LIKE many during lockdown, Liv picked up a peculiar hobby... She started to collect her own hair. Many of us will comb or brush our hair and then throw away the dead hair without a second thought, but Liv thought of a more interesting use for the hair. Liv came across a video of people weaving hair and she found it fascinating. This prompted her to start collecting her hair and documenting it. In order to keep her hair healthy, she is very strict with her hair routine. She washes her hair once a week, she uses natural products and keeps her hair oiled, from the scalp to ends. So far, Liv has collected almost 30,000 strands of hair over four years. She keeps track of the numbers with a little notebook from her husband. Liv at first didn’t have any plans for the hair, because it just started off as a hobby, and also content for viewers who like to watch 'satisfying' videos. She would have loved to donate the hair, but unfortunately isn’t able to, because her hair has been dyed and has been through treatments. Some of her followers have suggested that she make a wig and that is something she might look into doing in the future. Recently Liv gave birth to a baby girl and said when she is old enough, she would also likely start collecting her hair and documenting it.
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00:00I have collected 30,000 strands of hair.
00:03I count every single hair.
00:05That's a good one.
00:07150?
00:08I'd say 150 hairs I'm holding.
00:1130,000 hairs.
00:12My god, oh, you counted them all?
00:14Yeah.
00:15My partner has joked about cutting it when I've slept,
00:19and that makes me nervous.
00:21My morning routine would be to start brushing out my hair,
00:25just so that it's nice and smooth and soft.
00:28I started collecting my hair four years ago,
00:31and I haven't stopped since.
00:32I started collecting my hair during lockdown.
00:36I was scrolling on social media,
00:38and I saw somebody making a wig.
00:41And I thought to myself,
00:42what would happen if I started collecting my hair?
00:44I don't actually spend that long on my actual hair.
00:48I only wash my hair every two weeks.
00:50I do wash this hair as well, sort of every few months.
00:55It's gonna jump up.
00:57So this is a hydrating hair oil.
00:58This one is jasmine-infused.
01:02And then you're just gonna layer it onto the hair.
01:04So it's now taken me over four years
01:06to get to this sort of thickness.
01:08Do people think this is unusual?
01:10Would probably be the most common question I get asked.
01:14Generally, people think it's unusual.
01:18I have not always had long hair.
01:20When I was about 11 years old,
01:22I cut it all off out here and hated it.
01:26I don't actually know how long my hair is,
01:29so we can measure it now together.
01:32This is probably the longest I'd say it's ever been.
01:34Right, we're gonna have to pluck her hair.
01:37How much we go for?
01:38Oh, yeah.
01:39Let's put it up on the zero.
01:43Rub it down.
01:45Oh, it's still going.
01:46We are 33 and a half inches.
01:49That's quite long.
01:5133 and a half inches.
01:53I didn't actually really tell anyone
01:55what I was doing,
01:56and then when I started collecting
01:59and sticking up hair around my family,
02:00they would say, what are you doing?
02:01That's silly, blah, blah, blah.
02:04Once I started getting that one million views
02:06and things like that,
02:08they started to become a bit more impressed.
02:10So right now I am pulling off the hair
02:13that I have accumulated on my hairbrush.
02:16I would say this is probably a day's worth of hair,
02:18and then I put it in this bag.
02:20So at the moment, a lot of hair.
02:23I would say that I am addicted to collecting my hair.
02:25I do try to get every single hair.
02:28I mean, I don't go round on my hands and knees
02:31scraping at the carpet,
02:33but I do try to stick up as many as I can.
02:35She does like to be part of this process.
02:37In this bowl is hair that I have already separated,
02:41because not every single hair in this bundle
02:44is going to be viable,
02:46and I will literally just pick out the hairs
02:50and put them into the bowl.
02:52It's a really slow process, to be honest.
02:55I do spend a lot of money on hair care products and tools.
02:59It does reflect the quality of your hair.
03:02I do get quite a lot of discard hairs.
03:04Death lusts are good hair.
03:05I find it really calming to just sit there
03:08and separate the hairs and stick them up.
03:11This is going to be a really good hair
03:13because it's a slow, long pull.
03:17I like to run the hairs through my fingers.
03:20That's the bit that I find most satisfying.
03:23Originally, the goal started out as 10,000 hairs,
03:28and then I hit that, and then I hit 20,000,
03:30and I've just hit 30,000 hairs.
03:34That's another good one.
03:35I'd like to get enough so that I could do a wig.
03:40My understanding is that's 100,000 hairs,
03:43so I have a long way to go.
03:45There's another good one.
03:46My week is focused around this.
03:49So it's in my routine now.
03:51I have the personality that is slightly OCD.
03:55I like to do things in a certain way, a certain routine,
03:58and so putting this into my routine,
04:00it just became a habit for me.
04:04It's just layers and layers of double-sided tape.
04:06So it's going to stick to the collected hair,
04:09and then on the other side, I can then stick hairs onto it.
04:12Me and my partner, we've been together almost eight years,
04:14so four years in, I started doing this.
04:18He's not that bothered by it, but he does support me.
04:21He didn't think I was too crazy and run for the hills,
04:23basically.
04:24When I started the journey, I thought,
04:26why not document how many hairs I've collected?
04:31So I started writing it all down in this book.
04:33Day one, 22 hairs.
04:36All the way, counting all the days I've stuck up hair
04:40and how many hairs, and that was the last time
04:43I stuck up hairs to make 30,250 collected hairs.
04:48I would be heartbroken if I lost it.
04:50My partner has joked about cutting it while I've slept,
04:54and that makes me nervous.
04:55If I go on holiday, I just keep it glued to me.
04:58When I have it on me, I won't drink alcohol
05:00because I don't want to get drunk
05:02and then do something stupid.
05:04I should get it insured.
05:08On TikTok, I have around 450,000 followers.
05:10That's my main platform.
05:12So I started four years ago.
05:15I do average at about a million views.
05:18My most viral video is over 50 million views.
05:23If you'd told me on day one
05:25that this was going to make me money,
05:27I probably would have laughed at you.
05:29Should we do it together?
05:31Should we do it together?
05:32Now, I am just editing the content that I've just filmed.
05:37So this is my first ever video.
05:39Generally, the main comments that I will get
05:41about my content are things like,
05:43I cannot believe it's been four years.
05:45That hair is healthier than mine.
05:47I get that a lot.
05:48I feel so emotional over hair.
05:51It feels really nice that I have fans, I guess.
05:57So I'm really grateful, actually.
05:58I don't get that much negative comments.
06:01One I saw recently was just,
06:03it just said disgusting, that's it.
06:05But I don't respond to these.
06:06You could donate all that hair
06:07once you've collected enough.
06:09Sadly, I can't.
06:10Because my hair is dyed
06:13and is therefore not virgin hair.
06:16So that's why you can't donate it,
06:18because they only allow virgin hair.
06:19I'm glad I could share it with so many people
06:22and I have become a lot more confident in myself.
06:27So now I'm headed off to get my hair done at a salon.
06:33Hi, good afternoon.
06:34How can I help you?
06:35I've got an appointment at three.
06:36Are you Olivia?
06:37Yes.
06:38Hi, I'm Sue.
06:39What can we do in your hair for lipstick?
06:39Perfect.
06:40And this is the hair I've collected.
06:44Wow, you've made it look amazing.
06:4730,000 hairs.
06:49Oh, you counted them all?
06:50Yeah.
06:51My God, you're amazing.
06:53I've never seen that ever and that looks amazing.
06:57I collect the pieces.
06:59Pieces of hair that have naturally come out on the brush.
07:03Yeah, it's just unusual,
07:05but lots of people have different little foibles.
07:09So if that makes you feel good, then that's fine.
07:16Do you think you might use that ever
07:18in your hair at some point?
07:20We might make a wig one day.
07:21Yeah.
07:22So anything that collects in the brush today,
07:24you'd like to take out or I can take it out for you
07:28and give it to you.
07:29Yep.
07:29Okay.
07:30Look at that lovely hair for you.
07:32I'd say that's a decent amount of hair.
07:34Probably a couple hundred.
07:36See?
07:37Yeah, loads.
07:38I'm really shedding at the moment.
07:40So I was actually the first one that started doing it
07:43and I get people that tag me in other people's videos
07:46saying this girl is the original one
07:48that started doing it, which is quite cool.
07:52Our very own Rapunzel.
07:54And I'll give you your brushes so that you can
07:57get the hair out.
07:58Okay.
08:00I reckon there's about a thousand hairs here, easily.
08:05Thank you so much.
08:06You're welcome.
08:07It's been a pleasure to meet you.
08:08You too, Sue.
08:10Bye.
08:11Bye bye.
08:12We are off to see my friend Kim,
08:14who has seen my hair, but she hasn't seen it recently
08:17since it got to 30,000 hairs.
08:19Hi.
08:20Hi, how are you?
08:21Good, how are you?
08:22I'm good.
08:24When I first saw it, I thought it was a bit different.
08:26I haven't ever seen it.
08:27When I first saw it, I thought it was a bit different.
08:29I haven't ever seen anyone collecting their hair before.
08:31I don't think she's harming anyone,
08:33so what's the problem if anyone has anything to say?
08:36There's comments I see where people go,
08:38oh, imagine going in someone's house and seeing that.
08:40I stayed around Olivia's house when I saw it on the wall
08:42and I now slept in the same room with her.
08:45How was the hairdressers today?
08:46It was really nice.
08:47And I got to collect a load of hair.
08:49They like cleaned the brushes for me.
08:51Did they?
08:51Yeah.
08:52I love that.
08:53Yeah, so then they brushed out my hair
08:54and they were like, here you go at the end.
08:55And I just picked all the hair off and put it in a bag.
08:57You've got a bunch to count now, don't you?
08:58I do, loads.
08:59Do you want to see it since it's 30,000 hairs?
09:02Yeah, sure.
09:03All right, here it is.
09:05Ta-da.
09:07Cool.
09:07Feel that thickness?
09:09I can't believe how, yeah, it's gone so much.
09:13It's a good achievement, I guess.
09:15It's easier to have it all together
09:18than it is to have it messed up in a bag.
09:20And it feels so soft.
09:21Do you think I'm a bit weird doing this?
09:23Probably, everyone's a bit weird though.
09:25I love it.
09:26When do you think that this will come to an end
09:28or you'll get bored of doing it?
09:30I would really love to do 100,000 hairs,
09:33which is obviously crazy.
09:34Because that's how many hairs, supposedly,
09:36everyone has on their head, is like 100,000 hairs.
09:39That is cool.
09:39So I think it would be quite cool
09:40to have a whole head of hair.
09:42How long do you think 100,000 hairs will take?
09:44If it's taken me four years to do 30,000 hairs,
09:50then I guess, statistically, eight more years?
09:53Eight, nine years?
09:54I could do a master's degree with that.
09:57Hair collecting has changed my life for the better.
09:59What I love most about hair collecting
10:01is the people that I've got to meet along the way
10:03and the people that support me.
10:05I might get to a point where life gets too busy.
10:08I hope that isn't the case.
10:09I aim to work towards 100,000 hairs.
10:12So I have a long way to go.
10:14I don't know what the end of the story would be
10:16once I got to 100,000 hairs.
10:18I could collect my daughter's hair.
10:20I could make a wig.
10:21I could sell it.
10:23I don't think I'd sell it.
10:24But I could.