Cordelia G. Adams

Cordelia Goldeelocs Adams

Natural Creative Integrity

When this superstar of long nails told me, she had been growing her nails for 32 years, my mind went blank. Cordelia Goldeelocs Adams is a chic eclectic woman with an artistic flair that is undeniably unforgettable. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a conversation with this well-rounded spirit is worth a million.

She graduated from Indiana University with a bachelor’s in fine arts and artsy she is. From head to toe, this ethnically elegant females’ style is captivating. She is a statement all her own, and it has made her a legend in a community she eventually left due to the overwhelming and somewhat fanatical attention.

Her creative nature and a degree in the arts are in her nail art and businesses with a trademark signature. Her nails are a canvas to her soul and a window to freedom of expression. No explanations, no cares for opinion or notice, as personal as a fingerprint, and the private lifestyle she demands. She needs no nail tech, applying both the protective acrylic overlay and their art suitable to her liking and growing adaptability.

It was her Mom that inspired her. The art on her nails, ever so carefully preserved for as much as four years, redefined or styled to suit her taste. She has no favorite color(s) she coordinates with clothing. To Cordelia the nails are expressionism all their own and not coordinated for fashion trends or color codes. Despite a community that often thrives off the fetish aspect of the genre, Cordelia only comprehends how they apply to her lifestyle through creative expression. She was fortunate to have retired from a job she had while growing them. Yes, they got attention, but the only time it was negative would be when new supervisors came in. When they instruct her, they will need to

be cut a shorter length for the job, she would explain they have no impact on her work efficiency. Just allow me to finish the day. She always proved them wrong and was known as the fastest worker there.

People have no understanding of adaptability when they are grown and not purchased, she explained. Nails grow according to your lifestyle. The problem with most people is they can not comprehend X'treme Nailz allowing regular employment or activity.

Cordelia is so over the usual unsolicited commentary they cause. She has experienced watching others debate over how she wipes herself while acting it out before her amongst themselves. That was a new twist. People ask how do you eat? She considers it a legit question if they are from another culture that rarely uses utensils. When Americans ask that question, it is like a "duh" moment.

Her biggest pet peeve would be taking pictures without asking permission. I do not mind so much allowing photos if people ask. It allows me to tell them only for their personal use and not social media, she says. It is like, being a circus act and very offensive. People will say they felt I would not let them take photos. So, you sneak and take a pic of them without asking anyway? You just made the intrusion worse, she stated flatly. The unwarranted assumptions of others about lack of hygiene and being inept are aggravating like the constant game of twenty questions they provoke. Answering the non-stop inquiries only seems to lead to more inquisitions, and it can be agitating.

Her only personal inconvenience? She is no longer enjoying the sports she has always enjoyed participating in throughout the years, laughing at her tom-boyish traits, something I fully understand growing up playing basketball, softball, volleyball, and football in a family that was 95% male. You learn to channel those energies into less nail-threatening athletics to suffice.

While discussing the X’treme Nailz International platform and the new wave of celebrity attention flooding the media? Cordelia has the perspective of any innovator of creative expression. Her nails were grown and not used as some attention-gaining statement for dramatic effect during a photoshoot. There is nothing else left to create continual attention in social media. She feels they are used for a shock factor when talking about hip-hop artists like Cardi B. She finds it insulting to be compared to those celebrities when she has 32 years' worth of maintenance and creative care put into her hands.

Then you get compared to artificial nails used temporarily as a fashion statement by someone younger than the years you have grown yours, she said. Being accepted in the X'treme Nailz is respectful exposure for understanding the women who have adorned them year-end, year out.

Cordelia has been approached many times by other forums asked to talk about her free-flowing talons. She had no interest because they present you as a spectacle, without the appreciation of admiring viewers. The sudden acceptance of mainstream media stepping in with temporary fashion statements has no validity to this nail icon whose segment was cut for other people with taboo practices when asked to be a guest on Geraldo with Lena Cole in the early '90s.

Cordelia is, without doubt, an innovator in the X'treme Nailz Hall of Fame. She represents artistic dedication and longevity in the pursuit of elongated-wondrous nails taking on a life all their own. We are happy to "put some respect on it" in this publication. For women like Cordelia, such lengths are not a choice or a trending phase. It is as natural as every other facet of her human existence.

Cordelia and everything about this eclectic Goldeelocced beauty intrigues. I was honored to have this time to laugh and talk with her and share her story.