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The American woman who grew the longest beard on a woman is now the owner of a new Guinness World Record title. Erin Hunnicutt has the longest mustache on a woman. Her curly red mustache is 31 cm long.
“I don’t usually put too much product on my beard and mustache because I don’t like the feel of the product on them,” says Erin. But she does comb through her hair before adding a little conditioner for softness and a little beard wax for hold. “The longer your beard gets, the less product you’ll probably want to put on it. In 2020, I started growing a beard to become the world record holder for the longest beard on a living person (female), and the mustache just goes with it! The mustache took a little longer because I was constantly trimming it because it kept getting stuck in my mouth—it was really annoying. But after that, I decided to just keep growing it.”
According to GWR, Erin's beard and mustache are the result of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), which causes hormonal imbalances and can lead to irregular periods, weight gain, infertility, and excessive hair growth.
She started growing excessive facial hair when she was 13 years old and had to shave three times a day to deal with the persistent stubble.
“I stopped shaving because I was tired of shaving my face three times a day,” says Erin. “I also saw a lot of women online who were happy with their facial hair, and I decided that if they could be happy with what they had, then I should be happy with what I had. And I shouldn’t be ashamed of who I am on the outside because it just happens naturally.”
Although Erin shaved her beard in the early years, she says her wife’s support and the experience of quarantine allowed her to experiment with showing the world her true self. She could hide her hair behind a mask and go through awkward stages while indoors. But when the quarantine lifted, she found herself happy with what she saw when she looked in the mirror.
"I didn't have to put in much effort to achieve what happened naturally, and that's a pretty amazing feat," Erin said. "I don't consider myself a unique person, but I'm sure to other people I'm just dizzying."
To capture the actual length of her stunning mustache, Erin needed a team of people to help her with it.
“Measuring my mustache was a little more difficult than my beard, just because I had to hold it with both hands to measure it from tip to tip,” she says. “So I had three people helping me: the barber, the person holding the tape measure, me, and someone else who was recording us.”
After the 31 cm long mustache was measured, Erin could celebrate her new record.
"I really love the fact that I now have two records, just because I never thought I could achieve one record, let alone two," she said. "But I'm proud of who I am, and I'm proud to be able to show the world my true self, and hopefully inspire others to do the same."
