# Woman with the world's longest nails cuts them after nearly 30 years



## Leeda.the.Paladin (Apr 8, 2021)

Woman with the world's longest nails cuts them after nearly 30 years​By Rachel Trent, CNN

Updated 2:01 AM ET, Thu April 8, 2021






Ayanna Williams gets her record-breaking nails cut in Fort Worth, Texas.
(CNN)The Texan who had the world's longest nails grown by a woman can finally open a door without fear after cutting them.
Ayanna Williams of Houston broke the Guinness World Record for the world's longest fingernails in 2017, when they measured nearly 19 feet long. It took her more than two bottles of nail polish and 20 hours to do her manicure then.
Before getting them cut over the weekend, she got one final measurement: 24 ft, 0.7 in. That manicure took three to four bottles of nail polish over the course of a few days.
Williams got the task done at a dermatology office in Fort Worth, Texas, where an electric rotary tool was used for her first nail cut since the early 1990s.


"With or without my nails, I will still be the queen," Williams said, according to Guinness. "My nails don't make me, I make my nails!"





Trinity Vista Dermatology used an electric rotary tool to cut the record-breaking nails.
Williams said she plans to only grow her nails about six inches, according to Ripley's Believe It or Not!, which will display her trimmed nails at its museum in Orlando, Florida.

Until now, Williams was unable to do some activities, such as washing the dishes and putting sheets on a bed. She said her new goal is to encourage the next history-making nail enthusiast to go for a Guiness World Records title.
The record for the longest fingernails ever on a pair of female hands still belongs to Lee Redmond, who started to grow them in 1979. They reached a length of 28 feet, but Redmond lost them in an automobile accident in 2009, according to Guinness World Records.


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## VinDieselsWifey (Apr 8, 2021)

How did she wipe her behind, bathe, put on clothes, etc with nails that long? I guess you get used to doing things as the nails grow. 

It’s amazing to be able to grow nails that long.


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## OmbreLune (Apr 8, 2021)

Wow! I remember seeing Lee Redman on the cover of a magazine back when I was a little girl, it had to have been the late 80's or early 90's. I just knew she was an older white lady with poofy white/blonde hair and reeaally long nails so, I googled the name and that's her! I'm amazed that she had kept that up for another twenty years after that and probably would've still been going if it weren't for the accident.


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## Leeda.the.Paladin (Apr 8, 2021)

VinDieselsWifey said:


> How did she wipe her behind, bathe, put on clothes, etc with nails that long? I guess you get used to doing things as the nails grow.
> 
> It’s amazing to be able to grow nails that long.


I do not see any possible way she could’ve wiped her behind without getting the nails in the toilet or cutting herself up. 

It seems like Growing nails that long essentially makes your hands useless.


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## Crackers Phinn (Apr 8, 2021)

Meanwhile, my nails grow .00000009 of an inch and promptly peel off. 

The two things that broke my brain was looking at that picture and going "is that a drill?" and this _the record for the longest fingernails ever on a pair of female hands still belongs to Lee Redmond, who started to grow them in 1979. They reached a length of 28 feet, *but Redmond lost them in an automobile accident *in 2009, according to Guinness World Records._

The thought of fingernails popping off during a car accident


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## Crackers Phinn (Apr 8, 2021)

Even though this is not an aesthetic that I find  particularly attractive, I can see how growing nails this long could make you feel very dainty and feminine.  I don't think it's a coincidence that women are into extreme nails  are usually highly accessorized and adorned.


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## yamilee21 (Apr 8, 2021)

Super long nails have always creeped me out. I can still remember this woman I used to see at the old Moo & Brew convenience store in the mid to late 1970s whose nails curled down past her calves, with her gaudy outfits, huge hair, and drag queen style makeup. I used to pray she wouldn’t be there whenever our parents sent us on errands. It’s her fault I keep my nails extra short.


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## Transformer (Apr 8, 2021)

yamilee21 said:


> Super long nails have always creeped me out. I can still remember this woman I used to see at the old Moo & Brew convenience store in the mid to late 1970s whose nails curled down past her calves, with her gaudy outfits, huge hair, and drag queen style makeup. I used to pray she wouldn’t be there whenever our parents sent us on errands. It’s her fault I keep my nails extra short.



Long nails creep me out also.  I also don’t lik the decorated nails with fake stones and such.


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## GGsKin (Apr 8, 2021)

A few months ago I fell down a YT rabbit hole where I stumbled on nail tech, Maria Ortiz, who works on the nails of 'long nail goddesses'. I don't like extreme length nails but I was fascinated that she straightens them out by cutting and gluing them back on.


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## OmbreLune (Apr 8, 2021)

Its gotta be such a weird feeling for her after she cut her nails off but I wonder if it feels kind of liberating. I cut my nails short once a month and I always feel relieved after. My hands don't look as cute but everything is just easier to do with short nails. Can't image 30 years of growth and then it's gone. I wonder if she'll experience any phantom limb syndrome.


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## Crackers Phinn (Apr 8, 2021)

The relief in her voice when she was able to bend her knuckles for the first time.


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## B_Phlyy (Apr 8, 2021)

If not for my job, I'd grow my nails longer. Not as long as these, but longer than I'm allowed.

I want to see a video of the cutting.

ETA: The video was posted as I was replying


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## Theresamonet (Apr 8, 2021)

Crackers Phinn said:


> The relief in her voice when she was able to bend her knuckles for the first time.


 
People like this just look crazy to me. Her locs are extremely long as well, almost floor length. I guess she just doesn’t like cutting anything.


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## Keen (Apr 8, 2021)

I have so many questions....


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## Theresamonet (Apr 8, 2021)

Is it an actual condition or disorder that allows people to grow nails that long? I've noticed that the nails are always extremely thick, like a quarter inch or more. My nails are not that thick, nor any nails that I've seen. Look at the male record holders nails. Those don't look like normal healthy nails to me. They're almost completely cylindrical and filled in.


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## Keen (Apr 9, 2021)

Theresamonet said:


> Is it an actual condition or disorder that allows people to grow nails that long? I've noticed that the nails are always extremely thick, like a quarter inch or more. My nails are not that thick, nor any nails that I've seen. Look at the male record holders nails. Those don't look like normal healthy nails to me. They're almost completely cylindrical and filled in.
> 
> View attachment 471095


I wonder if the nails are treated so they won’t break.  Maybe it’s coated.


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## Theresamonet (Apr 9, 2021)

Keen said:


> I wonder if the nails are treated so they won’t break.  Maybe it’s coated.



I checked out the YouTuber that @GGsKin mentioned above, and there is a whole lot of acrylic being used to repair and reinforce her clients nails. But I would think that you cant get into Guinness unless you're au naturel. Anyone could grow their nails as long as they wanted to, if they just keep coating them in acrylic.


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## GGsKin (Apr 9, 2021)

Theresamonet said:


> I checked out the YouTuber that @GGsKin mentioned above, and there is a whole lot of acrylic being used to repair and reinforce her clients nails. *But I would think that you cant get into Guinness unless you're au naturel. *Anyone could grow their nails as long as they wanted to, if they just keep coating them in acrylic.


I would think so too. Looking at the cutting video @Crackers Phinn posted, it looks like her nails have an overlay or something.


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## Theresamonet (Apr 9, 2021)

GGsKin said:


> I would think so too. Looking at the cutting video @Crackers Phinn posted, it looks like her nails have an overlay or something.



It looks like it to me too. After watching a bunch of long nail videos last night, it seems like that’s just standard practice. Surprised Guinness would allow that. I see it as cheating.


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## Kanky (Apr 9, 2021)

This is so gross to me. It just looks unsanitary and I don’t see how she could possibly be clean.


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## Leeda.the.Paladin (Apr 9, 2021)

Crackers Phinn said:


> The relief in her voice when she was able to bend her knuckles for the first time.


She looks like a villain from an anime in that still shot.


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## Theresamonet (Apr 9, 2021)

Kanky said:


> This is so gross to me. It just looks unsanitary and I don’t see how she could possibly be clean.



I agree. I wouldn't want to eat anything they've cooked. I watched a few videos last night of some of these long nailed women trying to prove that they do daily activities with the same ease as everyone else. They don't. Everything looks awkward and shaky. Like trying to draw your signature with your non dominant hand. I imagine everything they do is barely done. Houses barely cleaned, butts barely wiped.


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## Shimmie (Apr 9, 2021)

Theresamonet said:


> *I agree. I wouldn't want to eat anything they've cooked.* I watched a few videos last night of some of these long nailed women trying to prove that they do daily activities with the same ease as everyone else. They don't. Everything looks awkward and shaky. Like trying to draw your signature with your non dominant hand. I imagine everything they do is barely done. Houses barely cleaned, butts barely wiped.


This... I just couldn't eat their cooking either.


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## Crackers Phinn (Apr 9, 2021)

Theresamonet said:


> I agree. I wouldn't want to eat anything they've cooked. I watched a few videos last night of some of these long nailed women trying to prove that they do daily activities with the same ease as everyone else. They don't. Everything looks awkward and shaky. Like trying to draw your signature with your non dominant hand. I imagine everything they do is barely done. Houses barely cleaned, butts barely wiped.


I was watching one of them demonstrating how she washed her hands and I was like she probably got her actual hands clean but not the full length of the nails which were partially grazing the sink water after she rinsed.  Personally,  I don't trust people's food if they had Cardi B./Coko SWV length nails. 

That said, there is something higly ASMR about this


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## Rastafarai (Apr 9, 2021)

Like seriously - how does one wipe and clean the front and back with such nails? Like how? Not to mention those nail beds to prevent random droppings in food and soups....OMG.


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## Theresamonet (Apr 9, 2021)

Crackers Phinn said:


> I was watching one of them demonstrating how she washed her hands and I was like she probably got her actual hands clean but not the full length of the nails which were partially grazing the sink water after she rinsed.  Personally,  I don't trust people's food if they had Cardi B./Coko SWV length nails.
> 
> That said, there is something higly ASMR about this



I think I know the video you're taking about. She soaped her hands and nails up, but since she could barely fit them under the faucet, they didn't get rinsed enough. I'm sure the dried sticky soap on her nails, that she can't feel, attracts even more dirt, grime, and lent.


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## PatDM'T (Apr 9, 2021)

Crackers Phinn said:


> I was watching one of them demonstrating how she washed her hands and I was like she probably got her actual hands clean but not the full length of the nails which were partially grazing the sink water after she rinsed.  Personally,  I don't trust people's food if they had Cardi B./Coko SWV length nails.
> 
> *That said, there is something higly ASMR about this*


Really?  

So are the nails
having an effect
like the eyes of
Kaa in Jungle Book
hypnotizing you?
Coz I'z skurred
for you and wanna
say maybe stop looking.  

Rather than finding 
it relaxing, I am
tensing up as if
the nail girl has a
 a serpentine tongue
that will spring out of
her mouth and 
lick her "prey" applying
digestive juices that will
dissolve flesh so she
can slurp her up.  

Not a fan of
nail tips longer 
than the nail bed. 
Half the nail bed
is probably my 
preference.


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## GGsKin (Apr 10, 2021)

My nails right now are the longest they have ever been (with the help of dip first, and then gel overlay). The tips are about the length of my nail bed or a smidge longer and people have started to comment that the length is scary lol. They are with me all the time so I really didn't notice how long they look but they are straight as opposed to when they start to curl or bend downwards. Thanks to life happenings, I'm going to cut them this week. Typeing became annoying a while ago but using my knuckle to flush the toilet is just silly and painful.


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## january noir (Apr 10, 2021)

No mam.  No sir.  Nope.  Side show.


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## Theresamonet (Apr 11, 2021)

GGsKin said:


> My nails right now are the longest they have ever been (with the help of dip first, and then gel overlay). The tips are about the length of my nail bed or a smidge longer and people have started to comment that the length is scary lol. They are with me all the time so I really didn't notice how long they look but they are straight as opposed to when they start to curl or bend downwards. Thanks to life happenings, I'm going to cut them this week. Typeing became annoying a while ago but using my knuckle to flush the toilet is just silly and painful.



What is dip first? Do you get it at the salon?

I do like to grow my nails longer but I think 1/2 to 2/3 of my nail bed is my limit. I will try growing them a little longer than that to see. But I would definitely need an overlay to grow longer, because my nails start to split at about 1/2 inch past the nail bed.


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## GGsKin (Apr 11, 2021)

Theresamonet said:


> What is dip first? Do you get it at the salon?
> 
> I do like to grow my nails longer but I think 1/2 to 2/3 of my nail bed is my limit. I will try growing them a little longer than that to see. But I would definitely need an overlay to grow longer, because my nails start to split at about 1/2 inch past the nail bed.


@Theresamonet It's just Dip. Dip nails is a system where resin is painted on the nail and the nail is quickly dipped in finely milled coloured or clear acrylic powder. It requires a little filing and buffing so that you have a smooth finish and I used to wonder why folks would choose it over gel polish but now I get it. I provides much more strength and doesn't chip.

It used to be salon only but there are now at home kits. During the 2nd lockdown, I got really into it but soon discovered I was allergic to the resin liquids in my kit; YT put me onto a thing known as 'dip flu'. That's when I switched to playing with hard gel and polygel.


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