Any safe hair donation options in Australia?

[ilovelonghair]

My friend has been growing out her hair exclusively for donation and now that its reached 12 inches she thinks it might be long enough to donate (I don't know if this is measured from her scalp or as ponytail)

So I promised her to get her the right info as I'm afraid she'd end up somewhere where they wouldn't use her hair or do anything else dodgy with it.

What is the safest place to donate, or can she donate it at a wig makers place? Any that do free wigs for cancer patients?

[Littlewing13]

One lady in one of my old salons donated to this company:

http://www.princesscharlottealopecia.com/TressesforPrincesses.aspx

We got to meet some of the kids & yeah I thought it was great. They make amazing wigs, very realistic, couldn't tell it wasn't their real hair. They're also silicon backed so they don't slip at all.

[Littlewing13]

Also that is a great idea! Very noble.

[ilovelonghair]

I'll forward that link to her :) I does give some extra info that would be helpful for her. Looks like her hair is too short for donation, I already thought it would be. 12" would only make a short wig. But these people don't even take shorter hair. She wants to donate for a cancer patient, I don't think this site does?

Their wigs don't look natural though.

Is it me or is that site sexist? They only seem to donate to girls and women.

[Bagginslover]

Far fewer men worry about hairloss, as its something men suffer anyway ;)

[ilovelonghair]

Most men won't admit they hate it, but if they suffered from non-male pattern baldness like alopecia I bet they'd hate it even more.

What about male cancer patients? They seem to be overlooked as well. In general it seems that men are not allowed to worry about their looks. But that's a whole different discussion.

[Bagginslover]

I didn't say they are not allowed to (though I do realise that probably wasn't directed at me ;) ), but men have a different attitude towards hair than women in general.

The simple fact that they won't admit they hate it makes the demand for wigs for men vastly lower than for women. I'm sure charities do make wigs for male cancer patients, with severe alopecia etc, but it receives far less press, and (wrongly in my opinion) can be seen as making the men concerned look vain.

[lovinglocks]

I wish I could help you out, but I just wanted to say I'm very impressed you you and your friend! I donated my hair, I didn't grow it with that intent but it felt great to do so. I wish you luck!

[lovinglocks]

I'm not sure if they take hair from australia, but you get your hair cut and mail it in (I didn't mail it myself, the person I did this with did for me): www.locksoflove.org

[ilovelonghair]

Problem is that Locks of Love have a very bad reputation. If you do a search here on the forum you'd be shocked what they do (or in most cases don't do) with the donated hair.

My friend would prefer to donate directly to a patient to cut out all the groups in between, but that is impossible. I gave her all the details of what exactly is needed for one wig so she understands it isn't that simple :) (for example 10 ponytails are needed for ONE wig)

She can sell it and donate the money towards somebody who needs a wig, but a 12" ponytail pays about $20 :(

[OrangeStripe]

I really wouldn't go near Locks of Love because there is a lot of controversy surrounding it. Also they don't make wigs for cancer patients because it isn't 'long term' hair loss. I haven't heard anything bad about Pantene's scheme for making wigs for cancer patients though. http://www.pantene.com/en-us/beautiful-lengths-cause/Pages/default.aspx

well done to your friends for wanting to do good!

[Littlewing13]

Well, just trying to help. If she wants to sell it /donate to cancer patients she should talk to nurses in the cancer wards.. They should have some decent info

[Bagginslover]

(for example 10 ponytails are needed for ONE wig)

Really? I'd be interested to see where you found that info as I know of several people (IRL as well as celebs) who have had their own hair shaved and made into a wig when they were diagnosed, and they definitely didn't have 10 ponytails each ;)

I do think your friend is doing a wonderful thing, growing it especially to donate, she must be a lovely person.

[ilovelonghair]

I got the info for this board :) Not sure which thread, but it was one of the LoL threads.

Maybe those people had a lot of hair to start with. When hair is prepared for wig making they take out all the shorter hair first (they are harder to knot in as sometimes they are too short for knotting) and that makes hair thinner. In general with people's ponytails they can vary in thickness and quality: if you only got ponytails from people with thin hair (like my hair for example) you'd need many more ponytails. Or if there are damaged bits, they need to be taken out.

I used to make hair weavings so I know how much hair is needed for one person who wants a weaving. It's quite a lot! Because of all the hair that you first have to take out. I never made wigs but saw people do it in a factory. I also saw how the hair was processed.

[Bagginslover]

I wasn't doubting you or your info, sorry if it sounded that way. I was just amazed, as as I said, I know a few people who've had their own hair made into wigs ;) You are right though, they did have lovely thick hair before hand.

[ilovelonghair]

Lucky for them, their wigs would have looked very natural and of course similar to their own hair :) It must be so hard to loose your hair on top of everything else :(