This was sent to me by one of my best customers who has turned into a good friend over the years.  She is as appalled by this as I am.  I say we boycott Matrix, LOL!  Apparently we can add them to the list of companies that have been snowed by Locks of Love (and I'm sure have figured out that short hair requires many more styling products and salon visits).  I've removed the entry information because I refuse to contribute to this nonsense in any way.

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Matrix is searching for people with long locks and big hearts to donate a minimum of 10 inches of hair to Locks of Love. Locks of Love is a non-profit organization that provides hair pieces to financially disadvantaged children under the age of 18 who suffer from alopecia areata, a highly unpredictable autoimmune skin disease that causes the hair follicles to shut down resulting in the loss of hair on the scalp and elsewhere on the body. The organization creates custom-fitted prosthetic hair pieces that help restore lost self-esteem and confidence, enabling these children to face the world and their peers.

If you meet the required qualifications for the search, you'll be entered in the Search for Rapunzel Contest. One winner will receive a trip for 2 to NYC, tickets, and a backstage tour of the Tony Award-Winning musical, Hairspray. In addition, the winner will receive a makeover from Matrix that will appear on Main Floor, the nationally syndicated beauty and fashion television program. See below for contest guidelines.

Participants should be at least 13 years of age, minors will need their parents' or legal guardians' permission. Hair should measure a minimum of 10 inches from base of ponytail to end of ponytail and cannot be chemically damaged. Weaves or extensions are not suitable.

<ENTRY INFO DELETED>

2003© CondéNet, Inc.

I agree, let's boycott Matrix and all associated companies.  But for the boycott to work, they need to know we are boycotting and why.  Any ideas?

What is Matrix?

Think the idea to help this children is very nice...but not with my hair  :-/

wrote on Oct 10^th, 2003 at 1:34am:

What is Matrix?

Matrix is a salon brand of hair products.

Hm,a shame Matrix Biolage Conditioning balm is my all time favourite conditioner..... :-/ :-/

wrote on Oct 10^th, 2003 at 8:47am:

Think the idea to help this children is very nice...but not with my hair  :-/

The problem is they sell the hair elsewhere, throw a lot of it away and have questionable accounting practices.  They only *seem* like they are doing the right thing.

wrote on Oct 10^th, 2003 at 10:37am:

Matrix is a salon brand of hair products.

OH! That's awful  :(

[quote author=Rapunzel The problem is they sell the hair elsewhere, throw a lot of it away and have questionable accounting practices.  They only *seem* like they are doing the right thing.[/quote]

Good to know!

Interesting to find this posted: I've been very busy professionally for the last month & haven't been keeping up.

A month ago I was traveling in the southwest and met the daughter of a friend of mine.  The daughter was maybe 15 years old and had incredibly silky straight hip-length strawberry-blonde hair.  I told her I was growing my hair out, and complimented her on her beautiful locks.  To my horror she said, "Well enjoy it quick, 'cause I'm cutting it off next week and donating it to Locks of Love."  I was floored and disgusted, but tried not to let it show - after all, it is HER hair, but WHAT ARE THEY TELLING THESE GIRLS TO GET THEM TO DO THIS??

At any rate, I don't happen to be using Matrix currently and will see to it that I will not in future.  This really bears looking into more deeply.  Could Locks of Love be another one of those charities who spend an inordinately high percentage of their charitable income on staff, salaries, offices, maintenance "expenses", etc., and an incredibly small percentage on the service they are supposed to provide?  Something smells fishy, closer to home than Denmark!

wrote on Nov 3^rd, 2003 at 8:52pm:

Could Locks of Love be another one of those charities who spend an inordinately high percentage of their charitable income on staff, salaries, offices, maintenance "expenses", etc., and an incredibly small percentage on the service they are supposed to provide?  Something smells fishy, closer to home than Denmark!

They don't provide annual financial statements, so it is hard to say.  They claim to have a small staff.  The bigger issue for me, is the fact that only a very small percentage of the donated hair is actually used in the hairpieces for kids.  Most of the hair donated is sold.  Now granted, they need cash to cover salaries and the cost of making these hairpieces, but from what I can calculate from the numbers they provide, they have a HUGE cash overflow.

I think the hair salons and now Matrix are "supporting" LoL because it "looks" like a good charity for them to support when in reality, by encouraging people to cut their hair, that person has just entered the "I need to have my hair done every 6 weeks" world, which benefits the salons and hair product industry.

I don't doubt that the children that receive the hairpieces from LoL are very appreciative.  I don't see any problem with someone who had planned on cutting their hair donating it to such a cause.  But I don't appreciate the methods that are sometimes used (shaming long haired people into cutting) or the lack of responsible financial accounting of their operations.  I will not be donating money or hair to these people.

I come from an open-minded and loving family and therefore respect others opnions and try my hardest to understand them. With this in mind I hope that who ever reads this will try and understand my opnion.
The loss of your own hair can be very tramatic,  especially if you are young and trying to fit in. I can respect others choice to boycott Matrix but please concider the children involved. I agree that it is a shame Matrix has to bribe people to cut their hair and donate it. I also agree that at times the alterer motives and question of where the hair is going may also seem shady. But it's for a noble cause and it's only hair, IT WILL GROW BACK.
The children that lost their hair will never have theirs grow back.
(and i do have some knowledge of the hair growing back, mine was once waist lenght, and sucessfully is again, and i'm contemplating having it cut off for locks of love.)

I thought you meant the movie for a moment and got scared - one of my fav movies!

M