THE growing desire for the glossy, long locks of celebrities
is fuelling a multi-million pound global trade in human hair, with demand for
hair extensions surging in the past year, according to e-commerce website
Alibaba.com.
Searches for human hair extensions in Britain jumped 160% in
the 12 months to the end of June, with salons noting an increase in women
seeking to emulate the hair of stars such as former X Factor judge Cheryl Cole
and Pussycat Dolls singer Nicole Scherzinger.
"There's been a huge upswing in hair. The celebrity culture has made hair extensions more popular, and everyone wants hair from India," said Linda Kozlowski, head of international business development and marketing at Alibaba.com
"With an estimated £65m being spent on various types of
hair extensions each year, it's no surprise that UK SMEs (small and medium
enterprises) in the beauty sector are looking to capitalise on this growing
market," she said.
Britain was the third-largest buyer of human hair worldwide
behind the United States and China in the period, said Alibaba.com, the only
listed unit of China's Alibaba Group.
Over half of the searches were for Brazilian hair, and 29%
for Indian hair, which has been used for decades in the production of wigs,
according to one Indian human hair export website.
"It's really driven by things like Facebook and
Twitter, tabloids and magazines. Women are wanting to be more and more
glamorous, as a result of this big celebrity culture," said Lucinda
Ellery, who has provided hair extensions to a host of celebrities for the past
25 years.
The recession dented some demand, she noted, but this has
been offset by a rise in older women seeking more youthful-looking hair through
the use of hair extensions, she added.
Natural glamour
Hair - or the lack thereof - is also a big issue for male
celebrities. England and Manchester United's Wayne Rooney recently posted a
photo of himself for followers on social networking site Twitter after
undergoing a hair transplant operation.
The trend of ethically sourced beauty products is also on
the rise, said Alibaba.com, which has nearly a million users in Britain and has
noted a massive demand globally for eco-packaging, said Kozlowski.
"We've worked very hard to source ethically harvested
real hair. There is a big religious reason in India for people to get rid of
their hair; they (have it cut off) and give it to the monks and now it's been
given off as an economic resource for the country," said Ellery.
A spokesperson at Reading-based Bonita Hair, which offers
training courses in hair extensions and sells human hair wholesale via its
website, said the firm had noticed an uptick in people attending its courses
since the end of last year.
"This year has got a lot busier... we're training a lot
of girls because a lot of them have their own salons and they have so many
people who ask for extensions and they're sick of saying no," she said.
The rise in popularity of extensions is also pushing up the
wholesale price of human hair.
"In the last 10 years, it's tripled, doubled and
tripled again," said Ellery, with human hair replacing synthetic hair in
terms of popularity as women seek more natural-looking hair.
So natural that most celebrities are now reluctant to admit
their hair enhancements.
"Celebrities are becoming increasingly shy about what
they do to keep themselves glamorous," said Ellery. "They're going
more quiet about their additives," she said.