There was a hush in the hair salon as the scissors began to slice through Ruth-Victoria Price’s long blonde hair.The thick, luxurious locks, so long she could sit on them, made the 17-year-old the envy of other teens andlopping them off seemed like madness. Even though she had grown her hair for years, there were no tears fromRuth-Victoria. Every bit of the cut-off hair was to be donated to a wigmaker so that people with hair loss from the condition alopecia could enjoy her crowning glory as much as she had.
Ruth-Victoria’s great-grandfather had suffered from the condition and went bald when he was 19 years old.”It was something that I had wanted to do for a long time,” says the Christchurch student, as she checks out her new look in the salon mirror. “I know how hard it can be for people with alopecia and I’d heard that wig manufacturers were needing human hair to make good wigs. I thought, ‘Well, why not give them mine?'”
Two years ago, Ruth-Victoria decided she would definitely go under the scissors to help others. She did some research to find out what companies made real hair wigs in the South Island and approached Freedom Wigs in Dunedin to ask how long her hair needed to be.
“It was halfway down my back at that stage, and they told me it was already long enough for them to use. As it was ‘virgin hair’, meaning it had never been coloured or permed, it was even better for them to use. It’s so rare these days.” Ruth-Victoria decided to wait a bit longer so she could have even more hair to donate.
“I wanted someone to have a substantial amount so they could have as much fun with different hairstyles as I did,” she says. “oy hair was quite heavy too and I was getting the occasional headache. I would normally have it thinned and layered but because Freedom Wigs wanted as much of it as possible I left it.”
When it came to having her hair cut, Ruth-Victoria says she didn’t hesitate. “The hairdresser divided it into severalponytails, cut those off first and laid them in a box. Then she started styling it. Instantly I felt lighter – it felt weird.” Although she likes her new look, she’s not going to stick with it. “I’m not really a short hair person,” she laughs.
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
