Donating hair for a good cause

Wig makers mostly have to buy the hair they need to make wigs, and the buying and selling of hair is seriously a big business. In the months of July and August 2016 alone, Tirupati Temple earned crore by auctioning devotees’ hair. This cost is passed on to the consumer, which can be quite a lot for cancer wigs as only the best hair follicles have to be used for them. Instead of making wigs from commercial hair, wigmakers often look to people donating healthy hair in order to craft wigs for cancer patients. There are numerous nation-wide organisations that collect donated hair from salons and pass it on to wigmakers. These wigs are then distributed to cancer patients who cannot afford them. You can donate a certain length of your hair—usually around 15 inches minimum—to be used in the making of these wigs. Organisations like ‘Cope with Cancer’ and ‘Hair for Happiness’ accept donated hair, whether you cut it yourself at home or get it cut at a salon. They can also direct you to salons in your city that work with the organisations—for example, celebrity hairstylist Sapna Bhavanani’s Mad O Wot in Mumbai. Also based in Mumbai is Yatin Deshpande, Founder of Hair Aid. According to Yatin, “People grow their hair to have it cut for a new hair