Remember the Brothers Grimm children's story about Rapunzel, locked high in a tower by an enchantress.  The tower had neither stairs nor door, but near the top was a small window.  When the enchantress wanted to enter the tower, she stood below and cried:  “Rapunzel, Rapunzel, Let down your hair”.

Upon hearing the enchantress’ voice, Rapunzel unfastened her braided hair, wound the thick locks around a large hook near the window, and let her hair fall to the ground so the enchantress could climb to the top.  As you may recall, the king’s son overheard the command to let down the hair and tried the same trick with equal success.

But as you might guess, eventually the enchantress discovered the visits being made by the #2 royal and cut off Rapunzel’s hair.  “Wow, what’s a girl going to do”, thought Rapunzel?  It appeared that her only alternative was to grow the hair back to its original length.  But given the circumstances, and the fact that the prince was thirty-five years old and her biological clock was ticking, how long could she wait?

So Rapunzel and the king’s son attempted to figure things out.

“First of all” said Prince Edward also known as “Eddie”, “Hair is a strong material made up of 91 percent protein.  Hair cells multiply quickly and stack themselves to provide the head with plenty of new growth.”

“How so?” said Rapunzel.  “It has everything to do with hair follicles and what goes on under the surface of the skin. While maturing, hair follicles are pushed towards the surface fed by various nutrients.  Each hair matures and then when you least expect it, they die, leaving a rigid hair shaft made up of three layers.”

“Why three?”, queried Rapunzel.  “Because the top layer is a protective amino acid coating, known as the cuticle.  The middle layer is called the cortex and what do you think it’s made of?”, asked Eddie.  “Cortisone?” shouted Rapunzel.  “No silly”, retorted the handsome fellow, “it is also made of strong protein.”  “Oh!” said, Rapunzel, “What about the third layer?”  “That is known as the medulla, but you don’t have any”, said the royal.  “I don’t?”  “No”, continued Eddie, “your hair is very fine and very blonde, so it doesn’t have a third layer.”  “Shucks”, murmured Rapunzel.

“You are amazing”, said Rapunzel.  “How long will it take to grow my hair to its original length”, blurted Rapunzel.  “Well”, said the prince, “let’s do the math.”  “The tower is two stories tall and each story is about 14 feet.”  “You will need 28 feet of new hair.”  “So when will you be coming back to get me”, screamed Rapunzel.  “Hair grows at a rate of about 6 inches per year, you do the math”, muttered Eddie as he mounted his horse.

So Rapunzel got out a long piece of paper and figured out that a two-story building was equal to fifty-six, 6-inch lengths of hair.  “According to my calculations”, yelled Rapunzel, “you will be back in 56 years.” “I’ll put it on the calendar” he hollered, as he rode off toward the castle.

Now Rapunzel was miffed at the prince and the prince was hot-under-the-collar himself because Rapunzel was unable or unwilling to grow her hair faster.  What…if anything, could be done?

As luck would have it, while being introduced to a leading shire stylist, who did work for the prince’s prima donna sister, the future king discovered Donna Bella Milan hair extensions and new hope surged through his blue-veins.  The royal heir, asked Fedex to overnight Rapunzel, 19 packages of DB hair extensions, along with two containers of non-slip micro beads, a lock-tool and bead loop-tool.

Using the educational DVD, Rapunzel quickly got the hang of things, whipped those extensions into place and left the sobbing enchantress wondering how she would ever manage to get into the tower again.

After meeting the royal family and upon seeing herself in the mirror, Rapunzel convinced Prince Edward, to postpone their marriage, just long enough for her to complete beauty school.  Upon graduation, Eddie and Rapunzel were married in a simple ceremony and then cut the ribbon for their first hair salon, named “Let Down Your Hair”.  The end.

Logan is co-founder of Donna Bella Milan hair extensions and author of the Donna Bella blog.