CALLING ALL COMPETITIVE NAIL TECHS!

The Annual NailFile Competition will take place on 3 September as part of the Professional Beauty Johannesburg Expo. Competition director and award-winning nail artist, Katia Da Silva, provides some important tips on how to prepare for the event

“The best preparation for tomorrow is doing your best today.” These are word to live by when you are wanting to participate in a nail competition.

There are so many things that can go wrong that if you do not foresee or prepare for them, sadly they may be your downfall on the day.

The question is, how do you prepare now, for an event that will only be judged on the day? Here are a few tips and tricks to help you deal with this exciting challenge.

Understand the Rules and Regulations

Rules are set as a barrier for each contestant to strictly adhere to and how closely you manage to do this will reflect in your results. The aesthetics of the complete set of nails, along with the rigid adherence to the rules, is what is awarded in any nail competition. There is no room for a judge’s personal preference. If you take only one tip away from this article, it would be this – know your rules and regulations well. Read all the general competition rules right through to your category. Every point counts. To read the rules and regulations for the Live Competition as well as the Off-site Photographic and Tip Box competitions go to https://www.probeauty.co.za/nail-competitionand click on the relevant button.

Practise, practise, practise!

I cannot stress how important this is when preparing for a nail competition. On competition day, bear in mind that you are not doing a set of nails in your own comfortable space. You are put into a completely strange environment with only the items that you have brought available. There is no backup. Here are a few pointers. Pack an extra mini kit of essential products that you will be using in your category (monomer or gel, primer, etc). This is just in case nerves get the better of you and product spills over or drops on a pile of dust.

Practise on the model that you will be using on the competition floor. At this time, you should be practising the length, c curves and smiles. Choose the correct cover pinks to suite her complexion. These points add up and can make a big difference.

NAIL COMPETITION DAY is about the NAIL TECH’S ACHIEVEMENTS! IT’S YOUR DAY TO SHINE, but to do this, you will NEED A SUPPORTIVE, calm AND CARING FRIEND or

family member to be YOUR MODEL.

On your first practice session, start with an empty table or trolley. Every item used, put it on the trolley. By the end of the session, all the items you will need for the competition should be on your trolley. Make a list of them and keep it for the day or two before the competition to pack into your kit. This will also help you pack in the essentials and leave out the non-essentials from your table.

Make sure that your tools, equipment and products are in line with the rules and regulations.

"REMEMBER to always MEASURE YOUR SUCCESS based on HOW YOU HAVE GROWN as a PERSON, a NAIL TECHNICIAN, as an artist and how your nails HAVE GROWN IN QUALITY and in aesthetics."

Adjust your attitude for growth

When participating in the competition, make sure to adjust your attitude with a growth mindset! This will allow you to deal with any errors and make you more willing to develop the skills to improve with effort and practise. When you have the correct mindset that will allow you to grow in this experience, you will: embrace the challenge of the competition; accept the constructive criticism from the results; and learn to overcome any obstacle whether it was emotional, mental or physical.

Remember to always measure YOUR success based on how YOU have grown as a person, a nail technician, as an artist and how your nails have grown in quality and in aesthetics. Not only will you see the difference but most importantly, so will your clients.

Finally my last tip is – have fun! I can’t wait to see you there!

Choose a supportive model

In many cases, a model can make or break you on the day. Going through all this hard work, effort and time, and to end up with a model who is not supportive, or drops you at the last minute, or wants to leave straight away, will make the whole experience unpleasant, uncomfortable and more nerve-wracking than it should be.

Nail Competition Day is about the nail tech’s achievements! It’s your day to shine, but to do this, you will need a supportive, calm and caring friend or family member to be your model.

So, what can you do to make the competition more pleasant for your model? To start with, make them part of the experience and the fun. Explain to them what the day’s calendar will be like, what’s going to happen and be enthusiastic about it. Not only will this bring off positive energy onto your model, but you will start to feel more positive and confident in preparation for the day.

Ask your model to be on ‘timer duty’. Allocate time to each segment of your steps & procedures and ask her to time you on them, give you a warning when you are almost up, or alert you when you have gained time. Not only will she not feel bored, but it will also take the thinking out of it for you.

Be kind to your model, her day is longer than you think. Have a bottle of water and or cooldrink for her.

Models are precious to us and every client from today onwards should be treated as a ‘practise client’. Although you will be unable to create a competition set of nails on all your clients, there is still opportunity to perfect and work on the fundamentals, such as nail thickness, cuticle lines, side walls, overall finish quality, and smoothness. These are common points that often are missed by contestants when participating.

Katia Da Silva is a multi award winning nail artist, as well as educator at NSI and founder of Nail Trinkets.