money on hair products
less time wasted on hair styling
you can style your new hair in a million ways you couldn’t have before
it is so much easier to dye different colors
donate your hair to charity
try wigs
no need to wait for your hair to dry – get out the water drip-free
social media attention
it’s a fresh start
fight aesthetic ideals and stereotypes
stay cooler in summer
get your friends involved. It can be a great bonding activity
a great story for later on in life
a fantastic conversation starter
no bad hair days
it’s liberating
low maintenance
improve hair health
hair is so annoying
raise money
don’t need hair elastics
hair will never blow in your face
raise cancer awareness
gain confidence
it looks beautiful
you will feel accomplished
it’s empowering
you might look better
it is a great way to know who is worth keeping in your life (those who don’t judge you for it)
its temporary, hair grows back
you can drive or ride with the windows down

(I may have been scraping for ideas at the end there but either way, no regrets.)

Images: Instagram|@chesneyballiegym