Nigerian woman braids 387 heads of hair in a day, averages one style every four minutes!
Nigerian hair stylist Mary Chinonso usually spends her days in the salon making others feel beautiful – but last March, the accomplished braider truly put her hands to the test when attempting the Guinness World Records title for the most heads of hair braided in 24 hours.
Ever since she was a child, Mary has loved braiding hair, and she always dreamed that one day she might be able to achieve something honourable with her skills.
Therefore, once she found out about the competitive record title – at the time held by Indian Vasugi Manivannan, claimed after braiding 167 heads of hair in Chennai – she knew she wanted to try her best to take the crown.
“My goal is to prove that with talent, focus, consistency, speed and endurance… inspiration and innovation is born,” she said on Instagram before the event.
So in the early hours of 24 March 2024, Mary arrived at her salon at Cherub Mall in Lekki, Lagos, Nigeria and started preparing for her attempt.
Event organizers and certified witnesses, as well as a slew of volunteers and supporters, showed up early too – along with a long line of women with freshly-washed natural hair, eager for their chance to get their tresses braided and take part in Mary’s quest for a record.
Almost all of them were also wearing Guinness World Records T-shirts, which was a fun way to participate in the spirit of the day and inspire Mary to keep going.
Yet despite the pressure of the event, the determined stylist was confident she could beat the record, saying: “The preparation for this event has started a long time ago – since 10 years ago I engaged fully in hairdressing and styling practices, preparing my body and soul for the challenge of a Guinness World Records title.”
And once she started her task, Mary hardly made any stops – for 24 hours straight, she kept her fingers moving quickly across the scalps of her volunteers, guiding them through the hair wash process and detangling their fresh locks with a comb.
Every four hours, she’d take a quick 20-minute break to relax her body or scarf down some food, then shortly after she’d return to the styling chair, ushering in the next guest with an urgently professional air.
After a model would enter the salon, Mary would escort them over to the hair wash bowl, where she would drench their hair and rub in some shampoo before washing out the bubbles.
She’d then take them over to the styling chair, where she’d plant a palm at the top of their head and use a wide-toothed comb to detangle their hair painlessly, before grabbing three ends of their tresses and twisting them into a neat braid at the back of their neck.
The model would then slide out of their chair and make way for Mary’s next ‘client’, and the hairstylist would repeat the process over and over again for hours.
By the time night approached, it was clear Mary was fatigued but powering through – but her friends and supporters did everything they could to keep her up and going, including playing music on the speakers of the salon, and singing and dancing outside to keep morale up.
But soon enough, Mary’s 387th client was perched in her chair, ready for the final styling of the day!
At the end of those exhausting 24 hours, Mary had braided 387 heads of hair, averaging an incredible rate of one style per every four minutes.
“Our joy knows no bounds,” she posted on Instagram after taking the title. Despite the long day and all the hard work, Mary was incredibly delighted to become an official record holder, saying: “Go, super girl!” on her page, and celebrating with all her loved ones.
Congratulations on this tremendous achievement, Mary – you are Officially Amazing!