The woman with the world’s longest fingernails has finally decided to cut them off since the ’90s.
Ayanna Williams, from Houston, Texas, got the Guinness World Record for the longest fingernails in 2017, when her fingernails measured 18 ft and 10 point 9 inches total.
According to the Guinness World of Record, Ayanna got a final measurement of 24 ft before cutting them off. It takes her three to four bottles of nail polish to get her manicure done.
Fox News reported that the fingernails on Williams’ right hand measured 338 cm long, while the fingernails on her left hand measured 395 cm long.
Ayanna went to Dr Allison Readinger of Trinity Vista Dermatology in Fort Worth, Texas, to have her nails sawed off with an “electric rotary tool.”
“I have mixed emotions about my babies going,” she said about her nails, revealing she’s been growing them for “about 28 (or) 29 years.”
“I’m so, so ready for a new life,” Ayanna told Fox News. “I know I’m going to miss them, but it’s just about that time – it’s time for them to go. I’m just about tired of them so it’s time for them to go.”
“With or without my nails, I will still be the queen,” Ayanna proudly said. “My nails don’t make me, I make my nails!”
Despite growing her nails for 28 years, Ayanna said it was time for a new chapter in her life, admitting it was a “relief” to have her nails cut shorter. It means she will be able to do everyday tasks like washing the dishes and change the bed for the first time in years.
“Certain things were getting really difficult for me, I have diabetes now and I’m on insulin, so that was a factor,” Ayanna told Yahoo Style. “It just felt like it was time.”
Ayanna admits that before having her nails cut, she was constantly worried about breaking one. She says it takes up to five days and three or four bottles of nail polish to manicure her nails at their longest and added that she will miss having them.
“The day before I had them cut I was feeling really teary and emotional, but life is totally different now that they’ve been cut,” she said. “I can do everything and not have to watch my nails. I don’t have to worry about them getting caught in the door.”
She still plans to grow them to around six inches “or maybe a little shorter”, but she says she never wants her nails to be that long again.
Before the final cut, Ayanna said that she received lots of different reactions from others who would see her nails in public, but most were positive and supportive, especially ones from kids.
“I have this thing that I do with children when they come up to me and they say “are those your nails?!” and I say “yeah”.
“Then I ask and I say “How old are you?” and they say “I’m ten or I’m seven”, and I say “Guess how old my nails are? They’re like 28 – 29 years! They’re older than you!”
The Texan shared that she always loved nails and nail art. She has fond memories of asking her mother to check how long her nails were and if she could paint them certain colors.
According to GWR, the record-holder for the woman with the world’s longest fingernails ever is still Lee Redmond, whose fingernails reached 28 ft. 4.5 inches long in February 2008.
Lee from Salt Lake City lost her title when her nails were ripped off in a car mishap in Spain. She also revealed that she had to soak her nails daily in olive oil and clean them with a toothbrush.
The nails will be put on display at Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Museum in Orlando, Florida, Fox News reported.
“It’s gonna be awesome,” Ayanna said. “It’s going to be like a wax of myself even though it’s just my nails. I can’t wait to see that, for real. I’m going to be grinning from ear to ear.”
“Just really think about it, it’s amazing,” she said. “It’s history for my kids and my grandkids. It’s very exciting.”