- Donated hair must be a minimum of 8 inches long (measure hair from just above the elastic band of the ponytail to the ends).

- Wavy / Curly hair texture is fine - you may want to straighten hair to measure

- Hair should be freshly washed and completely dry, without any styling products

- Hair may be colored with vegetable dyes, rinses and semi-permanent dyes.  It cannot be bleached, permanently colored or chemically treated.

- Hair may not be more than 5 percent gray.

- Layered hair is acceptable if the longest layer is 8 inches.  Hair that is shaved off and not in a ponytail or braid is not usable.  If shaving your head, first divide hair into multiple ponytails to cut off.

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Here's why:

- It takes at least six ponytails to make a wig; in general, each ponytail comes from a different person and is a different color.  Even though some hair colors may look similar, including gray hair, each is completely unique.

- For a realistic-looking wig that has consistent color throughout, donated ponytails must be processed and then dyed to the same shade.  It is critical for each ponytail to absorb dyes at the same rate in order to create wigs of consistent, natural-looking color.

- Gray hair, as well as some chemically-treated or permanently-colored hair, does not absorb dye at the same rate as other types of hair.  It is much harder to color and once colored, fades more quickly.

- Most permanently-colored hair, once it is processed and re-colored, is too fragile and breakable under the rigorous processing required during the production of a wig.

Thank you for your interest in Hair Harvest!  We hope to see you and your long locks on Saturday, October 8th at Lytle's Beauty College of the Redwood Empire!