An artist with locks worthy of a Disney movie revealed how she has become an Instagram hit with trichophiles – or hair fetishists.
And, this took a turn.
Calling herself April Rapunzel and posting regularly to her 9,000 followers, she has been offered “thousands of dollars" to shave off her crowning glory and has even been asked for hair from her brush in exchange for hard cash.
Clearly they haven't seen "Tangled", don't they know that if Rapunzel cuts her hair she looses her powers?
But, as far as she is concerned, her hair is priceless. So much so that she hasn't properly cut it since childhood.
“I try and be creative and artistic in my photos but that isn't always the feedback it brings," April said. “A lot of people have a sexual motivation and I really didn't realize until I started posting how much of a thing hair fetishes are. I've had everything from people offering to buy hair from my brush to being offered thousands of dollars to shave it all off. I try and discourage this kind of behavior and wave it off."
Growing up, April was a huge fan of country singer Crystal Gayle, whose hair reached down to the floor and, keen to emulate her, she refused to have her hair cut shorter – instead choosing to have it regularly trimmed.
“I was a bald baby and that's the shortest it's ever been," she laughed. “I always said I wanted my hair as long as Crystal Gayle's and now it nearly is."
Even through her teenage years, when friends and family would encourage April to have a “trendy, shorter style," she refused.
“I suppose by the time I was in high school a lot of it was down to stubbornness," she continued. “I'd grown my hair down to my waist, so there was no way I was cutting it after all that hard work."
Then, at high school, she met her true love, Thomas, who she has been with ever since.
“He's watched the whole process of me growing my hair down to my ankles, where it is now," she said. “Because of that he's always quite surprised by the response it will get. He jokes that we can't even go for dinner without people asking about it. Most people are sweet and kind, they ask how long it takes to wash and dry it."
“I always say the same thing – 'How many people do you know who time themselves in the shower?'" she added.
Washing her entire head of hair once a week, April also uses dry shampoo or has a scalp rinse when her locks seem greasy, rather than washing her whole mane. Her natural oil is key to maintaining her glossy locks.
Using a bottle of conditioner and shampoo every couple of months, she claims that lathering and giving her hair a second shampoo takes little more time than it does for anybody else.
“It's not so much the washing of the hair, it's the drying which can cause a problem," she said. “The whole process can take up to 10 hours with intermittent blows of the hairdryer."
An Instagram user for years, it was not until 2016 that she began sharing snaps of her artwork.
“I began getting comments talking about my hair, so I decided to start showing it off in more posts," she said. “I would use certain hashtags related to my hair and before I knew it, I was getting re-posts from hair pages and my followers skyrocketed in number. I'm not really sure how it happened."
Uploading posts “every day or so," April does her best to put a creative spin on her photos, too.
“I loved sharing pictures of my paintings but working with my hair is a lot less time consuming. l do my best to keep it artistic with the make-up I wear and the kind of clothes I have on and setting I'm in," she added.
But April is all too aware that a lot of her followers have less than savory reasons for their interest.
“Although I like to see it as an art project, a lot of people – particularly men – are just interested in my hair in a sexual way," she said.
“A lot of the time people get in touch and I think it's innocent, but it turns out they want to use my hair for something sexual," she continued. “I really try and discourage that behavior, as that's not what it's about, but I realize it comes with the turf."
No judgement here but respect other's boundaries people!
But there has been one big problem she never anticipated when her hair grew so long.
“When it got below the knee I started noticing it would catch in everything – chairs, doorways, people's feet," she continued.“I made a makeshift satin rucksack which I can bundle my hair into when I'm in a rush and don't have time to manage it."
With her locks now at ankle length, April hopes that in the not so distant future it will reach the floor.
“It's something I never thought would be possible but with the help of my incredible hairdresser, – Dave Barrett, the owner of Rapunzel's Long Hair salon in Ohio – I think it might actually become a reality," she said. “It would be great to get more followers and showcase all the different creative parts of my life. Of course, endorsing some hair products would be brilliant too."
You can keep up to date with April's posts by following @aprilskytom on Instagram.
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