Natasha's Long Hairs

A twelve-year-old girl who has been dubbed the real-life Rapunzel after refusing to cut her hair for her whole life is to cut it all off - and plans the 5ft 2in mane of hair for £3,500 to be made into extensions.

 Natasha Moraes de Andrade, 12, says her 5ft 2in hair makes her life a misery - and she plans to cut it off to sell for extensions 

Natasha Moraes de Andrade, who lives in an impoverished shanty town in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, has never had a haircut. At 5ft 3in, she is just one inch taller than the length of her wavy chestnut hair - and the maintenance it requires sees her use a full bottle of shampoo every week. 

 Natasha, who has to hold her hair up when she walks, hopes to make up to £3,500 from the sale of her hair, which she says she will put towards a 'better life'

 Natasha spends an hour and a half every day brushing her mane

Natasha spends four hours per week washing her hair and up to an hour-and-a-half brushing it each day. She has to carry it around when she walks, and fold it onto her lap when she sits down.

Despite Rio's 40-degree heat Natasha's family cannot switch on a fan in the house because her hair gets caught in it.

And children often stand outside her house and shout 'Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair.'

Her mother Catarina Moraes de Andrade, 42, said admirers told her never to cut her daughter's beautiful hair as it was so thick and long.

Children in her local neighbourhood chant 'Rapunzel, let down your hair' at her window, and passersby frequently take photographs 

 Natasha's mother Catarina Moraes de Andrade implored her daughter to cut her hair so that she could join in with the other children

 'At the moment she is like a prisoner. She just goes from school to home again,' Mrs Moraes de Andrade said.

But now she's urging her girl to chop it off because it's interfering with her life.

Mrs Moreas de Andrade said: 'At the moment she is like a prisoner. She just goes from school to home again.

'She can't do anything else, like sports, because her hair gets in the way. The school told me she should get it cut so she can have her freedom like other girls her age.

'People stare. Sometimes, they call out at Natasha in the street and try to touch her hair.

'We spend about about £400 a year on shampoo, which is a lot of money for us.

Natasha, who has to hold her hair up when she walks, hopes to make up to £3,500 from the sale of her hair, which she says she will put towards a 'better life'

'I've let her keep it this way because she likes having such long hair, but the time has come to get it cut.

Natasha has been offered £1,750 for her hair once it has been lopped off but hopes to make more.

She said: 'I love my long hair and I'll be sad when it's gone. But it's a pain looking after it.

'I can't do a lot of things, like P.E. lessons at school.

'I hope to sell it for £3,500 and refurbish my bedroom. I hope it can give me a new life.'

Natasha plans to cut it into a bob before she starts the next term of school.

Although she lives close to one of the city's beaches, she can't go swimming because sea water damages her hair and takes hours to clean out.

Natasha, who hopes to be an illustrator when she is older, has drawn a picture of the fairy tale princess Rapunzel, which is on the front door of the house.

The Guinness World Record for the world's longest hair belongs to China's Xie Qiuping whose hair measures 5.63 metres.