The Woman Who Refused To Cut Her Hair Since She Was 5 Is Now 34 Y.O. And Looks Like A Real-Life Rapunzel
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While many of us dream about having long, luscious locks, we all know that having perfect long hair comes down to two things. The first thing is that you need to be extremely patient when you are growing it out and put a lot of effort into taking care of your hair. The second is, of course, genetics, so no matter what products you use, your thin, prone to breakage hair won’t become thick and healthy-looking. If you’re one of the unlucky ones who wasn’t blessed with patience or good genes, you can only admire those who have both of these things.
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Image credits: alenuwka_longhair
One of those lucky people is 34-year-old Alena Kravchenko from Odesa, Ukraine. She has been dubbed the real-life Rapunzel after going viral for her 6 foot (1.8 meters) long hair.
Image credits: alenuwka_longhair
Alena has been growing her hair since she was 5 years old, after being encouraged by her mother. “From an early age, my mother instilled a love for long hair,” she told Bored Panda.
Image credits: alenuwka_longhair
She hasn’t cut her hair in almost 30 years, and despite her hair outgrowing her height of 5′6″ (1.68 meters) she doesn’t even think about cutting it.
Image credits: alenuwka_longhair
“My love for my braid is so strong that for a second in my whole life I did not think about a haircut. I can not see and cannot imagine myself with short hair or dyed in a different color!” she added.
Image credits: alenuwka_longhair
While taking care of such long and beautiful locks takes some time, Alena says that it’s not that hard for her as she absolutely loves her hair.
Image credits: alenuwka_longhair
“It’s not hard for me with my hair, nor the constant care of them, it’s all a joy because this is part of me — my beauty and wealth!” she states.
Image credits: alenuwka_longhair
The woman says that to keep her hair healthy she allows it to dry naturally and uses products to nourish it.
Image credits: alenuwka_longhair
“The main thing that I never do: I don’t dry my hair with a hairdryer, I don’t use curling irons, I don’t comb my wet hair (they dry naturally), it’s all taboo. I wash my hair once a week, use natural masks, various types of oils to nourish my hair; the main care is professional cosmetics. I definitely use dried fruits, nuts, and homemade cottage cheese.”
Image credits: alenuwka_longhair
Her ultimate tip for those who want to have hair as beautiful as hers is to love it. “In order to have long and beautiful hair, you just need to really want and love what you do.”
Here’s how people reacted to Alena’s hair
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I've had hair that was more than three feet long, and it was so much work! (I am only 5'2"!). I have incredibly thick hair too, it was forever getting caught in just about everything, if I wore it up I ended up with headaches because it was so heavy, and I'm not even getting into the work of washing and straightening (cause it has a natural curl to it too) and the cost or colouring it was crazy! One day I had had enough! I cut it off to just below my ears and donated 3 feet to make wigs for cancer patients, best decision ever!
Same thing here, the "no comment bug"... Anyway, the hair on this girl is ok, but the ends look a bit week. @Jennie-Lind: it doesn't make sense to colour or straighten very long hair, it's beauty is in being natural.
I agree with you about the ends of her hair. Looks like she should cut about a foot off to make the ends look less scraggly in comparison to the rest of it. Please do not misunderstand me. I had hair about three+ feet long all through my twenties. I know from experience that, since the ends are the oldest growth, they can start to look scraggly and much thinner in comparison to the thickness of the rest if you don’t trim them enough—-and some months/years you may have to trim more than others. I know giving up that much length is like cutting off part of your arm, because it takes so damn long to grow it, but that’s just the price of having extremely long hair if you want to keep it looking healthy. (I got it cut to a chin length bob, and also donated it to make wigs for people on chemo, on my thirtieth birthday. Don’t really miss it—-haven’t had it longer than just past my shoulders ever since.)
I know this is a random comment that will get lost in the reeds, but I just wanted to say to anyone reading this, make sure you read the fine print for these hair charities. Some do not use the real hair to make wigs for cancer patients. Real hair wigs go to those with like alopecia and not cancer patients because "their hair will eventually grow back". They end up giving cancer patients acrylic wigs.
That's really good that you didn't just throw it all away and given it to those in need instead. Anyway, since there seems to be some kind of bug that won't let me post comments under articles anymore (only replies and under entries), hope you don't mind I'm borrowing yours to give my humble opinion. So, here we go. Her body, her choice. It looks good on her. Just, I thought 30 years of never cutting it would make it much much longer. Mine grows in no time.
Hair stops growing after a certain point. Mine stops at my waist. Likely, her hair has been this length for quite some time.
Daria -I have the same bug , but only from phone, not computer. Was worried at first since I couldnt figure out why I was blocked :D but it seems many have this bug right now.
Daria, I have the same problem. Can reply but not post? My thoughts on the article... Her hair must be SO heavy. I’ve donated 3+ feet to charity on three different occasions, when my hair was that long it was very heavy on my neck and I got terrible headaches from the weight (I have super thick hair). I cannot donate now as my hair is pink/purple. Lol.
You can see where the hair below mid back is broken, split, or otherwise damaged, and the bottom third is really kind of gross. I guess "pretty" is subjective, but this is definitely the opposite of pretty to me, sorry.
"Gross" is not a word that is applicable here, but her hair would look so much nicer if at least 30 cm/ a foot was cut off. That said, she does look like a fairytale princess.
True.
Gross? Alena's hair is gorgeous Rapunzel length golden blonde locks. This is definitely not gross.
Her hair is not "gross". It's actually very beautiful. I wish more women realized that long hair enhances their beauty and short hair detracts from their beauty. Long hair (OK, maybe not as long as Alena's not that there is anything wrong with that length) looks better on women. Period. I don't care what you think about this statement because it's truly my opinion. Short hair that is cut like a man's or a bald woman is gross. Alena has beautiful long blonde hair which is the antithesis of gross.
Imagine what it looks like when it's staticy
When I was about 7 on a class trip to a science and technology museum I got chosen to demonstrate the static ball because I had the longest hair in the audience, it was about 2-3 feet long then, and it was like a huge halo all around my head... just about every hair stood straight up
Hahaha that's awesome! Thanks for sharing!
I've had hair that was more than three feet long, and it was so much work! (I am only 5'2"!). I have incredibly thick hair too, it was forever getting caught in just about everything, if I wore it up I ended up with headaches because it was so heavy, and I'm not even getting into the work of washing and straightening (cause it has a natural curl to it too) and the cost or colouring it was crazy! One day I had had enough! I cut it off to just below my ears and donated 3 feet to make wigs for cancer patients, best decision ever!
Same thing here, the "no comment bug"... Anyway, the hair on this girl is ok, but the ends look a bit week. @Jennie-Lind: it doesn't make sense to colour or straighten very long hair, it's beauty is in being natural.
I agree with you about the ends of her hair. Looks like she should cut about a foot off to make the ends look less scraggly in comparison to the rest of it. Please do not misunderstand me. I had hair about three+ feet long all through my twenties. I know from experience that, since the ends are the oldest growth, they can start to look scraggly and much thinner in comparison to the thickness of the rest if you don’t trim them enough—-and some months/years you may have to trim more than others. I know giving up that much length is like cutting off part of your arm, because it takes so damn long to grow it, but that’s just the price of having extremely long hair if you want to keep it looking healthy. (I got it cut to a chin length bob, and also donated it to make wigs for people on chemo, on my thirtieth birthday. Don’t really miss it—-haven’t had it longer than just past my shoulders ever since.)
I know this is a random comment that will get lost in the reeds, but I just wanted to say to anyone reading this, make sure you read the fine print for these hair charities. Some do not use the real hair to make wigs for cancer patients. Real hair wigs go to those with like alopecia and not cancer patients because "their hair will eventually grow back". They end up giving cancer patients acrylic wigs.
That's really good that you didn't just throw it all away and given it to those in need instead. Anyway, since there seems to be some kind of bug that won't let me post comments under articles anymore (only replies and under entries), hope you don't mind I'm borrowing yours to give my humble opinion. So, here we go. Her body, her choice. It looks good on her. Just, I thought 30 years of never cutting it would make it much much longer. Mine grows in no time.
Hair stops growing after a certain point. Mine stops at my waist. Likely, her hair has been this length for quite some time.
Daria -I have the same bug , but only from phone, not computer. Was worried at first since I couldnt figure out why I was blocked :D but it seems many have this bug right now.
Daria, I have the same problem. Can reply but not post? My thoughts on the article... Her hair must be SO heavy. I’ve donated 3+ feet to charity on three different occasions, when my hair was that long it was very heavy on my neck and I got terrible headaches from the weight (I have super thick hair). I cannot donate now as my hair is pink/purple. Lol.
You can see where the hair below mid back is broken, split, or otherwise damaged, and the bottom third is really kind of gross. I guess "pretty" is subjective, but this is definitely the opposite of pretty to me, sorry.
"Gross" is not a word that is applicable here, but her hair would look so much nicer if at least 30 cm/ a foot was cut off. That said, she does look like a fairytale princess.
True.
Gross? Alena's hair is gorgeous Rapunzel length golden blonde locks. This is definitely not gross.
Her hair is not "gross". It's actually very beautiful. I wish more women realized that long hair enhances their beauty and short hair detracts from their beauty. Long hair (OK, maybe not as long as Alena's not that there is anything wrong with that length) looks better on women. Period. I don't care what you think about this statement because it's truly my opinion. Short hair that is cut like a man's or a bald woman is gross. Alena has beautiful long blonde hair which is the antithesis of gross.
Imagine what it looks like when it's staticy
When I was about 7 on a class trip to a science and technology museum I got chosen to demonstrate the static ball because I had the longest hair in the audience, it was about 2-3 feet long then, and it was like a huge halo all around my head... just about every hair stood straight up
Hahaha that's awesome! Thanks for sharing!