Woman's Hair Is 11 Feet Long After Letting It Grow for 18 Years
You know how your stylist is hounding you about getting a trim every six weeks? Well don’t feel bad if you can’t keep up: Ni Linmei of Shanxi, China hasn’t had a haircut in 18 years. As a result, the 60-year-old’s strands measure a staggering 11 feet, according to the Daily Mail. She claims that in 2016 alone, her hair has grown 19 inches.
All we want to know it, what kinds of supplements is this woman taking? Linmei’s long, black strands appear shiny and lush — and even her ends look healthy. What gives?
As seen on pictures on the publication’s website, Linmei had to stand on her kitchen countertop to even have her hair measured. Elevating herself was the only way she could fully extend her strands to the floor in a vertical cascade. Linmei held a measuring tape to the top of her scalp while an assistant secured the bottom of the tape where the woman’s locks ended.
As you can imagine, this much hair requires some heavy-duty maintenance. According to the Daily Mail, Linmei spends two hours a day washing and drying her hair (we recommend dry shampoo). To keep it out of her face, she apparently wraps it up in a bun on top of her head. It’s unclear how many hair ties and bobby pins it takes to keep that hairdo in place, but we’re guessing she has a fully stocked pantry.
Here’s Why It’s Okay to Rock Your Roots
It also comes as no surprise that even-foot-long hair can also get pretty annoying at times. Linmei almost gave up and trimmed her locks in 2013, says the the Daily Mail. After all, her hair almost got caught in elevator doors once! But she pressed on in the name … well, we’re not sure.
Despite her Rapunzel-like mane, Linmei isn’t even close to breaking the Guinness World Record for longest hair on a female. That incredible distinction goes to a woman named Xie Qiuping, also of China (we need to know what’s in the water in China), whose strands measured more than 18.5 feet long in 2004 — half the height of a giraffe, if you’re trying to gauge this. As the Guinness Book of World Records reports, Qiuping had stopped getting haircuts in 1973 at age 13.
Others who hold claims to fame in the extremely long-hair fame include Asha Mandela, known as the “Rasta Rapunzel” for having 55-foot dreadlocks — the world’s longest, as you might have guessed. Then there’s a family in Morris, Illinois — Terelynn Russel and her three daughters — who grow their brunette manes for competitive reasons. Mom had led the pack with her six-foot strangds by “regularly” nabbing first place in ‘Longest Pony Tail Competitions’.
This Is What Lupita Nyong’o Would Look Like With Straight Hair
And don’t forget Natasha Moraes De Andrade, a Rio de Janeiro girl who grew out her hair for 12 years, to an impressive 5-feet-2-inches, then cut it all off and sold it to pay for a home for her family. De Andrade was happy to lop of the locks, according to the Daily Mail, as “it took four hours every week to wash her hair and an hour and a half to brush every day, and made her life a misery.” When her hair was finally chopped, she cried — tears of joy, we assume.
As for Linmei, she may not have the title or the bragging rights to the longest hair the world —yet — but least she has fame. In a video filmed in the Taiyuan, Shanxi province, she creates quite a stir in public as people can be seen gathering around to take pictures of the woman’s flowing mane.
She also has a beaming smile. If nothing else, Linmei’s long locks seem to be a source of pride and happiness. And if she ever decides to cut it all off, she can increase her joy by donating it to cancer patients. So even if she never wins her Guinness title, she really can’t lose.
Let’s keep in touch! Follow Yahoo Beauty on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.
