For most of my life, I've had pretty long nails. For some reason, I would scream bloody murder when anyone cut my nails as a child, and it seems they've gotten used to all the real estate I've given them over the years.
Instagram | @elena___beauty
Woman Spends 4 Years Growing Nails That She Calls Her 'Babies'
I say that because it's never too long after I cut them that they spring right back up like sharp little weeds.
However, even if I wanted to, I doubt I could get them to grow until they actually start curling. And although that's never been a dream I've had, it's one that a particular Russian woman has adjusted her lifestyle around.
For 35-year-old Elena Shilenkova of Saint Petersburg, Russia, it's likely hard to recall a time when she didn't have long nails.
Instagram | @elena___beauty
As she told The Mirror, "When I was a child and went to school, I already had nails longer than most adult women."
"But my teachers were quite tolerant about it," she said.
Instagram | @elena___beauty
"They even did not let me wash the windows as they were afraid that I could break my nails."
However, one bet she made with a friend compelled her to take the length of her nails to the extreme.
Instagram | @elena___beauty
It's unclear whether this friend was convinced she couldn't grow them to 12 centimeters (the equivalent of 4.7 inches) long or couldn't grow the longest in Russia, but she was willing to take on the challenge all the same.
And after four years of growing, it seems that Shilenkova's friend lost the bet.
Instagram | @elena___beauty
As The Mirror reported, she has both grown 4.7 inch nails and broken the record for the longest in Russia.
But she has no plans to get rid of them because she now considers them her "babies."
Instagram | @elena___beauty
As she said, "I call them ‘my babies,’ as they are four years old and I take care of them as I would do with babies."
Although she takes pride in her nails, she also worries about breaking them often.
Instagram | @elena___beauty
For this reason, she takes hair and nail vitamins to keep them strong and avoids making sharp movements as much as possible.
Reactions to her nails have been mixed, but she notes that a lot of people think they're cool or respect her patience for growing them.
Instagram | @elena___beauty
As she put it, "My nails are like personal calling card."
She also said that having such long nails hasn't had too severe of an impact on her daily life.
Instagram | @elena___beauty
She still considers most activities perfectly doable, if in a different way than most people would normally do them.
Although she didn't elaborate on this, she said, "For example, I would say that my way of typing is a little bit different."
As she said, "I am most worried about breaking the nails in my sleep and I often have nightmares that I wake up with short nails."
Instagram | @elena___beauty
"I am afraid to break them as I would have to waste my time on fixing them – they do break sometimes but I always fix them."
She explains that her nails are quite the rage with men in particular.
Instagram | @elena___beauty
"Quite often men just don’t notice my nails, but when they do, they get surprised and start asking all those typical questions. I am never short of male attention.”
That said, she has felt the need to make some sacrifices so she can keep her nails as long as possible.
Instagram | @elena___beauty
Although she enjoys swimming and traveling to the sea, she now feels that it would be too risky to do either of those things.
The same goes for playing tennis.
Considering where she lives, another issue is that she can no longer wear gloves.
Instagram | @elena___beauty
As she told The Mirror, "I miss gloves –it can be quite cold in Russia and I have to put my hands in my pockets."
"People see thousands of faces and are always erased from the memory – but someone with nails like mine would never been forgotten."
Instagram | @elena___beauty
"It's impossible not to notice me."
h/t: The Mirror
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