This year I decided to take the plunge and enter Nailympia with Team CND London. Since it was the first competition I'd entered I was in division one - gel manicure.
First off - finding the perfect model. Free manicures every couple of weeks for a month or two prior to the competition, sounds easy right? WRONG! For french manicure to look perfect for competing, nail beds must be approximately 12-14mm. Quite specific huh! Model found, let the practice commence!!
This for me was the most stressful part. Most people in this industry will tell you they're their own worst enemy and toughest critic! But theres no room for error as the standard in this competition is HIGH. I can definitely say my confidence and skill in painting french improved during this time. All I could hear in my head was my teacher and mentor Anna Lee telling me "perfect practice makes perfect!"
We turned up at 7am for registrations Saturday morning blurry eyed but there was so much excitement it didn't take long to get into the mood of things! There was almost 1000 people competing over the weekend taking on different challenges from all over the world.
Every time I practiced I had to much time left over, so I tried to take it slow to get everything as perfect as possible. The time went SO FAST I had to rush my clients hand out of the lamp and wipe it over as the time was running out. Phew, I finished. JUST.
Kristine Toes picked up a gold medal for gel polish in division two, what a fantastic achievement! Unfortunately she wasn't there to collect her medal but we managed to grab a celebratory picture with Jan Arnold - Co-Founder of CND.
The whole experience was amazing, I got to meet lots of girls who I knew through our student page but had never met and some real nail icons! I've made great memories and perfected the french manicure, FINALLY! Until next year...