Kind cut

Serenity Wagner, 22, was one of 50 women across the country who volunteered to cut her hair for cancer in a campaign called Pantene Beautiful Lengths, which kicked off this month. The campaign encourages people to cut and donate their hair to make wigs for women who’ve lost their hair because of cancer treatment.

I hear you just got your hair cut. How much was cut off?

24 inches.

Wow, that’s a lot of hair. How long had you been growing it?

My hair grows pretty fast, so probably only about two years or so.

Tell me why you got it cut.

It’s for a brand new nationwide campaign called Pantene Beautiful Lengths that focuses on encouraging women and men everywhere to grow, cut and donate their hair in order to make wigs for women who are victims of cancer.

And you were chosen as Nevada’s ambassador to this program?

Right. My mom is the president of the Oncology Nursing Society locally. She received an e-mail about it and showed it to me. I thought it was something worth looking into. I sent in an application and didn’t hear anything for weeks. Then they called and said I was chosen to represent Nevada in the campaign. I’m not sure what their criteria were for choosing someone.

And there are 50 other women in the country that did the same?

Yes, one in every state, and the actress Diane Lane.

Can other people donate their hair, and how?

All the information they need to find is at www.beautifullengths.com.

Do only certain salons participate?

I think you can go anywhere. You just need to specify that you’d like to donate your hair. And Beautiful Lengths will send you a packet with a baggie and two rubber bands and a pre-paid envelope to send it back in once the hair is cut.

What’s your hair like now?

I cut my hair just past my shoulder; it’s kind of a layered bob. It may be more updated than the hair I had, trailing all down my back. My 1-year old daughter liked to hang off it; I’m a regular jungle gym. And no, I don’t miss it. We live in the Nevada desert, and worrying about that black sheet of hair all the way down to your butt, it’s not the smartest way to keep cool.

Have you always been interested in cancer issues?

With one in three people estimated to have some type of cancer in their lifetime, it’s hard to imagine a person whom cancer doesn’t effect. Like I said, my mom’s an oncology nurse, and I, of course, hear her stories all the time. I myself lost many people in my family to cancer, most of whom I was too young to remember, which is the whole point—they were gone before I ever knew them. And God forbid, if anything ever happened to me, I’d hope someone would do the same for me. Hopefully one good turn deserves another if the need ever arose.

Is there anything you’d like to add?

I would just encourage everybody to visit beautifullengths.com and see how they can get involved.