Introducing The Woman From Texas With Longest Fingernails On Record

Oct 13, 2020

There are countless reasons why someone might get inducted into the Guinness Book of World Records. Some people can list the most digits of pi or have even baked the largest pie! However, a Houston, Texas woman was included in the book for an unexpected — if not unusual — reason. Ayanna Williams is the 2018 world-record holder for having the longest fingernails of any woman. How long are these over-grown backscratchers? Combined, her nails total an incredible 18 feet, 9 inches long. That's a Lincoln Town Car worth of fingernails.

Looking at Ayanna is a little disorienting at first. During a recent interview, her nails had been painted a shade of coral pink, and truthfully, you would have been forgiven for thinking she was holding a bundle of crab legs. It's a unique look for sure.

Ayanna cannot get enough of them. In that interview, Ayanna quipped, "They're just an extension of me. Some people act grossed out by them, but I don't care. I think they're incredibly beautiful and special."

Ayanna will admit that certain aspects of her life are made somewhat more challenging due to her nails. Certain chores around the house pose a unique danger to her nails, so she avoids them outright.

She started growing them over 24 years ago, and she admits she doesn't exactly remember why she started growing them. "I was dating a guy at the time", she says in the video below, "and I had let them grow a little long — maybe 3 inches. He seemed to like it and encouraged me to keep going. Next thing I knew I had these."

What does someone with the world's longest nails do for work? Well, unsurprisingly, her career focuses on fingernails, too. As a nail technician, Ayanna spends her working days attending to the needs of other fingers, including painting, trimming, and cuticle management. Even at work, she has to be careful to avoid breaking her own nails, however. Her entire life often seems to revolve around her precious record holders.

She rarely attends to her own nails at work, however, preferring to take her time in the comfort of her own home. With so much real estate, she uses her nails as somewhat of a palet for experimentation. Typically, a new paint job will take her around a week to complete and uses up over two bottles of polish. Because of the tedious nature of the task, the process is essentially never-ending. Just like the Brooklyn Bridge, by the time you get to one end you need to paint the other.

Now that Ayanna has gotten into the record books, she says she has no plans to back down. She has wondered if there would ever be a point where she would cut them. She discussed this in an interview with Houstonia Mag, saying, "If I can’t make a decent living like I would like to, I might have to cut them. That and my health would be the only reasons."

Without any sign of stopping, it is unlikely that Ayanna's crown will be taken from the records anytime soon. It is always amazing to see the extremes that humans will go to maintain a record or a lifestyle. Whether it is Ayanna's extremely long nails or any other record attempt, what is your favorite example of someone taking their body to the extremes? Let us know, and pass this unusual (and fascinating!) story on to friends and family members!