Young children all over the world fantasize about their favorite Fairy tale characters. From cowboy-themed birthday parties to princess-styled bedrooms. One little girl decided her favorite character was Rapunzel. 32 years later, she has grown out her hair so she can be just like the long-haired princess – minus the part where she was locked in a tower for most of her life.
Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!
Rapunzel is the story of a baby who was locked away in a tower by a witch. Her hair grew longer and longer, and soon enough, it was so long the witch was able to use it to climb up the tower. After a tumultuous time, the princess ultimately fell in love with her prince and was saved from the tower. But, you know how the story goes.
Russian Hair Queen
32-year-old Aliia Nasyrova lives in Riga, Latvia, although she was born in Samara in Russia. When she was a little girl, she fell in love with the iconic story of Rapunzel. She wanted to be just like her favorite princess, so she dedicated her life to embodying her resemblance. “I started to grow my hair because since childhood I liked long hair very much. And I was always attracted by long hair heroines from fairy tales.”
Over 20 Years of Hair Growing
In 2017, The Sun interviewed Aliia, and measured her hair to be 90 inches in length. That reportedly took her 20 years to grow that length, and she did not cut it the entire time. From her Instagram account, it seems that her hair is still growing strong. Additionally, we can see that her long hair is popular online because she has almost 170,000 followers.
Support From her Husband
As Aliia walks around in public, she is used to people staring at her extraordinarily long hair. Although, she feels confident with the support of her husband, Ivan Balaban. He even leaves a certain area of the bed reserved for Aliia’s hair. “I am always cuddling up to the wall to give more space for hair, so there is no way I can damage it accidentally, mix them up or harm it any other way,” Ivan told Barcroft TV. “I always talk to the braid respectfully. Sometimes I ask it to move a bit.”
A Different Way of Life
Not only does Aliia’s Rapunzel hair take up space in their bedroom, but it has become a priority to plan everything they do around her hair. This means that when they travel, their itinerary has to be immaculately organized. “When we are going away somewhere we always plan the entire day for it,” said Ivan. “Since we understand that otherwise we will lose one day from our vacation and we will have to sit inside at home.”
Long-haired model
Back in 2017, Aliia said that her hair weighed a lot. The extra weight of her rapunzel hair added strain to her shoulders. “My hair is so heavy, I would compare it to the weight of my cat.” However, she has made a career for herself and her long hair as a model. But, this has not come easily. “Once in my childhood when I was in theatre someone left gum in my hair, it was a tragedy,” recalled Aliia. “I had to cut out a clump of hair to get rid of this gum because it was very difficult.”
Caring For Her Long Hair
Aliia also opened up about her hair-care methods. This includes a shocking amount of hair care products, which she gets sent a lot for free by various brands. On hair-washing days, Aliia uses about half a gallon of shampoos and conditioners to make sure her Rapunzel locks are sufficiently clean. The whole process takes her about four hours. After that, she has to wait an entire day for it to dry naturally. She also shared her secret for managing her hair when she is in public settings. Since my hair is longer than my height, sometimes I step on it at home. And outside I never go out with flowing hair.”