Nilanshi Patel, 17, who has been awarded the 2019 Guinness World Record for the longest hair in the teenager category, 190 cm, poses for a picture at Modasa town, some 110 Kms from Ahmedabad on January 19, 2020. – Patel has been awarded the 2019 Guinness World Record for the longest hair at 190 cm in the teenager category. In 2018 she bagged Guinness World Record in the same category at 170,5 cm. (Photo by SAM PANTHAKY / AFP)
17-year-old Nilanshi Patel has moved from being a local celebrity to an international one as she boasts of the title of having the World’s longest teen hair.
Patel previously held the title with 170.5 centimetres (5.59 feet) as of December 2018 and she has bettered her own Guinness World Records with a new length of 190 centimetres.
Nicknamed “Rapunzel” after the long, flowing hair of the princess in the Brothers Grimm fairytale, the Indian girl from the small town of Modasa in Gujarat state says her parents support her decision not to cut her hair after a bad experience at a salon at the age of six.
Her record-setting tresses didn’t happen overnight as the teenager hasn’t visited a hairdresser for 11 years after a hair-raising ordeal.
Nilanshi Patel, 17, who has been awarded the 2019 Guinness World Record for the longest hair in the teenager category, 190 cm, poses for a picture at Modasa town, some 110 Kms from Ahmedabad on January 19, 2020. – Patel has been awarded the 2019 Guinness World Record for the longest hair at 190 cm in the teenager category. In 2018 she bagged Guinness World Record in the same category at 170,5 cm. (Photo by SAM PANTHAKY / AFP)
She told AFP:
“At six, I had a very bad experience at a local salon Since then I have been apprehensive about cutting my hair. My parents accepted my wishes and now my locks have become my lucky charm.”
Nilanshi Patel, 17, who has been awarded the 2019 Guinness World Record for the longest hair in the teenager category, 190 cm, poses for a picture with her mother Kaminibenat at Modasa town, some 110 Kms from Ahmedabad on January 19, 2020. – Patel has been awarded the 2019 Guinness World Record for the longest hair at 190 cm in the teenager category. In 2018 she bagged Guinness World Record in the same category at 170,5 cm. (Photo by SAM PANTHAKY / AFP)
Patel has to wear high-heeled shoes if she does not want her hair to touch the ground.
Apart from that, Patel said she cares for her hair like every other teenager — but with help from her mother.
“I do what every teenager does. Wash the hair every week and oil it once or twice a week,” the aspiring engineer said, adding that she dries it by sitting in the sun or with a hairdryer.
Mostly I keep a braid, but while playing or for some occasions, I tie the hair into a bun. The only time I have trouble is while swimming.”
