NOTABLE ENTRY Nanette McGee, A Wing & A Nail, Holbrook, Ariz.
NOTABLE ENTRY Rie Toju, Tokyo
NOTABLE ENTRY Luna Martinez, Let It Be Nails, Watsonville, Calif.
2ND runner-up: Doan Hoelscher, Nails, Fort Collins, Colo.
NOTABLE ENTRY Bianca Mai, Nails by Bianca, Heinsberg, Germany
NOTABLE ENTRY Alysee Compton, Cloud 9 Salon and Spa, Highland Village, Texas
With a year of nail technology classes under her belt, Tokyo-based cover tech Ami Seki is continuing her Education at Ci:z Nail Academy and also doing nails at Tout Soleil salon, where she has worked for about six months. (Tout Soleil is owned by internationally renowned nail artist Michiko Matsushita.) Seki took inspiration from a romantic evening out in conceiving her design. “The girl in the photo is being taken out for a dinner date on Valentine's day and she is having a pre-dinner drink,” says Seki.
NOTABLE ENTRY Donna Davis, Nail Designs, Medford, Ore.
NOTABLE ENTRY 1 Bianca Arussi, GP Nails & Spa, Los Angeles
NOTABLE ENTRY Tim Farquhar & Alisha Chmiel, Arti Beauty Spa, Kettering, Ohio
NOTABLE ENTRY April D’addaro, de Jensen Salon & Spa, Sea Girt, N.J.
NOTABLE ENTRY Yoko Machii, Ci:z Nail Academy, Tokyo
3RD runner-up: Ayano Suzuki, Ci:z Nail Academy, Tokyo
NOTABLE ENTRY Ikuyo Konno, Ci:z Nail Academy, Tokyo
NOTABLE ENTRY Akari Yoshida, Tout Soleil, Tokyo
NOTABLE ENTRY Yuka Motohashi, Tout Soleil, Tokyo
NOTABLE ENTRY Shinsho Matsushita, Tout Soleil, Tokyo
NOTABLE ENTRY Crystal Gardner, Blue Eyes Salon, Hagerstown, Md.
1ST runner-up: Debbie Brew, Jenniffer & Co., Mentor, Ohio
Usually when reporting our various contest results, we tell you how tough it was for the judges to come to a consensus, and usually that’s the case. But not when it comes to this year’s Cover Tech Contest. Our panel of judges unanimously selected the tasty concoction you see on our cover as their favorite.We can thank Ami Seki of Tout Soleil salon in Tokyo for the appealing image of the sugar-rimmed nails and cocktail glass.
The artistry of the other finalists dazzled us as well. Congratulations to first runner-up Debbie Brew of Mentor, Ohio; second runner-up Doan Hoelscher of Fort Collins, Colo., and third runner-up Ayano Suzuki of Tokyo.
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