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Canadian Cancer Society chopping hair donation program in favour of synthetic wigs

If you've been growing out your luscious locks to donate them to the Canadian Cancer Society, you'd better do it soon.

The organization accepts hair donations to provide cancer patients with wigs, but will stop taking them by year's end.

Pantene Beautiful Lengths, which collects the donations and makes the wigs, says that's because real-hair wigs aren't as popular as they once were.

"Synthetic wigs are now the preferred wig choice for cancer patients," a statement on the Pantene website reads.

Megan Ledarney, CEO of The Extensionist salons, told CBC's Radio Active the change isn't a bad thing, as synthetic wigs aren't the tangled mess they once were.

Jessica Doria-Brown/CBC
Jessica Doria-Brown/CBC

"It used to be that it looked really plasticy and really shiny, but now they don't. They look more like human hair," said Ledarney, who has salons in Edmonton, Calgary and Kelowna.

While The Extensionist offers real-hair extensions, Ledarney said she's a fan of the fake stuff, having recently bought three synthetic wigs for less than $50 each. She recommends people with little to no hair give it a try.

"I can only imagine other people would like to save on costs as opposed to buying a human hair wig that can cost you upwards of $2,000," she said. "To go with these synthetic wigs that look so beautiful, you wouldn't be any the wiser about it."

In addition to the low cost, she said they're also easier to style, as flat irons and curling irons won't burn the faux fibres.

"I can remember putting my wigs in the bathtub and just pouring boiling water from my stove on it just to make them straight," Ledarney said.

Pantene noted improvements in synthetic hair have decreased demand for real-hair wigs.

Ledarney said there's another reason why faux wigs are on the rise: the "Kardashian effect." The famous family is known for regularly switching up the length and colour of their hair.

"People want to switch things up. And people want to have you know, like, 10 wigs," Ledarney said.

"It kind of showed everybody that ... anyone can wear a wig for any occasion."

Listen to Radio Active with host Adrienne Pan, weekday afternoons on CBC Radio One, 93.9 FM/740 AM in Edmonton. Follow the show on Twitter: @CBCRadioActive.