What are the requirements for donating hair? Will they take grey hair? What if I dye it?

One of our patrons regularly donates her hair and was wondering if she could continue to do so if she dyed her hair, or as her hair started to go gray. Looking around online, we found several organizations that accept donated hair, and all of them have their own particular requirements. One thing that they all have in common is that hair must be clean, dry, in good condition, and gathered into a ponytail or a braid. They all have minimum lengths for donated hair, from eight to twelve inches depending on the organization, but most of their websites specify that curly hair can be stretched straight while measuring it. It can take up to twelve ponytails to make a hairpiece.

Locks of Love is one of the most well known. They provide hairpieces to children who are suffering from long-term hair loss because of a medical condition. Most of the children they serve have alopecia areata, an autoimmune disorder that causes the hair follicles to stop working. (It was founded, in fact, by someone with alopecia.) Ponytails or braids donated to Locks of Love must be at least ten inches long. They don’t accept bleached hair or dreadlocks, but they will accept permed or otherwise colored hair, along with grey hair. While they don’t use it in their wigs for children, they’ll sell it, along with hair that’s too short or otherwise doesn’t meet their criteria, to help defray costs.  

CWHL (Children With Hair Loss) was founded in September 2000 with the goal of helping kids with cancer, but they’ve since expanded their reach to include children with alopecia, burns, and other medical issues. They pride themselves on providing their hairpieces at no cost. Donated hair must be eight inches or longer. They accept grey hair, and, while they prefer hair not to be chemically treated, they will accept that as well.

Wigs for Kids is another organization providing wigs free of cost to kids and their families. They were founded around thirty years ago by Jeffrey Paul, a hairdresser who wanted to help his fifteen-year-old niece after she was diagnosed with leukemia. Hair donated to Wigs for Kids must be at least twelve inches long and cannot be colored, permed, or otherwise chemically treated.

Wigs 4 Kids, a completely different organization, has the same mission as Wigs for Kids and CWHL but is focused solely on helping kids in Michigan. Anyone can donate hair, but it must be at least ten inches long, not colored or chemically treated, and not “more than 10% grey.”

While the above organizations focus on helping children, Pantene Beautiful Lengths provide free wigs to women who have lost their hair through cancer treatments. They accept hair that is at least eight inches long, and, as with Wigs for Kids and Wigs 4 Kids, it cannot be colored or chemically treated.

We found our information on the charities’ websites. For more information on how to help out charitable organizations, Karl T. Muth’s Charity and Philanthropy for Dummies is available for borrowing through CLEVNET.

Can Curly-haired Parents Have a Straight-haired Daughter?

“My daughter’s hair is straight, but my hair and her father’s hair are both curly. Isn’t curly hair dominant?”

According to “Ask a Geneticist” on The Tech Museum of Innovation’s website and “What causes people to have straight or curly hair?” by Robert Jones on www.howitworksdaily.com, curly hair is a dominant trait. However, if both parents actually have wavy hair, it’s possible for them to have a straight-haired daughter.

Remember doing Punnett squares in biology class? CC represents the curly hair gene, and ss represents the straight hair gene. If both parents have curly hair, they can each only contribute a C, so their children will have curly hair too. The same goes for two straight-haired parents – they can each only contribute an s, so their children will have straight hair. What about a child with one straight-haired parent and one curly-haired parent? Because one parent contributed a C and the other contributed an s, the child will have both genes and their hair will be wavy. (Although curly hair is technically dominant, hair type is an example of incomplete dominance, so the curly hair doesn’t cancel out the straight hair entirely.)

Wavy hair, then, is represented by Cs. A wavy-haired parent can either contribute a C or an s, so two wavy-haired parents have a fifty percent chance of having a wavy-haired child, a twenty-five percent chance of having a curly-haired child, and a twenty-five percent chance of having a straight-haired child. It’s the shape of the hair follicles that determine the shape and texture of the hair: rounder follicles will produce straight hair, while more oval follicles will produce curlier hair.

To make things even more interesting, according to Jessica Goldstein’s article for NPR “A Hair Mystery: Curly Hair Gone Straight," some people report that their hair’s been known to change shape and texture on its own as they age. No one’s quite certain exactly why it happens, though changes in hormones and body chemistry probably factor into it.

For more information on the secrets of genetics, Sam Kean’s The Violinist’s Thumb:and Other Lost Tales of Love, War, and Genius, as Written by Our Genetic Code is available at the Newton Falls Public Library.

I Need Instructions for a Sweet 16 Sugar Cube Hair Decoration

"We are having a Sweet 16 party, and I would like to make a 16 sugar cube hair decoration.  Can you help me find the instructions?"  Some of the staff of the Newton Falls Public Library remember receiving 16 sugar cube items for their 16th birthdays, but were not sure if they had ever seen one for hair.

Considering current television reality shows and the wealth of information online and the comments on several sites, that Sweet 16 parties are a lot like a wedding without a groom, makes this a interesting reference question. Blogger, Donna Pilato wrote about Sweet 16 Parties and Traditions, on the website About.com Guide March 9, 2010.  She mentions her "nostalgia for the old-fashioned sugar cube corsages."

We were not able to locate instructions specifically for a hair decoration.  However, the blog, Alex Loves NY has very simple instructions for a sugar cube wrist corsage.  Her instructions on tying up the cubes with ribbon, combined with a picture of a Sweet 16 corsage at the website, Thriftyfun.com, could inspire a crafter to modify the latter into a very unique hair decoration.

While searching for the information, we came across this interesting online posting of Candy Birthday Corsages - A Vintage Tradition Poised for a Comeback? Candy Corsages in the 1950s through the 1970s.  Besides instructions for a wrist corsage, there is a listing of various items for making unique corsages for the birthdays of young ladies, ages 10 - 18.  Sweet 16 sugar cubes are followed by Sour 17 lemon drops.

Will Quitting Smoking Cause My Face to Break Out?

“Will quitting smoking cause my face to break out?” The Newton Falls Public Library staff admires patrons who are trying to improve their health and we are happy to try to find the answers to their questions.


The Enlightened Smoker's Guide to Quitting by Bear Jack Gebhardt addresses the common belief that quitting smoking means that you will gain weight in the chapter The Sound of One Hand Eating – I Have to Smoke or I’ll Get Fat! Gebhardt seems to feel that the weight gain is an eating problem, not a nonsmoking one. In Smoking 101: an overview for teens by Margaret O. Hyde and John F. Setaro the effects of smoking on the skin are listed [p.36]. They include robbing the skin of collagen making smokers have more wrinkles and reducing the blood supply to the skin giving the face a grayish pallor.

How to Wash Your Face: America's leading dermatologist reveals the essential secrets for youthful, radiant skin by Barney J. Kenet says that smoking can impair healing of wounds which may also result in larger scars, and “may have an influence on psoriasis [p.168].” The Acne Prescription: the Perricone program for clear and healthy skin at every age by Nicholas Perricone and Breaking out: a woman's guide to coping with acne at any age by Lydia Preston have a great deal of information for those suffering from acne.

There are many websites on the subject of smoking and acne. The September 17, 2007 Daily Mail article, Smoking gives women acne, scientists reveal [www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-482302/Smoking-gives-women-acne-scientists-reveal.html] states that “For people who suffered acne as teenagers, the probability of also suffering acne in adulthood is four times higher in smokers than non-smokers.”

This still didn’t answer our patron’s question. The website, Quit Smoking Support [http://quit-smoking-support.woofmang.com/viewtopic.php?t=4010] has a posting "Now that I've quit smoking, why am I getting acne like I'm a danged teenager?!" The site responder states “smoking introduces all kinds of nasty pollutants into our bodies . . . One day, we quit smoking . . . but . . .it throws our bodies into an upheaval. Suddenly the chemical balance is thrown out of whack again while, at the same time, our bodies start the detoxification process. . . drink lots of water to help flush out all the toxins. This is good advice and it helps a great deal. However, it's just not fast enough for your body when [it] begins to excrete the toxins in any way it can . . . recovering heroin addicts have been known to develop raging cases of acne, too.” This last bit of information satisfied our patron.

How many piercings and tattoos does Natasha Kai have?

“How many piercings and tattoos does Natasha Kai have?” This inquiry required a follow-up by the Newton Falls Public Library staff, as we weren’t familiar with the lady in question. The patron informed us that Natasha is a soccer player. She is also a member of the U.S. Women’s Soccer Team and 2008 gold medal winner. Checking the library’s catalog showed that Mia Hamm is the only female soccer player about whom we have a book.

The online search began with finding out more about Natasha Kai, a 25-year-old from Hawaii. The Team USA website [http://soccer.teamusa.org] states that she has 19 tattoos. The U.S. Soccer site [http://ussoccer.com] concurs, noting her famous ‘sleeve’ tattoo and the newest one which is stars on the back of her neck.

ESPN Soccer [http://soccernet.espn.go.com] mentions her multiple piercings but does not give a count. None of the previously mentioned websites gives any information about her piercings, though we can see from the photograph on the U.S. Soccer site that both ears and her bottom lip are pierced. Other than several websites mentioning facial piercings, none gave an exact number for us to tell our patron. However, the staff did learn some very interesting information about Natasha, whose full name is Natasha Kanani Janine Kai. The oldest child of her father who is a professional singer/performer at the Polynesian Cultural Center of Oahu and Hawaiian history teacher and her mother who is also a teacher, she is the first player from Hawaii to play on the Women's National Team and a Women's World Cup Team. There is a very interesting online video with Natasha from USSoccer.com on You Tube [www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrs-0L6NNcc]; she speaks about playing soccer and her family.

Tattoos are a subject about which other patrons often make inquiries, especially those considering ideas for their body art. The library’s collection has several books on the topic, including The Complete Idiot's Guide to Getting a Tattoo by John Reardon, Tattoos and Body Piercing by Leanne K. Currie-McGhee, and Ink: the not-just-skin-deep guide to getting a tattoo and The Tattoo Encyclopedia: a guide to choosing your tattoo both by Terisa Green. Many considering tattoos look at the books on calligraphy for inspiration such as Chinese Calligraphy Made Easy: a structured course in creating beautiful brush lettering by Rebecca Yue and The Calligrapher's Bible: 100 complete alphabets and how to draw them by David Harris. One of the library’s many art books may also be a source of creative ideas for those considering getting a tattoo.