Haircuts are as wide and varied as there are days in the world. From those who wear it as short as possible to long hair, going through curls, drawings, dyes and more. A good head of hair can be the hallmark of a person, and sometimes those hairs can be used for a good cause. Organizations and initiatives to donate hair are becoming more and more popular, with the aim of creating wigs for people undergoing chemotherapy treatment.
Martín Barreiro, a meteorologist for Radio Televisión Española and one of the best-known faces of La 1’s programming, has participated in this solidarity initiative. The man from Lugo, who until this Thursday wore a prominent ponytail, has cut his hair live for the channel’s morning show, Hablando Claro. Barreiro has had the help of the hairdresser Jess Rodríguez, a collaborator of the organization Mechones Solidarios, which since 2013 has participated in the donation of hair.
The NGO is promoted by the Art and Image International Hairdressing Association, which for 35 years has been creating natural hair wigs for people undergoing cancer treatment. Barreiro wanted to take advantage of his decision to cut his hair to place it in a double trena and be better used by the organization. According to the hairdresser, the length of the hair must be at least thirty centimeters so that it can be used properly.
“It is very useful because it takes seven donors, seven locks of hair to get a wig. So, the two braids that he is going to donate…” explained the hairdresser. Jess even insisted that he would keep his hair on top to cut, to the laughter of the other collaborators on the set. Barreiro said that he had been letting his hair grow for three years now, pointing out how the first cut he did some time ago was a curious experience for him.
In addition to the minimum length of thirty centimeters, other requirements for the donation include that the hair does not have a cape, that is, that no small hair sticks out and it is a single strand; that it is in good care conditions and that it does not contain henna. This natural product is used to dye hair, but when mixed with other strands to create wigs, it causes strange colors to come out. Likewise, hair dyed in other ways is considered valid.
Once the two trenas were cut, to make better use of the meteorologist’s centimeters of hair, Barreiro and Jess Rodríguez went to one of the 1,900 hairdressers available to the NGO to donate their hair. The weatherman and the hairdresser have used a production vehicle for the program, where they will deposit the donation in an assigned center that will take the hair to its final destination: the organization’s headquarters in Malaga.
