For many people, a full head of hair can be a total nuisance. While bald people and those with receding hairlines lament their lack of locks, they don't really think about the
upkeep hair requires, do they? On average, men see themselves trudging back and forth from the barber's chair every 3-6 weeks, just to keep their 'do looking consistent.
And for women with longer hair, it's an arduous cycle of 1) shampooing, 2) conditioning, 3) toweling, 4) brushing, 5) blowdrying, 6) straightening and/or curling (for a select few), 7) styling and then "treating" your hair with dry shampoo for as long as possible before having to go through steps 1-7 all over again.
Hair gets tangled, frizzy and greasy; it sheds all over the place; and sometimes, it lands in the bolognese you're cooking only to be extracted from the back of the mouth of your disgusted dinner guest. It's an inconvenience, and many people feel the longer it is, the harder it is to live with.
But not for 32-year-old Malgorzata Kulczyk. The Londoner who hails from Poland has been growing her hair out since the age of seven. Kulczyk has never dyed her hair, and her naturally blonde locks now skim her ankles.
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She used to get the ends trimmed regularly but decided to stop in September 2015, and has never cut it since.
"None of my friends and family wanted to trim it for me because they said it was still in good condition, so I stopped having it done," she said. "It was knee length then and now it reaches my ankles."
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"I can't see myself ever cutting it. I can't imagine myself with short hair – nobody would recognise me.
"My hair is what I'm known for. People are so positive about it. Wherever I go, they smile at me and compliment me."
Kulczyk keeps it healthy by smothering it in a homemade coconut oil hair mask a few times a week, before washing it with normal shampoo. She then blow-dries it on a low heat so as not to damage her glossy mane, which can take around 20 minutes. But if she lets it air dry, it can take hours.
'Sometimes, I'll go to sleep with it wet, and wake up the next morning with it still not dry,' she revealed.
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She usually wears it in a bun or a ponytail to her her mass of hair out of the way (I hate to imagine cycling with it), but likes to play with different styles of plaits and braids.
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And just wait 'til you see
this masterpiece... an actual
dress made out of hair. Kulczyk literally has long enough hair to drape it around her like a curtain and create a modest-length skirt.
Behold:
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Even though it's so long, Kulczyk actually says that it's not that difficult to maintain: "I've never had any problems with my hair. I'm so used to it being long and I keep it in good condition."
"Doing a straightforward plait will take a couple of minutes. People are always amazed by how quick it is. My friends will say, 'You have so much hair, I thought it'd take you way longer'."
It seems my theories about long hair being more troublesome have been challenged. You win, Rapunzel.
