At a glance, it is hard to notice that the waist-length hair Yohana “Gigi” Birgita Damanik’s sports is not all hers. The 21-year-old had supplemented her own hair last year with 65-centimeter natural extensions — extensions made from real hair that once belonged to someone else.

“My hair is [actually] short and thin. I wanted to follow the beauty standard that expects women to have long, thick hair,” said Gigi.

She said that synthetic extensions were difficult to maintain, and hence their affordable price of Rp 300,000 (US$20) to Rp 600,000. The price of natural hair extensions was double that of synthetic extensions, and she had spent Rp 1.8 million on her extensions.

“I do not know where the hair comes from. [...] What is important is, they are better than the fake, synthetic hair extensions,” she said.

Some hair salons in Jakarta sell their hair discarded hair to collectors that go from one salon to another, collecting the discarded, cut hair. However, not all discarded hair is sold, as the collectors prefer long hair for recycling into hair extensions, wigs and other products, most of which are produced in Purbalingga regency, Central Java.

Andre, who has been a hairstylist for 16 years at a North Jakarta salon, said she had collected and sold discarded hair from her clients to make an additional income. Products made from discarded hair were far more valuable than those made from synthetic hair, she said, and thus offered “an opportunity not to be missed”.

“Natural hair extensions became trendy after [dangdut singer] Inul Daratista was spotted wearing them. They have gotten more expensive since then. I used to just throw the hair away and never collected them. Today, many people wear hair extension, not just celebrities,” Andre said.

She only collected discarded hair that was more than 15 cm long. However, she would also collect shorter hair if a collector requested it, which were used in styling dreadlocks and sanggul (traditional buns).

“I can collect 20 bands of discarded hair in three months. I can earn up to Rp 150,000 from collecting that much hair,” said Andre.

Etty, a hairstylist at another salon in North Jakarta, said she rarely sold discarded hair that was at least 50 cm long to collectors. The collectors would then take the hair waste to villages in Purbalingga for turning into other products, including false eyelashes.

“However, I cannot sell [long] discarded hair very often, because it is rare for people with long hair to cut off their hair. Even if they did, they usually want to take home their cut hair,” she said.

Discarded natural hair can be found at the Pasar Baru shopping complex in Central Jakarta. Andy “Rambut”, who has been selling discarded hair at the complex since 2008, said he got his supply from Purbalingga.

He said that hair collectors did not just operate in Jakarta, but also in many other parts of the country to collect discarded hair. Andy added that collectors especially targeted villages where women usually sported longer hair, naming several places in East Java.

Products made from recycled hair were easily found in big cities like Jakarta that saw consistently high demand for hair and beauty products.

Andy sells the discarded natural hair in bands. They were priced according to length and thickness. Their lengths could range from 45 to 65 cm at prices ranging from Rp 150,000 to Rp 450,000 for each band of discarded hair. According to Andy, discarded natural hair was expensive because of the manual labor involved in processing discarded hair.

“My customers are salons and ordinary people who will have the hair fitted as extensions at salons,” he said.

To maintain the condition of the discarded natural hair, Andy applied vitamins to the bands and combed them every day.

“As long as the salon industry exists, so will [the hair trade],” he said. (ars)

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