recycle your hair: August 2013

Ashely and her ponytail

Ashley recently just had her long locks chopped, and was intended to donate it overseas.

"I really not want my hair to be wasted, and would really love to see it made into a wig for cancer patients."

- Ashely

Ashely's ponytail measures 12 inches

Date donated: 28th August

Xin Chào from Vietnam

Tran, our first Vietnamese donor, donated her 14 inches ponytail. She think that if she has what it takes to help, why not.

Date donated: 28th August

To bring joy to people

"I had wanted to cut my hair but I also wanted to do something meaningful with it! I decided to cut it short so that it can meet the requirements of making a wig! I hope that my hair can be put to good use and to bring joy to people who need them! :D"

- Seow Li

(Photo courtesy of Seow Li)

Seow Li's ponytails measure 17 inches

Date donated: 27th August

I was inspired

(Photos courtesy of Jaslyn)

Inspired, Jaslyn went on to chop off her 15 inches of hair and donated to us all the way from Canada.

"I hope to inspire others that will give unto those that need help."

- Jaslyn

Date donated: 22nd August

Showing my care and support

"The idea of hair donation for patients who need wigs first arised when my mother-in-law needed to undergo chemotherapy to fight against cancer. Losing her hair was not the greatest issue but witnessing the amount of physical and emotional pain was difficult to describe beyond words. She is not the first and won't be the last of many unfortunate people who have to face this terrible illness. Donating my hair is a little way to show my care and support to them. I hope their families and themselves find strength to persevere and recover soon."

- Marilyn

(Photos courtesy of Marilyn)

Her ponytail measures 17 inches

Date donated: 22nd August

12 ponytails

These ponytails are from Kimm, she did a very good job in tying her hair into multiple ponytails and securing them with an additional rubber band. Though this isn't the first time having donor donating multiple ponytails, but having 12 ponytails for a non-shavee is the first.

Kimm's hair measures 18 inches long. Thanks Kimm.

Date donated: 15th August

In memory of her mother

Yashodra's mum lost her battle with cancer when Yashodra was about to turn 4. And ever since, Yashodra has always been wanting to do something in memory of her mum.

"To many of us, our hair has always been our identity. Females are idealised to have long hair and males, to have short hair. I wanted to show cancer patients that its okay to be bald and that being bald does not belittle us. Hair does not define how beautiful we look. You can be bald and still be the 8th wonder of the world, breath taking and beautiful."

- Yashodra

On donating her hair, Yashodra said that she just wanted to make a change in someone else's life. It's better to donate instead of throwing it away. Her hair measures 21 inches

(Photos courtesy of Yashodra)

Date donated: 15th August

Natalie

Another donor donated her hair on this date. She is Natalie, donating 4 ponytails measuring 16 inches.

Date donated: 14th August

Chopping and recycling her long hair

Her words

"This year, I watched a lot of YouTube vids and saw that a lot of Americans donated their hair to locks of love and so I thought there HAD to be someone or an organization doing something like that. So I Googled and tadah your blog came up! And reading your blog, I was sure I wanted to donate my hair haha."

- Si Hui

Her Video

Her ponytail

Si Hui's ponytail measures 17 inches, and it came with a free hair wrap. Thank you Si Hui for making the video and spreading the words.

Date donated: 14th August

May & Carine

May and Carine are sisters, and both had cut off their long hair together for a good cause at the same time.

This is May, and her before and after hair cut photo. May has been doing a lot of volunteering work helping people, and since she had long hair, she decided to donate her hair to help more people. Her search brought her to my blog.

(Photo courtesy of May)

May's ponytails measure 15 inches.

Coincidentally, May's sister Carine, found out about my cause through a Facebook post by her friend Brenda and decide to do the same as well. Brenda is the mother of our youngest donor, Edna, who donated her hair beginning of this year.

I took this closed up shot of Carine's ponytail to show how her ponytail was tied. At least 5 rubber bands were used to secure the hair together. Nice job!

Carine's ponytail measures 17 inches.

Date donated: 13th August

An inch shorter or longer

Clara donated 2 ponytails, one is 17 inches and the other is 18 inches. They were both cut at the same time, just that accident do happen. So, is it an inch longer or shorter?

Date donated: 7th August

Jia U

These ponytails came from Siew Huey, they measure 12 inches. Thanks for your encouragement and help in spreading my cause. It's people like you that keep me going! Thanks!

Date donated: 5th August

Another 22 inches

She is Prajwala, and this is her story.

"Since the time I was a young girl, I have always been a huge fan of long hair. In fact, I used to love long tresses so much that I had never ever stepped into a salon or let a pair of scissors come near my hair. However, recently, I made one of my most life-changing decisions. I said yes to cutting my hair because as a third year medical student, I had to start going to the hospital everyday and I thought that shorter hair would be in the best interests of infection control.

To cut or not to cut was definitely something that I deliberated upon for a very long time. But once I had made up my mind, I was one hundred per cent sure that I wanted to donate my hair to Recycle Your Hair. My motivation to donate to make wigs for cancer patients stems from the fact that I am a Breast Cancer Foundation volunteer, and as such, I have learnt how valuable a wig can be in boosting the self-esteem of a patient going through treatment.

In going from a thigh-length cascade of hair to a short bob, I discovered the most meaningful way of commemorating my haircut. I hope I have made a difference in the life of a cancer patient, and I hope many others will too!"

- Prajwala

Prajwala's 22 inches
Photos courtesy of Prajwala

Date donated: 3rd August

Jet Black

This ponytail measures 22 inches, it is from our third donor from Myanmar. Thuzar loves her long hair, but she is more willing to let it go for a good cause.

"I believe hair is one of the proudest attribute for ladies. Giving up what you treasure to help another person is the most purest thing happens to that person. Thank you my friend Nancy and recycleyourhair to fulfill one of my dreams."

- Thuzar

Date donated: 3rd August

Donation: 2nd August (part 1)

Received 2 donations on this date, and am very grateful that both donors came down to meet me.

The first donor was Ruixin, she finds her long hair boring, so she decided to just cut if off and donate. Her ~~tail~~ hair measures 14 inches.

Click here for second donor.

Donation: 2nd August (part 2)

She treasures her long hair a lot during her teens and couldn't find the courage to part with it, even when she was inspired by her biology teacher who shaved when Ling Lee was in secondary school.

Ling Lee then gain her courage after her girlfriend took part in last year's event. She thought that if her friend and teacher can do it, why not herself? Hence, she is now a proud female shavee.

"I wanted to help those kids, I wanted to tell them appearance is not everything, having a beautiful heart is the most important."

- Ling Lee

On donating her hair, Ling Lee thought that it would be wasteful to just throw away the hair if it can be used.

Ling Lee's hair measures 11 inches

Thanks Ruixin and Ling Lee!

Click here for first donor.

From Malaysia

Donation: 1st August

These ponytails came all the way from Malaysia. Jessie is the first donor from overseas to send her hair by post. Special arrangement were made to make it possible for her hair to reach me. A few parties were involved, thanks to those who make this possible.

Like the previous donor from Malaysia, Jessie also wanted to donate her hair closer to 'home'.

"I really hope to donate my hair to help those who needed."

- Jessie

Jessie's ponytails measure 18 inches, our very first 18 inches. She did a good job in tying her hair. Thanks Jessie.

Donation: 31st July

31st July was the day I went to the wig manufacturer. But before that, I went to meet donor, Jasmine. Other than her hair, Jasmine also handed me her friend's ponytail.

Previously donated her hair to an overseas organisation, Jasmine decided to shave and donate her hair this year. Her hair measures 12 inches.

This ponytail belongs to Qian Ling, Jasmine's friend. Her hair measures 12 inches as well.

Donation: 29th July

Killing many birds with one stone is what Hui Shan had in mind and donating her hair for cancer patients was one of them. That's also the reason for her to grow out her hair for years.

"I just feel that if I have things to give why not" - Hui Shan

These 15 inches ponytails came from Hui Shan, she is one of the shavees who donated her hair.

Donation: 28th July

I have not been posting any post on donors for quite a while, so I shall begin with 3 shavees who donated their hair on 28 July.

The first shavee to donate her locks on that day is Ruth, her hair measures 16 inches.

Edited 14 Aug 2013:
After a year of thinking, Ruth decided to shave because she know a lot of people suffering from cancer, a few of them are girls around her age.

"I just wanted to show support and that they are still beautiful without hair. I thought it would be meaningful to do it as I have had long hair for practically my whole life, and if I could shave it off, it could encourage them."

-Ruth

(Photo courtesy of Ruth)

Ruth's ponytail

This is Teresa, her before and after shaved.
(Photo courtesy of Teresa)

Teresa's ponytails measure 12 inches

These ponytails belongs to Mary, Teresa's friend. She was referred by Teresa. Mary's ponytails measure 19 inches

Thanks all for donating your hair!

Video responses

Received an email from an anonymous telling me that there are a lot of people who are still not aware of my cause and asked me to search for something on YouTube.

I did a search a while ago and I did found something. I have created a video response (hope I did it right) to those videos and I hope it helps to spread my cause to a wider audience. Thanks anonymous for informing!

Photos Update 03/08/2013

Here are the photos of the ponytails for the 6 wigs. These were taken yesterday morning, my second trip there. Perhaps I was too excited the other day that I totally forgotten to take any photos even with my camera gears all with me.

Thanks J.J for driving me down on Wednesday morning, otherwise it would be too heavy for me to travel with such load on public transport.

So here are the photos taken yesterday morning before heading to work (arranged by the aunties at the factory).