Jessica L. Martinez earned the Guinness World Records title for the largest afro on a living person (female). Her hair was measured at 11.42 inches tall, 12.2 inches wide and 6 feet, 2.87 inches in circumference. Photo courtesy of Guinness World Records
A New York woman’s afro was certified as the world’s largest — measuring 6 feet, 2.87 inches in circumference — and she was officially crowned by her predecessor.
Aevin Dugas, who earned the title for the largest afro on a living person (female) in 2010, visited a New York hair salon to officially pass the torch to new record-holder Jessica L. Martinez.
Martinez’s mane of curls measures 11.42 inches tall, 12.2 inches wide and 6 feet, 2.87 inches in circumference.
Dugas, who was named a Guinness World Records Icon this year, said she was proud to pass on the title she had held for 15 years.
“What I hope people will think when they see [us meet] is that at the end of the day, I love myself, she loves herself, and we’re both just trying to get people to love themselves,” Dugas said. “It’s not a competition, it’s literally all love.”
Martinez said she used to have her hair professionally relaxed until middle school, and then she stopped straightening it altogether during her freshman year of college.
“My last silk press was my freshman year in college, which was I believe in 2014, and I remember I straightened my hair and I looked in the mirror and it reminded me of 12-year-old Jess and I just knew, ‘This is not you. There’s nothing flat about you. You have a lot of personality,'” she said. “And after that, I just went cold-turkey.”
She said it took a team of three people with a tape measure to take the measurements of her afro when she decided to go for the record this year.
“When I found out that I broke the record, I was actually in shock because it didn’t quite sink in yet, it didn’t quite feel real,” she said. “But when I really started to process it, I was like, ‘This is absolutely incredible,’ because the younger version of me would be so proud of myself.”
