Diana Armstrong’s 42-foot fingernails have broken records and turned heads for years, but it’s not just their staggering 42-foot length that gets the attention. Now, the world‑record holder is addressing the one thing everyone wonders – but few ever dare to ask out loud.
Diana Armstrong, a mother and grandmother from Minnesota, hasn’t trimmed her fingernails since 1997 – and today, they measure a staggering 42 feet and 10.4 inches in total length.
Her right thumbnail is the longest of all, stretching 4 feet, 6.7 inches. Even her shortest nail, on her left pinky, is 3 feet, 7 inches long. Together, they are longer than a full-sized bus.
‘Worst day of my life’
Recognized by Guinness World Records as the holder of the world’s longest fingernails ever recorded on a pair of hands (female), Armstrong says her decision to grow them was deeply personal – and born out of grief.
In 1997, Armstrong lost her 16-year-old daughter, Latisha, to a sudden asthma attack.
“That was the worst day of my life,” she told Guinness when she accepted her record-breaking title.
Tribute to daughter
In the painful years that followed, Armstrong – who had always worn her nails longer than average – could not bring herself to cut her nails again.
“[Latisha] was the only one who did my nails. She polished them and filed them for me,” said Armstrong, who years ago left her job as a hairstylist and became a stay-at-home mother, quietly committing herself to the personal ritual of growing her nails.
After Latisha’s passing, Armstrong also shared that she battled depression for nearly a decade, and says her nails became a way to keep her daughter close in her thoughts.
‘Her way of holding on’
Though her other children initially questioned the practicality of her choice, they came to understand the emotional meaning behind it.
“When she told us the back story, it kind of changed my feelings towards it,” her daughter Rania told Guinness. “Because, as much as she missed my sister, I missed her too. So, if that’s her way of holding on to her, I accept.”
Uses 15 to 20 bottles of polish
Maintaining the nails now takes time, effort, and a team. Each nail takes four to five hours to paint, and Armstrong says the process requires between 15 and 20 bottles of nail polish, along with a woodworking tool for filing.
“I haven’t been to a nail salon in about 22 years. When they see me coming, they’d be like ‘Oh no,’” Armstrong joked.
She explained the process is so labor-intensive that she now only gets her nails painted once every four to five years, usually recruiting her children and grandchildren, who enjoy creating colorful designs.
“It started off with my two nieces, and then once I ended up having my daughter and she got to a certain age, she just kind of joined the crowd because she loved playing with fingernail polish,” Armstrong said.
Challenges
But having the world’s longest nails comes with major challenges. Armstrong no longer drives, explaining that her nails would rest outside the car window due to their length.
She avoids clothing with zippers and uses her feet to do basic tasks, like opening the refrigerator or picking up clothes from the floor.
“If I have to pick up money off the floor, I can pick up bills,” she said. “But if I drop change on the floor, that will just stay down there.”
Restroom
And finally, she addressed the one question people are always curious about – how she uses the restroom with such extreme nails.
“It be the same as anybody else go to the bathroom but it just that I work with my nails probably in a different way they would work with theirs,” Armstrong said. “Just a lot of toilet paper,” she laughed. “I wipe myself with a lot of toilet paper.”
She also explained that when she goes out, she always has to wait for the largest stall in a public restroom.
“When I go to a public restroom, I go to the stall that is the biggest. I can’t use the smaller ones because my nails are longer than them.”
After more than two decades, Armstrong says she has no plans to cut her nails. Every inch of growth remains a symbol of the bond she shared with her daughter, and a reminder of the love that continues long after loss.
“I think she [Latisha] would be proud of me because she’s the last one who did my nails,” she said, adding “That’s who I think of when I grow my nails.”
Would you ever grow your nails this long? Please let us know your thoughts and then share this story so we can hear from others!
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