The real life Rapunzel- what do you think about her?

[CorinaS]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2396679/The-real-life-Rapunzel-World-record-holder-says-55ft-long-dreadlocks-paralyse-cut-them.html

I wonder what her hair-routine is?:hmm:

[loveisdivine]

Wow! I'd say as its dreaded it pretty much takes care of itself. I wouldn't have thought hair could even grow that long.

[daredevil14]

I guess she has never met Mr. Terminal (Length)!

Imagine the same hair but without braids, just plain straight or wavy/curly hair that needs to be routinely washed AND combed hahahah... now that's a "painful" astonishment. Also, 2 days for the hair to dry? I assume that she means AIR-DRY! Anyway great hair. :D

[Nae]

It is quite lovely.

Though the weight would be a bit worrisome.

[Mayihuan]

Talk about patience and good genes!
I find such a length freaks me out, though. Can you imagine living with such a thing on your head?! :confused:

[clioariane]

yeah I don't know... rather her than me.

[jacqueline101]

I don't think I could take it. That's a lot of hair.

[sarahthegemini]

I'm not a huge fan tbh.

[FuzzyBlackWaves]

It's her choice, but I think personally I wouldn't enjoy my hair if it was that long. It'd become a chore for me.

[RedNymph]

That's a lot of hair. While I wouldn't do it personally, I admire her for her dedication.

[lapushka]

I think that's just insane! Sorry. Not my cup of tea. If you almost "willingly" get health problems due to the length of your hair... that's going more than a tad too far!

[Zindell]

I'm not overly impressed about the length, knowing that most of her hair isn't attached to her head anymore but are just hanging on due to the dreads. But if she is happy, the more power to her! :D

[Magalo]

Guys, they're dreads: probably all her hair past floor-length is not attached to her head anymore, but they're stuck in the dreads: that's why it's so long.

[Anje]

Locs are pretty care-intensive and those look pretty nice. That said, I'm not personally fond of her decision to keep so much hair that it's physically harming her -- if nothing else, she clearly needs to find a way to wear it other than piled on her head! I'm thinking some sort of baby-sling-type thing worn at hip level would take the weight off her spine while letting her keep her hair as she wishes.

[Mishka_84]

Locs are pretty care-intensive and those look pretty nice. That said, I'm not personally fond of her decision to keep so much hair that it's physically harming her -- if nothing else, she clearly needs to find a way to wear it other than piled on her head! I'm thinking some sort of baby-sling-type thing worn at hip level would take the weight off her spine while letting her keep her hair as she wishes.

About halfway down the article it shows how she does this. She has a baby sling that she puts her hair in when she goes out. :)

I'm personally not a fan of hair this long. I think the idea of toting around all the hairs that've been shed over the last 25 years just isn't for me. But her locs do look well maintained, and she's happy with it.

[CorinaS]

Guys, they're dreads: probably all her hair past floor-length is not attached to her head anymore, but they're stuck in the dreads: that's why it's so long.


I'm not overly impressed about the length, knowing that most of her hair isn't attached to her head anymore but are just hanging on due to the dreads. But if she is happy, the more power to her! :D

I never actually thought of that when I read the article...Now I'm really curious how long her long hair is.

[Macaroni]

I don't think that's attractive, at all.

[HylianGirl]

Wow! That's really long O.O

But I hadn't thought about what Magalo and Zindel said, since they're locked there will be lots of shedded hair in there making it look longer. I think I was also impressed by the length of the dreads since dreadlocks seem to take longer to show length, sometimes they even shorten on their own.

But I agree that it's dangerous to risk your spine to have hair that long.

[Anje]

About halfway down the article it shows how she does this. She has a baby sling that she puts her hair in when she goes out. :)
Ah, missed that. I should really RTFA sometimes!

[chen bao jun]

That's a lot of hair.
I'm not usually a fan of dreads, but her hair actually looks good to me. I think also, that it must be long, even counting that dreads retain your shed hairs, even people that have had dreads for 25 years don't usually have hair anywhere near that long. She must be combining an extraordinary anagen phase and a long terminal length with her dreads.
However, I have to agree with those who say your health comes first. If it is actually causing health issues, then I would cut it if it were mine. The thing is, though, drs. don't always know. My neighbor had ankle length hair and when her neck and back started hurting, several drs told her that her long hair was the problem. she cut and still had issues and it turned out it had nothing to do with hair at all, she has pinched nerves. Doctors are human and they also can sort of want to keep people following society norms, maybe unconciously. so long as she is not dirty (and she doesn't look it), its her business.

[chen bao jun]

Isn't there a chinese woman with hair just as long or longer, which is loose hair, not dreaded? Xie Jinping or some name like that?

[Hootenanny]

I think it looks lovely. I really like the shells that she wove in, also. If I were in her shoes, though, I would be concerned that the weight of the dreads would start damaging my roots, esp. the fine hair along my edges. And, of course, if it were truly causing medical problems, I'd most likely cut at least some of it.

I don't understand the "zombie" part of the article, though. Why does she think that cutting her hair would make her a zombie? Does she mean something like: "it would make me just like everyone else"? Or maybe this is a superstition about hair for some people? :confused:

[Kaelee]

It's lovely but I have zero interest in having hair that long. I'm aiming for that balance between "long enough to put up in a bun easily" and "long enough to have it's own set of serious issues"...for me that's the gap between midback and tailbone, most likely.

[Seanymph]

I think it looks lovely. I really like the shells that she wove in, also. If I were in her shoes, though, I would be concerned that the weight of the dreads would start damaging my roots, esp. the fine hair along my edges. And, of course, if it were truly causing medical problems, I'd most likely cut at least some of it.

I don't understand the "zombie" part of the article, though. Why does she think that cutting her hair would make her a zombie? Does she mean something like: "it would make me just like everyone else"? Or maybe this is a superstition about hair for some people? :confused:


No it's obviously due to religion. I think she's into Shango or Trinidad Orisha.

Anyways she can keep it. If my hair starts causing me health problems, and I have to carry it around like a child on my back it's about time to break out the shears.

[Brileeka]

55 ft. of hair in 25 years is some fast growth

[MaryMarx]

No, I don't like it. Sorry real life Rapunzel! I'm just not a fan of dreads, and especially not that long. :p

[coconutinsight]

I like dreads but I feel that when hair comes too much of a problem and interferes with your daily life it's just too much. However I respect her but no, I could never handle that much amount of hair

[Leeloo]

In her interview she notes that she has her own hair care line that she uses. I’m not sure but I think that she said she has or had a medical condition that contributed to hair growth or maybe she grew it despite that condition. I’ll have to watch that interview again.

[faellen]

I wouldn't have thought hair could even grow that long.

Well, a lot of that isn't attached to her scalp, it's just shed hair that can't escape, haha.

I'm not a fan really, I think when hair starts messing up your neck and spine you've overdone it. But, who am I to judge? Some horrible comments there from typical Daily Fail readers as usual.

[Hootenanny]

No it's obviously due to religion. I think she's into Shango or Trinidad Orisha.

Anyways she can keep it. If my hair starts causing me health problems, and I have to carry it around like a child on my back it's about time to break out the shears.

Thanks, Seanymph, that makes sense! :)

[Isilme]

Not my cup of tea. I like myself to be the main attraction when people see me, not my hair. For me anything beyond ankle length is a no go, I prefer to be able to wear it down without it dragging on the ground. And letting hair interfere with health is just stupid.
I find the Chinese women who has ultra long hair prettier than dreads, in my world dreads are like cheating :P

[Flor]

Well, a lot of that isn't attached to her scalp, it's just shed hair that can't escape, haha.

Eeek, I haven't thought of that! But you're right! If it's in dreadlocks, then it's not real length, it's just a lot of shed hairs trapped.

[MaryO]

That's a lot of hair! Not sure why but it freaks me out a little. Glad if she loves it though!

[heidi w.]

I know several people who have hair this long. I've met them. It's all beautiful hair, with very committed to having long hair. I went to an artist's video that captured it all. I miss my hair now that I've cut it, but it's okay. Remember, you grow it and get used to how long it is now. You never imagine your hair will be this long.
But it gets that long. People liked it and disliked it. I have a lot to say about having hair this long.
This long, it must be worn up mostly unless you want to drag it through the streets and dirt.
It's true: a lot of dreadlocked hair have unshed hair trapped on the head and hair. I bet if she takes them out, she will have a slight minimizing of overall length, once it's all combed out.
heidi w.

[stinkyfeet]

Wow! I didn't know hair could grow that long! It seems like it would be painful to carry that much hair everywhere you go.

[Faralie]

Jeepers, I couldn't do it. I would feel too weighed down, immobilized. And the health problems, just for the sake of hair longer than a bus? Nope. To each their own though.

[Unicorn]

There was some debate about the length of her hair. She appears to have added broken dreadlocks to the length of attached dreadlocks, doubling the length. Given that dreadlocks condense, meaning any attached hair would be longer than its position in the dreadlock itself, she would have to have a growth rate of almost 3' per year to acquire 55' in 25 years.

I read that The Guinness Book of Records removed the title of longest dreadlocks due to this suggestion that dreadlocks being added to the ends to increase length.

Unicorn

[BrightEyes]

Her hair is way too long for my preference. But the dedication and commitment she must have is incredible.

[Unicorn]

Not my cup of tea. I like myself to be the main attraction when people see me, not my hair. For me anything beyond ankle length is a no go, I prefer to be able to wear it down without it dragging on the ground. And letting hair interfere with health is just stupid.
I find the Chinese women who has ultra long hair prettier than dreads, in my world dreads are like cheating :P

OT Only on LHC would this statement be made :D /OT

Unicorn

[kysgrl]

I think she would have reached terminal length if they weren't dreadlocks
I guess she has never met Mr. Terminal (Length)!

Imagine the same hair but without braids, just plain straight or wavy/curly hair that needs to be routinely washed AND combed hahahah... now that's a "painful" astonishment. Also, 2 days for the hair to dry? I assume that she means AIR-DRY! Anyway great hair. :D

[woodswanderer]

I couldn't/wouldn't do it. I would start to feel like a prisoner of my own hair. I thought some of the article's commenters on the Daily Mail site were ignorant or rude though. Her hair isn't any more dead than anyone else's hair, and the thing about sitting her hair in an extra chair makes sense. I wouldn't ignore my health for my hair, but if my hair was that long, I sure wouldn't want it on a restaurant floor. I too was wondering about how one dread was so much longer, but LHC cleared it up for me.

[erinlesley09]

Dreads aren't my style, but I agree with others that I would cut my hair shorter if it were interfering with my health/well-being. That said, it's her hair and her decision. :shrug:

[henné]

Way too much ... Not a fan. But of course, she can do exactly what she wants with her hair - no discussion about that.

[DarkCurls]

What she does with her hair is her business. I actually rather like the pictures in the article but I would never want hair anywhere near that long (I don't think I'd ever want dreads either). I don't want my hair to be unmanageable and cause me problems the way hers obviously does. I want to always enjoy my hair, and not have to take it into consideration every time I go for a walk. That hair is way past the stage where it can be easily bunned, so not for me.
I also have to say I really think it's foolish of her to endanger her health (spine) for the sake of her hair. I'm going to sound judgmental but honestly, why would you want to do that?

[lapushka]

I also have to say I really think it's foolish of her to endanger her health (spine) for the sake of her hair. I'm going to sound judgmental but honestly, why would you want to do that?

For the sake of recognition, fame? Being unique? It has to be something along those lines, because to me doing this because you like this (when it's endangering your health)... beyond me.

[heidi w.]

She may have a lowered sense of self.
heidi w.

[purrmonsterr]

That's a lot of hair! For some reason it weirds me out to think about carrying around a bunch of old hair that's not even attached to my head anymore. :P I wouldn't want hair that long, what a pain! But to each their own, her hair really is amazing regardless.

[chen bao jun]

Well, too bad she's cheating.
I do repeat though that I'd want to be certain that the hair was actually truly endangering her health, considering my neighbor's experience (hair cut from feet to a pixie only to find the drs were wrong and it wasn't her hair causing her neck pain but a pinched nerve and deterioration in her spinal disks that they never bothered to look for BEFORE the hair cut, assuming wrongly that it MUST be all that hair).
I won't make any comments concerning whether or not I would ever grow hair that long because I don't really have the choice--i can't. I'm hoping I can get to waist in reality (which won't be in appearance because of curly shrinkage). In my dreams I'd love to have knee length hair, though I have no idea what that would feel like, it just looks pretty to me. Although I love pictures of Japanese Heian women with their hair trailing behind them on the ground, they had a special leisured lifestyle that would be difficult to pull off nowadays. (though that Chinese woman is somehow managing to get around with hair twice as long as she is tall). So I haven't imagined hair longer than I am. But if its your goal and you manage to achieve it (without cheating and attaching added pieces to your dreads), more power to you, doesn't affect my life one way or the other enough for me really to have more than a vague opinion of 'this looks attractive' or 'I don't like this so much' (which i don't have the time or energy to post in a
comments' section of the newspaper under an anonymous name).

[Seanymph]

Well if she never had a curvature of the spine, and a collapsed neck before, and it started to come on as her hair grew longer and heavier, I would say her hair is the culprit.

[CurlyCap]

I'm really not a fan. Most of that length is shed hair that is trapped in dreads. Just not the same as "long hair" to me.

[EdG]

That is a lot of hair. :thud:

I too consider dreads to be in a different category than hair that's all attached to the scalp. 55 feet in 25 years is way beyond any known growth rate.
Ed

[Misty'sMess]

I'm not sure how anyone can live carrying such a weight around with you every moment. Its effecting her health. But, then again, it is her choice and I wish her well.

[grungy haze]

Having hair that long and heavy...It seems like it would be kind of terrible.

[jeanniet]

I really like nice-looking dreads, and hers seem to be pretty nice, but I could never stand to have my hair that long. Longest dreads I've ever seen in person were about knee-length on a guy who was pretty tall. They looked nice, too, but unfortunately I only saw them driving by and didn't get a close-up look.

[leslissocool]

Those are really nice dreads.

[twinklingbell]

Wow. That's some serious hair! :agape::thud:
I actually really like the way her hair looks in the dreads, flung over the rail of her second floor. I understand how hard it is to even trim, let along chop off so much hair. But if her hair is actually causing her problems, and she has it sooo long... If she cut her hair back to floor length or even a little longer, it would probably release enough weight from her neck to save her health, and she'd still have it super long. Besides, she could grow it back and cut it if when it started to cause her problems again. She seems to have a fast growth rate. I wish her good luck in her decision!

[chen bao jun]

Well if she never had a curvature of the spine, and a collapsed neck before, and it started to come on as her hair grew longer and heavier, I would say her hair is the culprit.

You don't know it, though. When people have medical issues, testing is needed, not assumptions, even if they seem logical. Many people have had things missed because they walked in and were obese and the dr jumped to the conclusion that obesity causes every problem, or because they are elderly and the dr thinks, well old people have problems just from being old. I have personally seen some health issues happen to people that could have been avoided if the dr. didn't think past, 'well, that's obvious.' It's call 'jumping to conclusions' and it should not be part of medical practice.

[Chromis]

You don't know it, though. When people have medical issues, testing is needed, not assumptions, even if they seem logical. Many people have had things missed because they walked in and were obese and the dr jumped to the conclusion that obesity causes every problem, or because they are elderly and the dr thinks, well old people have problems just from being old. I have personally seen some health issues happen to people that could have been avoided if the dr. didn't think past, 'well, that's obvious.' It's call 'jumping to conclusions' and it should not be part of medical practice.

I can't agree with this more! I have friends who are overweight and get a lecture about how they would be fine if they lost some weight...and they went in for a broken arm! I've seen this happen more than once too. I've also had to deal with doctors simply assuming the wrong things or not wanting to do surgery because they didn't want to "scar my pretty face". I was in a lot of pain and really didn't care if I came out looking like Frankenstein! (And it turned out I was right to insist because it turned out that painful lump was cancerous....oh and no one even sees the scar anyhow because it is really not obvious!)

I think her dreads look lovely and she obviously takes good care of them.

[door72067]

I'm somewhat skeezed out by the notion of totting around 25 year old shed hairs

but, to each his own


it's just not for *my* own

[YamaMaya]

I didn't think it was possible to grow hair past floor length, or even knee length for most people, but 55 feet? :shocked:

[Peggy E.]

There's a lot more going on here than a simple matter of growing really, REALLY long hair.

The comments she made about her hair being her "baby," the spiritual connection, the way her hair seems to have somewhat taken over her life in a way she is not anxious to relinquish, takes her maintaining this length as more than simply liking to have long hair.

It is an emotional issue, a self-confidence issue, it is feeding some inner hunger that goes beyond the simple physical aspect of having long hair. But isn't this true of most of us growing our hair? Isn't there really so much more to it than having long hair because we think it looks nice?

It's such an intrinsic part of her she can't imagine letting any of it go and the thought is probably terrifying to her. As long as she is aware of the possibility of future problems - just as you are aware with any behavior that might possibly have physical repercussions down the line, or not - then it is her choice to keep the hair.

As such, her choice should be respected and her privacy protected. Best of luck to her.

[Seanymph]

I don't see how carrying around hair that weighs over 30 something pounds could be all that good for your neck and back. Who wants to live life carrying around your hair in a baby sling. Maybe something else is medically wrong with her and maybe it's just her hair causing her problems!!! You have people on this forum with long hair who complain of headaches when they do up do's. When advice is given I don't see anyone saying go to the hospital it could be something else other than the weight of your hair causing problems, no, they say find a different style and make sure the weight is distributed evenly. Obviously knowing having that much of hair piled on ones head is bound to give them discomfort.

[NuclearApple]

If she likes it she can do everything for me,but such a great lenght won't never stay on my head,too heavy!

[Beborani]

Well said Peggy E.

[massivecnqstdr]

I find it a bit icky, as it seems impossible to keep sanitary and smelling nice. I could be wrong. However, I think it's great that she is standing up for herself and what's important to her. Her hair isn't harming anyone else, from what I can tell.

[roboeyes]

Wow, I would never want hair that long, especially in dreads! My best friend has dreads and to me, they feel just awful. Also, they require a lot of upkeep, especially when they start to get long, which sounds like a huge hassle to me.

While I love long hair, and I respect people's desire to have long hair, I think it's a little silly that she feels so devoted to her hair that she would risk her health for it. A big no-no for me!