British pop star Jamelia has vowed she will never wear hair extensions again after going to Chennai to find out how they are made.
She is ‘appalled’ to find that extensions are made from sacrificed hair in India
LONDON: British pop star Jamelia has vowed she will never wear hair extensions again after going to Chennai to find out how they are made.
The singer-song writer said she was horrified to see that the human hair she wore came from girls and women who were exploited into giving away their crowning glory. “I am ashamed to admit that I had never stopped to consider where the human hair I had pinned or sewn into my head had come from,” said the 27-year-old teen idol.
Participating in an investigation into the origins of hair extensions, Jamelia went with a BBC team to Chennai where she watched girls and women having their heads shaved in a temple. “This is a religious sacrifice. The shaving represents a last ditch plea to a higher power to save their home from being repossessed. But to me, it appears to be the ultimate in exploitation,” said Jamelia of what she saw.
Born to a Zimbabwean father and Jamaican mother, Jamelia has been using hair extensions for her stage performances and video shoots for years now. “Putting in hair extensions feels like a confidence booster. I wear them to transform myself from a busy mum of two into my alter ego, Jamelia the pop star,” she said. And she is not alone.
In the high-maintenance celebrity culture of Britain, hair extensions have become a must have for models, pop stars, wags and other celebrities. Following in their footstep girls all over the country are indulging in the fad. Recent figures show that British women spend a staggering £65 million a year on hair extensions. This is five times more than the amount spent four years ago.
In beauty salons in the UK a full head of extensions of good quality human hair can cost up to £2,000. “There is a staggering profit to be made from this trade, and you can bet that none of it is passed back to the girls at the beginning of the chain,” said Jamelia. Apart from temples, Jamelia also visited hair factories where workers sort through, shampoo, brush and blow-dry the shorn hair of more than 2,00,000 women a year.
“Only a quarter of Indian hair sold on the international market comes from Hindu temples, which means that most of it is coming from women who are simply trying to make a little money,” she said. “As consumers we need to make sure that the hair we use is ethical and has been given with consent,” added Jamelia.
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