hey gene...

the tape shouldn't be a problem as long as you don't stand still with the hoop with the flame going towards the hoop. i learnt that the hard way doing a photo shoot, melting both the tape and part of my hoop! :(

i tend not to wrap the entire hoop the way i do my regular hoops and i give myself a marker inbetween each spoke (sparkle tape/glo tape) for where to grab when i'm doing off the body moves. i wrap aluminum foil tape around where the spokes are. i started out doing one layer - now i do 3, just in case.

as for hooping around your neck - ahem...
my spokes are 7" long (longer than that and i don't really have ground clearance for jump-throughs) and i have lost way too many eye-lashes and sizzled some eye-brows and nose-hair and facial fuzz, so i'm pretty safety conscious. i wear goggles as well as elbow-length leather gloves - call me a wuss, whatever. it works for me - one second degree burn was more than enough for me (besides, i don't look great without eye-lashes).

as for hair - i used to use a hair wrap and it took me a while to figure out something more decorative, but now i've made myself a leather "crown" for lack of a better description. it wraps around the front and ties in back (you can see it in my tribe pix). i tie my hair up in a bun and over that i tie in a bunch of dread extensions which i made - some in day-glo, others the color of my hair (i braid and dread long pieces of synthetic hair and when i have enough individual braids, i use one to tie around the middle of them for a fall and then use that braid to tie around my bun. i then use individual braid/dreads to tie the rest into the shape i want and then pin it all in place). that way the front and the back of my hair is covered by the leather and the hair on top is protected by the (flame-resistant) dreads which only melt a bit if you zap them, rather than leaving you with a new hair-cut - which i've done by the way. hope this is enlightnening. :)
have fun with your virgin burn and roast that cherry!