Pikikos. In Campo de Ourique, wigs are made for children and adults with cancer using real hair

It was late afternoon when a man entered Pikikos and ordered a coffee. He spoke English, was from Singapore, was in Lisbon for work, and upon realizing that haircuts were also offered in that space, he asked if he could have his hair cut there. It was the method used that piqued the curiosity of the Singaporean consultant in the journalist field: next to him, Carla, one of the hairdressers, was cutting a woman’s hair, securing strands with elastic bands, to then be carefully stored.

The man asked Ramona, another employee, what method that was, and in English, the hairdresser explained that those strands were collected and sent to an organization in England that made real hair wigs to donate to children and young people with cancer – the Little Princess Trust. We are in Campo de Ourique.

Moved by the situation, the man, while paying for his haircut, insisted on also paying for the haircut of the woman who was donating her hair. Unaware because he didn’t speak Portuguese and didn’t understand the conversation happening right next to him: that one of the reasons she was doing it was that she herself had a son with leukemia.

He found out a few days later when he returned to Pikikos, and Natasha, touched by the woman’s story and his solidarity, made sure to tell him. Natasha von Muhlen is the owner of this space.

And that’s how, through someone living in Singapore, showing how small and big the world is, we found out that there was a hair salon in Campo de Ourique that collects hair and sends it to England to make real hair wigs to donate to children and young people with cancer.

Hair collection to donate to those undergoing cancer treatment was a project that Natasha von Muhlen embraced since she created Pikikos. Photos: Rita Ansone

“We have many people who donate hair, some come here specifically for that purpose”

The awareness that each of our actions can make a difference in the lives of others and in the planet’s sustainability, especially if they multiply, has guided the life of Natasha von Muhlen, 43 years old, half Dutch, half Portuguese.

She came to Portugal in 2009, for love. She had met her husband, Portuguese, in 2005, when she did an internship here. She returned to the Netherlands, completed her degree in Communication Sciences, and started working in the field of corporate social responsibility – a field she remained in when she moved to Lisbon, creating her own consulting company.

She developed projects for major companies such as EDP, Novartis, and Microsoft for a decade. Until she decided to change her life.

“I wanted to do something different, but always connected to social impact and sustainability. At first, I even thought about a pedagogical farm, right in the center of Lisbon, because in the Netherlands, we have many, almost one in every neighbourhood. I love animals a lot, but I didn’t have any training in that area, so then I thought about creating a hair salon for children, but eco-friendly, because the hair and beauty market has many toxic products. And it was around that idea that I created the whole concept”, says Natasha, a mother of four children, the youngest being 10 months old.

Thus, Pikikos was born in 2019, at Rua 4 de Infantaria, 53 C, in Campo de Ourique. Cut-Care-Coffee: which is the same as saying a hair salon, store, and café. Everything designed to fulfil the 12th of the Sustainable Development Goals, displayed on one of the space walls: “Responsible Consumption and Production.”

“All the remodeling I did here had that concern. The floor in the hairdressing area is made of recycled plastic from fishing nets, the materials are from a company that doesn’t use water in production, the shelves and the bar are made of reclaimed wood, and I made these benches with the leftover wood. The tables and chairs were bought second-hand, and the elephant where the children get their hair cut is made of cork”, explains Natasha.

“Both the products we sell and those used in the hair salon are from B Corp brands, which means they are certified as socially and environmentally responsible companies – with a positive impact in the social, environmental, labour, and community areas.

The towels are made of organic cotton, and the laundry service Pikikos works with is from Ajuda de Mãe (Mother’s Help), a social solidarity institution. The water used in hair washing is reused for flushing toilets in the bathroom. Even the foils used in the hair salon, which we try to avoid using as much as possible, are recyclable foils.”

For someone like Natasha, who always considers the impact, positive or negative, of her actions, the idea of collecting hair to make real hair wigs for people undergoing cancer treatment was therefore natural, given that she has a hair salon.

Finding that there was nowhere to send it in Portugal, all the hair she collects is donated to the British organization Little Princess Trust, but Natasha wants to create a project that allows the hair to be kept locally.

“We have many people who donate hair, some come here specifically for that, and I am now studying a way to do in Portugal what the Little Princess Trust does in England, but for children and adults. All I need is time and partners. My idea is for Pikikos to start receiving hair from all over Portugal and to have a structure set up to make wigs, which will be donated to children, young people, and adults who have lost their hair”, explains Natasha.

“This way, I keep the hair here for people in need and create jobs. But for that, I need to raise funds because I can’t bear the costs alone, and I need to outline a project”, she says. She adds that she hopes to have time to do this starting from February when the partner comes in to run the café part, also as a sustainable brand.

Combating sea pollution with human hair

The choice of Campo de Ourique was strategic.

It’s a neighbourhood with many families and children, and although the location is not the most central, Pikikos has managed to establish itself, especially as a hair salon and concept store in the area of eco-friendly products.

It survived the pandemic, which occurred a year after the place opened, and has customers who came for the first time at one year old and are now six. Coming to get their hair cut is an outing for them.

“They come with their siblings and stay there playing while they wait. The toys have never changed since we opened, and they love them. They ask their parents to come here because it’s special for them. But the majority of the clients are adults, many came with Ramona, others came “after” their children. But there are always many things happening here, we do pop-ups, workshops, solidarity initiatives. A community is created here”, Natasha explains.

The second-hand clothes, a novelty in the store, result from a pop-up. There are also children’s pyjamas made from recycled men’s shirts, an idea by Natasha brought to reality by SOUMA – a social solidarity institution supporting disadvantaged people. The wooden houses to combat pine tree caterpillars are made in another organization where people with intellectual disabilities work, a range of eco-friendly cosmetic products, and more.

Natasha is full of ideas, and another one of them is the creation of rugs or cushions filled with human hair to trap oil spills at sea and combat ocean pollution.

“That’s a huge project, but one I would also like to develop because Portugal has so much sea, right? It’s already being done in several countries. They use nylon stockings or tights filled with cut hair to create mats that capture oil spills. I really want to do that, but of course, I can’t do everything alone”, says Natasha.

The actions of each of us can make a difference in the lives of others and in the sustainability of the planet, especially if they multiply. It’s not written in any of the many phrases displayed in Pikikos’ space, but that’s what you take away from there. Besides a good haircut.

Catarina Pires

É jornalista e mãe do João e da Rita. Nasceu há 49 anos, no Chiado, no Hospital Ordem Terceira, e considera uma injustiça que os pais a tenham arrancado daquele que, tem a certeza, é o seu território, para a criarem em Paço de Arcos, terra que, a bem da verdade, adora, sobretudo por causa do rio a chegar ao mar mesmo à porta de casa. Aos 30, a injustiça foi temporariamente corrigida – viveu no Bairro Alto –, mas a vida – e os preços das casas – levaram-na de novo, desta vez para a outra margem. De Almada, sempre uma nesga de Lisboa, o vértice central (se é que tal coisa existe) do seu triângulo afetivo-geográfico.

Ver página de autor

If you like what you’ve seen us doing, if you get inspired by our stories, if you care about a new Lisbon, more engaging and liveable, if you see any use in this journalism, communitarian and close spare a little bit of your time and consider donating. If you want to be part of this community – join us!

Donate