A woman branded a “real-life Rapunzel” by her friends and family says she decided to chop a meter off her hair because she got bored of it.
Anaram Alizadeh, 25, blamed her lengthy locks for worsening her neck and shoulder pain and said they took an entire day to wash and style.
Despite loving the compliments she received, the political science student says having 4 feet of hair wasn’t worth the upkeep — and her head feels a lot lighter now.
She paid $110.97 to get the big chop and has donated her hair to a local charity that makes wigs for people undergoing chemotherapy.
Anaram, who studies at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, said: “I was really scared I wouldn’t like myself anymore if I cut my hair — people would call me a real-life Rapunzel – and it really felt part of who I was.
“I just couldn’t bring myself to finally cut it all off.
“But it eventually felt like it was a part of self-care — it was affecting my posture and causing neck and shoulder pain.
“Even my physiotherapist advised me to cut it.”
For the last five years, Anaram only ever cut the split ends off her hair and refused to go further than a 4 inch trim.
She’d only ever trim her own hair once a year — as hairdressers would turn her away because of her long tresses.
At its longest, the student’s mane grew up to 4 feet, reaching her knees.
But it soon became so long that she hated wearing it down and would often tie it up in a braid or tight ponytail, just to keep it off her face.
“Hairdressers didn’t want to cut it, they just couldn’t handle it,” she said.
“The ends would get really dry from tying it up, so I’d trim five to 4 inches off every so often — up to twice a year.
“I didn’t feel comfortable enough to undergo a big change.”
Anaram says she didn’t set out to grow her hair to her knees, but her “Persian genes” ensured her hair was thick, strong, and fast-growing.
Friends and family branded her the “real-life Rapunzel” and strangers would often come up to her in the street, wanting to grab and feel her hair.
Even though she says it didn’t offend her, Anaram would often tell people she was wearing extensions, to avoid even more questioning.
She said: “I got compliments really often.
“People would grab and touch my hair — I didn’t feel offended, I get it was unusual to look at.
“I think people were just really surprised – I’d often get asked if it was my real hair.
“I’d just tell people they were extensions because they wouldn’t believe it was real anyway.”
The last major cut Anaram got was when she was 19 and it inspired her to eventually get it done again, six years later.
At the time, she donated her hair to cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy and she decided she wanted to do it again.
Her long locks were even beginning to have an impact on her health.
After being diagnosed with a curved spine, known as scoliosis, as a child, the weight of Anaram’s hair was causing her symptoms to worsen.
“I was struggling so much with neck pain,” she said.
“My hair was definitely making my scoliosis pain worse — I was having a really stiff neck and shoulders, not helped by the fact that I had to spend whole days washing and styling it.”
On February 1, 2025, just a week after booking her appointment with her family hairdresser, Anaram had one meter chopped off her hair.
As soon as the hairdresser finished, the student said she “burst into tears”.
“It was long, long overdue,” she said.
“The first thing I did after the cut was shake my head – I cried with happiness.
“It just felt so light.”
Now Anaram has no plans to grow her hair back to its original length and is enjoying her newfound freedom.
She says she takes pleasure in styling it now and it doesn’t feel like a burden to wash it every other day.
“I’ll probably stick to short hair for some time now,” she said.
“In my culture, we always say hair holds energy and memories.
“I got rid of the bad energy by cutting my hair and it’s time to make some new memories.”
