Grand theft hair

[snopes]

Comment: I was told that individuals are following women in public that
have very long hair. When the woman is not paying attention, the
individual runs up behind the long-haired woman with scissors in hand and
crudely cuts off the long locks. They are then selling the long hair to be
used as extensions. There is supposedly a shortage of natural hair to use
for extensions because of the 'Locks of Love' program. Is this true? I am
concerned because my hair is at my waist and I was wondering if this
'rumor'? were true.

[JessBoo]

No doubt there are many people who donate to Locks of Love, but enough for there to be a shortage? Don't believe it. Anyway didn't I read somewhere that most extensions come from Eastern Europe?

I doubt that there are people wandering round with scissors in the hope that they will see a woman with long hair, be able to get close enough to cut it off, and get away without dropping the hair. Especially getting away with it often enough for people to hear about it.

[Seaboe Muffinchucker]

If someone walks up to you and slashes your hair, it's because they're assaulting you, not because they want to steal your hair.

As weird as it seems, I admit that when my hair was really long (my braid came down to my butt), I considered what I'd do if someone tried to assault my by slashing at my braid.

Seaboe

[Buckle Up]

How much do hair extensions cost? Natural ones might be kind of pricey, but whoever is "running" this scam must get most of the profits, and the scissor-men only get a small percentage of the "cut" (WAHAHAHA) - assuming you could find, oh, three or four long-haired women per day, and successfully cut, say, two of them...it just doesn't seem like a very good way to make a living, math-wise.

[Seaboe Muffinchucker]

Originally Posted by Buckleupp

How much do hair extensions cost? Natural ones might be kind of pricey, but whoever is "running" this scam must get most of the profits, and the scissor-men only get a small percentage of the "cut" (WAHAHAHA) - assuming you could find, oh, three or four long-haired women per day, and successfully cut, say, two of them...it just doesn't seem like a very good way to make a living, math-wise.

Also:

It takes time to cut enough hair to make an extension. Do you really think a woman (or man) is going to stand there patiently while the thief grabs various hanks and saws (or snips) away?

It the hair is braided, it's just as bad. My braid is about an inch in diameter at the base of my skull. No one is going to be able to hack through the whole thing in a run by.

Seaboe

[Buckle Up]

Originally Posted by Seaboe Muffinchucker

It takes time to cut enough hair to make an extension. Do you really think a woman (or man) is going to stand there patiently while the thief grabs various hanks and saws (or snips) away?

Maybe if they add chloroform to their operations, they'd be more successful.

NOT that I'm suggesting that! (in case any FBI agents are monitoring me today)

[Beldaran]

Also, Locks of Love seems to sell a lot of hair (and they don't give wigs to kids with cancer, but that's another rant [cite]) so I'd bet they're selling it to the people making the extensions.

I've also heard that most hair extension hair comes from India, and I don't think they have LOL there.

None of this means that there aren't people randomly attacking people with long hair and chopping it, but that's probably people with fetishes for seeing someone's long hair get cut against their will rather than people wanting to sell it. (I'd provide a cite for people paying big money for freshly cut hair and a video of the cutting, but I'm at work and those sites usually are NSFW)

[Missie]

Originally Posted by Beldaran

Also, Locks of Love seems to sell a lot of hair (and they don't give wigs to kids with cancer, but that's another rant [cite]) so I'd bet they're selling it to the people making the extensions.

Bah, if LoL is just gonna sell my hair, they can't have it. I'll sell it myself. :P

My hair's down to my waist and I've been wanting to cut it really short - like, boy short- sometime.

[musicgeek]

Originally Posted by Beldaran

Also, Locks of Love seems to sell a lot of hair (and they don't give wigs to kids with cancer, but that's another rant [cite]) so I'd bet they're selling it to the people making the extensions.

What do you mean? The url you post as a cite states clearly that they provide hairpieces for any medical hair loss, including hair lost as a result of chemotherapy. They do say that they provide synthetic hairpieces for short-term hair loss, reserving the natural hairpieces for permanent hair loss such as alopecia areata.

According to a sub-page of your link, cancer cases make up the second largest group of Locks of Love recipients.

Locks of Love plainly discloses that they sell hair that doesn't meet their needs to third parties to offset their manufacturing expenses.

[Dr. Dave]

Does anyone remember a Saturday Night Live (comedy show) bit about this back in the early 80's? I think it was Lorraine Newman being intreviewed "My hair was down to my buttocks..."

ETA: Found it! The actress was Robin Duke, not Newman- look down the page at the interview with "Val Dooley." 1982

[Beldaran]

Originally Posted by musicgeek

What do you mean? The url you post as a cite states clearly that they provide hairpieces for any medical hair loss, including hair lost as a result of chemotherapy. They do say that they provide synthetic hairpieces for short-term hair loss, reserving the natural hairpieces for permanent hair loss such as alopecia areata.

According to a sub-page of your link, cancer cases make up the second largest group of Locks of Love recipients.

Locks of Love plainly discloses that they sell hair that doesn't meet their needs to third parties to offset their manufacturing expenses.

Most of the children helped by Locks of Love have lost their hair due to a medical condition called alopecia areata

The children receive hair prostheses free of charge or on a sliding scale, based on financial need.

These two lines don't strike me as meaning kids with cancer are GIVEN wigs.

From the FAQ:

Do you help children with short term hair loss?
A. Yes, we provide these recipients with synthetic hairpieces.

Kids with chemo are considered to have short term hair loss, so donated hair would only go to children with permanent hair loss from chemo or radiation, so that's a small percentage of kids with cancer. I don't like people thinking their donated hair goes to help kids with cancer when it doesn't.

Here's give.org's take on Locks of Love. Check the amount of money they have coming in versus how much they say the spent last year. Their expenses are more than covered, yet they still have their "sliding scale" for selling the wigs to the families.

From this page they say that they were founded in 1998, and that they have served "over 2000" children. For the math, I'll say 2500, since that's the next number they're likely to round off to. The total is probably under 3000, or else they've said "over 3000." Since they were founded in 1998, they've been in existance for 9 years, in which to do this work. Some of the children probably have gotten more than one wig, so lets say, 3000 wigs.

In a previous version of their website, they said they recieved 2000 hair donations a week. However, they probably didn't get so many over their whole existance (starting from zero), so I'll say an average of 1000 per week, over their existance.

At some point they posted that they needed 6-10 donations per wig. I'll go with 10.

So these are the numbers I'll use to figure out how much hair goes into the wigs:

1000 donations a week
10 donations per wig
9 years
3000 wigs

1000 donations a week x 52 weeks in a year x 9 years is 460,000 donations.

468,000 donations, with 10 donations per wig, would be hair for 46,800 wigs.

They've probably made about 3,000 wigs, from donations sufficent to make 46,800. I cannot provide a cite for the hair coming in anymore, as they've taken it off the site, probably because people can do the math.

[Buckle Up]

Originally Posted by Beldaran

From this page they say that they were founded in 1998, and that they have served "over 2000" children. For the math, I'll say 2500, since that's the next number they're likely to round off to. The total is probably under 3000, or else they've said "over 3000." Since they were founded in 1998, they've been in existance for 9 years, in which to do this work. Some of the children probably have gotten more than one wig, so lets say, 3000 wigs. In a previous version of their website, they said they recieved 2000 hair donations a week. However, they probably didn't get so many over their whole existance (starting from zero), so I'll say an average of 1000 per week, over their existance. At some point they posted that they needed 6-10 donations per wig. I'll go with 10. So these are the numbers I'll use to figure out how much hair goes into the wigs:

1000 donations a week
10 donations per wig
9 years
3000 wigs

1000 donations a week x 52 weeks in a year x 9 years is 460,000 donations.
468,000 donations, with 10 donations per wig, would be hair for 46,800 wigs.
They've probably made about 3,000 wigs, from donations sufficent to make 46,800. I cannot provide a cite for the hair coming in anymore, as they've taken it off the site, probably because people can do the math.

(bolding mine)

That's an awful lot of assumptions and hypotheticals, Beldaran.

I'm not going to say that LOL is a saint-filled, profitless organization, but they are doing good work and helping children for less money than they could get as a for-profit company.

I see nothing wrong with helping children with a disfiguring disease like alopecia areata; it's not as though children with cancer "outrank" or "out-pity" other sick children. In fact, you could make a similarly distasteful but logical argument that hair is better used for wigs for non-cancer-stricken children, since they'll be more likely to use the wig long-term than a child with terminal cancer.

Two of my relatives donated their hair to LOL. When I asked about the organization, they told me the donations go to help make wigs for children who have lost their hair because of illness. My relatives did not seem to believe or profess that the recipients were all cancer patients, or that the wigs were given for free.

Do you have a cite or evidence that shows that LOL is putting forth the idea that donated hair is going primarily to help cancer patients? That seems to be a large part of your problem with LOL, and I haven't seen evidence that they say this.

[Lainie]

Originally Posted by Beldaran

I don't like people thinking their donated hair goes to help kids with cancer when it doesn't.

Yeah, think how angry they'd be when they found out it was actually being given to those whiny kids with permanent hair loss from alopecia.

[Beldaran]

I'll gladly put the correct numbers in once Locks of Love provides them to the public, but they don't. The make-a-wish foundation has their number right on the front page.

I see nothing wrong with helping children with a disfiguring disease like alopecia areata; it's not as though children with cancer "outrank" or "out-pity" other sick children. In fact, you could make a similarly distasteful but logical argument that hair is better used for wigs for non-cancer-stricken children, since they'll be more likely to use the wig long-term than a child with terminal cancer.

I have no problems with people helping sick kids either, but every time I've heard other people talk about Locks of Love, it's all about helping kids with cancer. I never said that Locks of love is perpetuating this myth. I'm just saying I don't like people to think their donation is going for a specific thing when it's not. I'm hoping that people on this board can appreciate that.

And I'm not saying that kids with alopecia don't deserve to get wigs, not at all, but everytime I've heard Locks of Love referenced, it's always in conjuntion with "give wigs to kids with cancer" not "sell wigs to kids with alopecia". And yes, I have long hair and yes it has been suggested to me that I should cut it off and donate it to kids with cancer.

Here's an article that says it better than I can.

Originally Posted by snopes

Comment: I was told that individuals are following women in public that
have very long hair. When the woman is not paying attention, the
individual runs up behind the long-haired woman with scissors in hand and
crudely cuts off the long locks. They are then selling the long hair to be
used as extensions. There is supposedly a shortage of natural hair to use
for extensions because of the 'Locks of Love' program. Is this true? I am
concerned because my hair is at my waist and I was wondering if this
'rumor'? were true.

anyone who has ever gone in to get their hair cut knows that there is no way a guy (short of having huge gardening shears) can cut off long lengths of hair in just one "motion".

I had hair down to the back of my knees (42"), and it took my stylist 7 CUTS to cut off that hair so that I had short hair. Took another 20 minutes to style and cut .

[Beldaran]

Originally Posted by Lainie

Yeah, think how angry they'd be when they found out it was actually being given to those whiny kids with permanent hair loss from alopecia.

Yes, I know, I'm also the person who sends links to snopes after people send me urgent messages about killers with perfume samples and pictures of giant dogs. I'll stop telling the truth so I'm not ruining everyone's fun.

It's not about it being a bad thing to help kids, it's about being honest with the public about where the hair goes (a lot is sold) and the public not perpetuating myths about "free wigs to kids with cancer".

[FloridaGirl]

Originally Posted by snopes

Comment: I was told that individuals are following women in public that
have very long hair. When the woman is not paying attention, the
individual runs up behind the long-haired woman with scissors in hand and
crudely cuts off the long locks. They are then selling the long hair to be
used as extensions. There is supposedly a shortage of natural hair to use
for extensions because of the 'Locks of Love' program. Is this true? I am
concerned because my hair is at my waist and I was wondering if this
'rumor'? were true.

Ok, am I the only one confused why someone would run up to someone, hack off their hair, and then donate it to charity? I thought that LoL sold unused hair, but it never actually bought hair for themselves.

[Beldaran]

No, they're saying that due to people donating to LoL, no one is selling hair for extensions, so they're cutting it and selling it for that.

[Buckle Up]

Originally Posted by Beldaran

It's not about it being a bad thing to help kids, it's about being honest with the public about where the hair goes (a lot is sold) and the public not perpetuating myths about "free wigs to kids with cancer".

I have no problems with people helping sick kids either, but every time I've heard other people talk about Locks of Love, it's all about helping kids with cancer. I never said that Locks of love is perpetuating this myth. I'm just saying I don't like people to think their donation is going for a specific thing when it's not. I'm hoping that people on this board can appreciate that.

Again, if this inaccurate information is even being spread, which you still haven't cited to, it's not LOL's fault. They clearly state their intended purpose and market on their web page as being to children with hair loss, primarily from alopecia areata. That others may assume incorrectly that their beneficiaries are all cancer patients is not the fault of LOL. Nowhere does LOL state that their wigs are free or that they all go to cancer patients. This might be a societal assumption that all bald children are bald because of chemo - for this myth you'd have to blame the public itself for not being educated about alopecia areata.

[Griffin2020]

Is Alopecia really such a prevalent disease?

One of Griffette's cousins has it, and his hair loss seems to be related to stress more than anything. And it will grow back when the stress goes away. (although he often has small patches that are thin or missing). And the hair on his arms and legs is virtually non-existant. That is pretty much the extent of my experience and knowledge of the syndrome (is it classified as a disease?)