Rapunzel Controls My Life // Hair Care, Hazelnut Soup, and Constellations

I've been wanting to do this blog series for forever now so I'm happy I am able to post about it! I will be writing about different Disney princesses and trying to live my life like them. Basically, reading books, making recipes, and incorporating one central aspect of their character into my life.

In January I lived my life like Rapunzel which you may know is my avatar icon when I comment on other posts and on Goodreads. I just like her sass I guess and her good nature. I don't really like how she is depicted hitting her love interest with a frying pan over and over again but otherwise, she's a great character with such a wonderful growth arc. 

So without further ado, this is how my life was when it was controlled by Disney Princess Rapunzel:

I find it funny how shockingly violent the original fairy tale stories actually are. 

I thought I knew what happened in the original story: 

• A husband and wife steal from a witch's garden
• The couple has to give up their first child
• Rapunzel grows up alone in a tower until she meets the prince
• The prince gets hurled out of the tower losing his vision until Rapunzel finds him and heals him with her tears. And they all live happily ever after.

In reality

• A husband steals something called a rampion from a witch's garden because the wife will simply die of envy if she doesn't have some (Is there any lesson to be learned? Not really. We never hear about them again after the husband agrees to give his child away for some plant.)
• The prince falls in love with Rapunzel's voice and when he does the "Oh Rapunzel, let down your hair!" spiel, he asks her to marry him right away and she agrees (She's never met this man. She just thinks he's cute)
• She is building rope from silk and gets frequent secret visits from the prince when she stupidly tells Mother Gothel that she takes way longer to climb up her hair than her prince.
• She's taken to a waste and desert land?
• The prince is the one who throws himself off the tower and lands into thorns which makes him become blind. Several years later living off of berries he hears her voice and she has twins (unbeknownst to the reader, you find out she's been shacking it up with this guy she doesn't know and becomes a mother when she knows nothing about anything).
• They go back to his kingdom when her tears heal him for no reason and they all live happily ever after.

What is the moral of this story?

Don't steal from other people? But it's okay if you lose your firstborn and never try to find them.

Don't fall in lust? But if they're cute it's okay.

Being pompous with the villain who has kidnapped you all of your life isn't a good idea? Well yes, no prince, and living in a wasteland sucks but it all works out in the end by your magical healing tears.

Throwing yourself off a tower is not the best move when you are upset? Nope, you can just live off berries and be healed by tears.

What's the lesson? 😅

I obviously love the Disney adaption of Rapunzel but with a couple of caveats to that statement.

But first... 

Did you know that what is stolen from the witch's garden is called a rampion which is another word for Rapunzel?

Did you also know that a rampion is a type of purple flower like the one that saves Rapunzel's mom in the Disney movie? I love that little detail.

Changes in the story

• Rapunzel is a princess while Flynn Rider is a thief.
• Her parents aren't thieves. They just got their kid stolen.
• There is an actual reason for Rapunzel to be stolen away.
• There is an actual reason why Rapunzel can heal her love with tears.
• They get married years later after getting to know each other.
• No mention of twins.
• She actually escapes her capture and goes on an adventure!

I like that Rapunzel's story is one where she learns to set her fears aside and leave her "home." She realizes she's been manipulated and becomes a fighter in her own way. She won't let another person dictate what she can and can't do. She goes from being sheltered to an adventurer. All good things.

I will say only two things bother me about the adaption:

• The frying pan abuse. It's too much. I know it's supposed to be funny but as an adult, I hope kids know that's not okay. 
• I think because Flynn was hit so many times and he seems to be a lot more of a goofy character he's not my favorite love interest in the Disney franchise but that doesn't mean he isn't one of the best. I guess I just don't like smooth talkers but he does come around. The whole lantern scene with them singing made me actually like Flynn.

Favorite Songs

Favorite Characters

All I could think about Rapunzel is that she would like adventure stories but when I generally looked that up nothing fit her. I could have read a retelling of her story which I might do for the princesses in the future. Let me know if you think I should. When it came down to it I went back to a video I saw years ago around the exact same time I was first planning on doing this blog series.

Apparently, Rapunzel would read books about charting the stars which does make sense but I wasn't planning on reading a whole book about stars so I settled for a chapter about constellations and a graphic novel called Star Knights.

A simple frog who wants to become a legendary knight finds himself on a magical journey. From the comic artist behind Oddity Woods comes a fantasy graphic novel with a lot of heart, adventure, and hijinks!

What makes a hero?

Brave Star Knights are heroes who go on adventures. But Tad is just a frog, and frogs can't save the day. Can they? Determined to out-hop his mud-dweller fate and pursue his dream of being a knight, Tad finds himself on a quest with a surprise group of adventurers, including the Star King!

It's a race against time as Tad searches for a way to take the Star King to the moon so that he can bring peace to the forest--and prove that anybody can be a hero.

Even a frog.

This graphic novel is perfect for fans of delightful characters, hilarious hijinks, and stories about being true to you who are.

Star Knights follows Tad, a frog, and his friend King Stello. Tad is bullied because the legend of the Star Knights claims that all mud-dwellers like him are seen as the enemy. But when he gets the chance to become a Star Knight himself he discovers that not everything is what it seems including his new friend.

In one word: cute.

This was a fast-paced graphic novel for kids that takes on the idea that just because someone else perceives you as one way doesn't make it so. You shouldn't lose sight of yourself and your self-worth. For younger readers, the politics of the plot line can be summarized as popular kids vs. outcasts. The mud-dwellers are the outcasts and the "prettier" animals are considered the popular group. 

This is like a School for Good and Evil situation where not everything is what it seems. The art style is top-notch. Beautiful colors and illustrations. It was a little too fast-paced in some areas but the idea of the animals turning into Star Knights by consuming a star was very inventive. I also liked that greed played a role in this where if you got too greedy or evil your emotions would show who you really are to the outside world.

Why I chose this book:

I chose this for Rapunzel because it is an adventure story and stars are a main component. Rapunzel enjoys painting so picking a graphic novel with all of the elements combined made this the perfect choice in my opinion.

Constellations

I wanted to read most of the Backyard Guide to the Night Sky but reading hasn't been easy for me to get into plus I hardly read nonfiction so I focused on constellations since that's presumably how you would find your way at night if you didn't live in a city.

Here are some things I learned along the way:

• Chile's Atacama Desert is a hot destination for skywatchers because of its unpolluted starry skies.
• The Big Dipper is not a constellation - it's an asterism (it's a set of stars in a constellation already. It's contained in Ursa Major).
• The zodiac signs are also constellations which I feel stupid for not knowing
• None of the constellations really look like what they are supposed to
• The constellations were based mostly on myths like Greek Mythology, Native American, and others.
• The Scorpius (my sign) is one of the easiest to find. 
• Persian astronomers considered it one of the guardians of the heavens. 
• One of the stars in the constellation is the red star Ridel which is seen as the world from the scorpion's stinger which bested the hunter Orion.
• There's a constellation called the Triangulum or the triangle because it does in fact resemble a triangle, unlike all the other constellations that are pretending.
• Charting and learning about stars and constellations is not my thing.

Side Note: I found this image from the movie and it looks like she was trying to learn everything. I think if I really wanted to I could have fit any nonfiction or even a travel memoir but I'm still happy with what I chose.

I used the Disney Princess Cookbook and the Disney Princess Tea Parties Cookbook to make my recipes. I made Rapunzel's Favorite Hazelnut Soup and Towering Parfaits.

Hazelnut Soup

I've never had hazelnuts or parsnips which this recipe calls for a pound of. It is a super simple recipe. Anyone can do it. I toasted the hazelnuts and put them in with the parsnips and other ingredients. After it cooked I blended it up and my soup was done. 

I don't hate the soup but I don't particularly like it. This is from someone who eats the same things over and over again. I think I've attempted to have soup twice in my life and this is the second time. It tasted like what it smelled like when it was just the parsnips, onion, and seasoning. A smell I never smelled before which ended up being a taste I've never tasted before. Who knew?

Basically, if you like soups with an earthy taste you'd probably like this. 

I got so excited making this though since it's literally mentioned in the movie as something Mother Gothel makes for Rapunzel and is considered her favorite soup. I think if I made this with pumpkin, another Disney recipe book had a twist on the soup, I probably would have liked it better but I'm a picky eater so who knows.

Lesson learned: Don't make any more soups and the parsnips need a sweet flavor to make them worth eating.

Towering Parfaits

This just seemed like an overload which of course since it's a towering parfait it would be. I guess I only like blueberries in pies and smoothies because I was really only enjoying the pudding and whipped cream aspect of this. I am still eating this slowly as a snack because it's just a lot.

I enjoyed stacking all the items together and trying to make them look nice. It's also something I plan to finish eating too so that's a bonus.

This was one of the most researched parts of this series I've done so far. The amount of videos I watched for curly hair girls is unreal. I'll post some videos at the end with ones I found helpful. But first, the things I changed:

• I started washing my hair every three days.
• I started using Miss Jessie's MultiCultural Curls when I just wanted to fix up my hair without washing it. I would grab some water and dampen the hair in the front and a little in the back and add in very small amounts of the creme. My hair looked great on those days and it didn't look like I didn't wash my hair. All these curly girl videos show that girls don't wash their hair every day. It saves time in the morning and my hair doesn't get greasy very easily.
• I started finger-combing my hair on those days I wasn't washing my hair.
• I used three different oils (100% Pure Jamaican Black Castor Oil, Argan Oil, and Jojoba Oil on the scalp and ends. I am brushing my hair at this point dry because I learned brushing it wet leads to more breakage. I would do this and let it sit for a few hours and wash it out of my hair. It's supposed to give me fewer frizzies. I haven't really been paying attention to that part because Miss Jessie's creme keeps everything in place. It's also supposed to help with growing your hair. My hair is already long but I want to get a bit longer.
• I started using a shampoo brush in the shower. I just brush my scalp so that the shampoo gets in everywhere.
• Also, I've been shampooing twice in the shower using small amounts each time to make sure everything is cleaned.
• I changed up my shampoo and conditioner to organic ones.
• I've been using silk scrunchies so I don't damage my hair.

Some things I tried but didn't work

• Braiding. I tried doing a french braid on myself but I was having the hardest time. I actually just got a haircut and she did a braid for me and gave me some tips to start so this is something that I want to try in the future. I learned that protective styles keep hair healthier, that you don't have to wash your hair as often, and that it helps it grow because it doesn't get as damaged.
• Silk scarves at night. I don't know if the scarves I bought are too big or if I have no skill (probably a combo of them both) but I just couldn't make it work consistently. I think I was only able to do it once. Then I discovered silk bonnets but I already bought silk scarves so I am determined to get skilled at wrapping up my hair.
• Making my own hair gel and leave-in conditioner. I wanted to make a bunch of products naturally but I was going too much already. I did make a hair mask which you can see down below.

So I made a hair mask with the help of Hello, Glow. It consisted of full-fat yogurt, honey, and coconut oil. My hair was basically a sticky mess for 15 minutes and then I washed it out. My hair smelled great and it might have been lighter (the color I mean)? I learned that hair masks once a week is a good way to rejuvenate your hair or something like that. It was fun and I'd do it again.

Some thoughts

Now I learned my hair is considered fine which is news to me. It's always been soft so I don't know if I saw a significant change or anything but it was still fun to experiment. 

I think I really need to figure out the silk scarves situation because it'll help with my tangled hair in the morning. 

I don't think I'll be buying any more organic shampoo and conditioner because it's just too expensive but I guess it depends on how long it lasts. 

I have had less breakage so my routine has been helping. 

I will continue with this hair care routine for sure. It was also lots of fun to learn how to care for my hair so I would count this as a success.

It would have been nice if I painted or watercolored during the month but I didn't have time.

Final Thoughts on Rapunzel Experiment

I was expecting too much. I think I overloaded what I was capable of doing but I was still able to scale back and have a successful and fun time once I relaxed.

I think the reading portion is a struggle because I want to find multiple books that I think the Disney Princess would enjoy but I am worried I am going to pick out too many younger reads and that's not really what I want. I do think the book I picked out was perfect but it would have been nice if I'd read another adventure story. I don't want to read anything I don't think I'd enjoy though so I'm not sure what to do there. I could also read a retelling and I'm sure I would enjoy that but it feels a little like a cop-out.

The cooking was a struggle to get started because I hate cooking but next time I really need to pick recipes I think for sure I'll love even if it's not directly mentioned in the movie.

If I think a princess would read nonfiction or would want to learn about something I am just going to watch a video about it because I would have learned much more than my skimming of the night sky book I wrote about earlier.

Adapting is the main thing I need to work on. Once I let that happen I wasn't stressing over the cooking or the book I picked. It is what it is. Commit or change things up. No big deal.

Coming Up Next

Tiana!

I love Tiana. Hardworking and loves food. This is going to be the best month for sure!

My current plans are to read One Part Sugar, Two Parts Murder, make beignets, and cook some easy dishes (at least seven). I was originally planning on meal planning but with my non-existent habit of cooking, I need to do something easier.

If you know of another book you think Tiana would read let me know. Any suggestions are helpful!