Paying out £40,000 to cover 95% of her body in tattoos, Julia Gnuse holds the 2011 Guinness World Record for the most tattooed woman in the world. From Disney characters to Cleopatra, there isn’t much space left on Julia’s 5ft 2 body to put any more ink amongst the 400 existing pieces of art.

The only places left unmarked are her ears and feet.

In her mid 30’s Julia developed Porphyria, a skin condition where sunlight can blister the skin. In an attempt to stop scratching and to stop her from scarring she went ahead with the permanent art work. It worked miracles, hence why Julia is covered head-to-toe in tattoos. She has no scars and does not feel the urge to itch anymore.

Julia, now 55 gets a lot of attention and has been nicknamed the Illustrated Lady. Currently living in Foothill Ranch, California, Julia is used to taking the good with the bad and seeming as she is happy with her body, that is all that matters.

By Sarah Hartland