Filed down: After 28 years, Texas woman cuts her Guinness record-long fingernails
After almost 30 years of growing the world’s longest fingernails by a female, Ayanna Williams has finally filed them down to history.
Williams had her nails, which measured more than 24 feet combined, removed recently at a Fort Worth dermatologist.
Williams, 62, had been the active Guinness World Records holder for longest fingernails by a female since 2017. She stopped cutting her nails in the early 1990s.
The Houston native, however, was struggling to execute routine tasks such as doing the dishes and make the bed. Not to mention the hours it took to paint her nails and the three to four bottles of nail polish it took each time.
Dr. Allison Readinger of Trinity Vista Dermatology in Forth Worth used an electric rotary tool to cut the nails after measuring them one final time. Her nails measured more than 24 feet combined across both hands.
Williams’ nails will be on display at Ripley’s Believe it or Not! Museum in Orlando beginning Friday.
“It’s going to feel like it’s a wax of myself. Even though it’s just my nails, it’s going to be awesome. I can’t wait to see that,” she said. “I’d rather [Ripley’s] have them than anyone else. It’s history for my kids and my grandkids. It’s very exciting.”
After the removal, Williams felt relief, especially for her thumbs and knuckles. She’s looking forward to a simpler lifestyle but the moment was bittersweet.
“With or without my nails, I will still be the queen. My nails don’t make me, I make my nails,” she said. Williams said she’s going to grow her nails again but not to record lengths.
“Do what you want to do! Let everyone be themselves,” she said. “If you want to grow your nails long, do it!”
The all-time record for longest fingernails by a female belongs to Lee Redmond. Her nails measured a combined 28 feet, 4.5 inches.
