NOTABLE ENTRY Nanette McGee, A Wing & A Nail, Holbrook, Ariz.

NOTABLE ENTRY Nanette McGee, A Wing & A Nail, Holbrook, Ariz.

NOTABLE ENTRY Rie Toju, Tokyo

NOTABLE ENTRY Rie Toju, Tokyo

NOTABLE ENTRY Luna Martinez, Let It Be Nails, Watsonville, Calif.

NOTABLE ENTRY Luna Martinez, Let It Be Nails, Watsonville, Calif.

2ND runner-up: Doan Hoelscher, Nails, Fort Collins, Colo.

2ND runner-up: Doan Hoelscher, Nails, Fort Collins, Colo.

NOTABLE ENTRY Bianca Mai, Nails by Bianca, Heinsberg, Germany

NOTABLE ENTRY Bianca Mai, Nails by Bianca, Heinsberg, Germany

NOTABLE ENTRY Alysee Compton, Cloud 9 Salon and Spa, Highland Village, Texas

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...

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 Donna Davis, Nail Designs, Medford, Ore.

NOTABLE ENTRY 1 Bianca Arussi, GP Nails & Spa, Los Angeles

NOTABLE ENTRY 1 Bianca Arussi, GP Nails & Spa, Los Angeles

NOTABLE ENTRY Tim Farquhar & Alisha Chmiel, Arti Beauty Spa, Kettering, Ohio

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 April D’addaro, de Jensen Salon & Spa, Sea Girt, N.J.

NOTABLE ENTRY Yoko Machii, Ci:z Nail Academy, Tokyo

NOTABLE ENTRY Yoko Machii, Ci:z Nail Academy, Tokyo

3RD runner-up: Ayano Suzuki, 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 Ikuyo Konno, Ci:z Nail Academy, Tokyo

NOTABLE ENTRY Akari Yoshida, Tout Soleil, Tokyo

NOTABLE ENTRY Akari Yoshida, Tout Soleil, Tokyo

NOTABLE ENTRY Yuka Motohashi, Tout Soleil, Tokyo

NOTABLE ENTRY Yuka Motohashi, Tout Soleil, Tokyo

NOTABLE ENTRY Shinsho Matsushita, Tout Soleil, Tokyo

NOTABLE ENTRY Shinsho Matsushita, Tout Soleil, Tokyo

NOTABLE ENTRY Crystal Gardner, Blue Eyes Salon, Hagerstown, Md.

NOTABLE ENTRY Crystal Gardner, Blue Eyes Salon, Hagerstown, Md.

1ST runner-up: Debbie Brew, Jenniffer & Co., Mentor, Ohio

1ST runner-up: Debbie Brew, Jenniffer & Co., Mentor, Ohio

1/19
 
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NOTABLE ENTRY Nanette McGee, A Wing & A Nail, Holbrook, Ariz.
1/19
 
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NOTABLE ENTRY Nanette McGee, A Wing & A Nail, Holbrook, Ariz.

NOTABLE ENTRY Rie Toju, Tokyo
2/19
 
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NOTABLE ENTRY Rie Toju, Tokyo

NOTABLE ENTRY Luna Martinez, Let It Be Nails, Watsonville, Calif.
3/19
 
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NOTABLE ENTRY Luna Martinez, Let It Be Nails, Watsonville, Calif.

2ND runner-up: Doan Hoelscher, Nails, Fort Collins, Colo.
4/19
 
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2ND runner-up: Doan Hoelscher, Nails, Fort Collins, Colo.

NOTABLE ENTRY Bianca Mai, Nails by Bianca, Heinsberg, Germany
5/19
 
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NOTABLE ENTRY Bianca Mai, Nails by Bianca, Heinsberg, Germany

NOTABLE ENTRY Alysee Compton, Cloud 9 Salon and Spa, Highland Village, Texas
6/19
 
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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...
7/19
 
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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.
8/19
 
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NOTABLE ENTRY Donna Davis, Nail Designs, Medford, Ore.

NOTABLE ENTRY 1 Bianca Arussi, GP Nails & Spa, Los Angeles
9/19
 
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NOTABLE ENTRY 1 Bianca Arussi, GP Nails & Spa, Los Angeles

NOTABLE ENTRY Tim Farquhar & Alisha Chmiel, Arti Beauty Spa, Kettering, Ohio
10/19
 
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NOTABLE ENTRY Tim Farquhar & Alisha Chmiel, Arti Beauty Spa, Kettering, Ohio

NOTABLE ENTRY April D’addaro, de Jensen Salon & Spa, Sea Girt, N.J.
11/19
 
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NOTABLE ENTRY April D’addaro, de Jensen Salon & Spa, Sea Girt, N.J.

NOTABLE ENTRY Yoko Machii, Ci:z Nail Academy, Tokyo
12/19
 
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NOTABLE ENTRY Yoko Machii, Ci:z Nail Academy, Tokyo

3RD runner-up: Ayano Suzuki, Ci:z Nail Academy, Tokyo
13/19
 
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3RD runner-up: Ayano Suzuki, Ci:z Nail Academy, Tokyo

NOTABLE ENTRY Ikuyo Konno, Ci:z Nail Academy, Tokyo
14/19
 
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NOTABLE ENTRY Ikuyo Konno, Ci:z Nail Academy, Tokyo

NOTABLE ENTRY Akari Yoshida, Tout Soleil, Tokyo
15/19
 
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NOTABLE ENTRY Akari Yoshida, Tout Soleil, Tokyo

NOTABLE ENTRY Yuka Motohashi, Tout Soleil, Tokyo
16/19
 
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NOTABLE ENTRY Yuka Motohashi, Tout Soleil, Tokyo

NOTABLE ENTRY Shinsho Matsushita, Tout Soleil, Tokyo
17/19
 
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NOTABLE ENTRY Shinsho Matsushita, Tout Soleil, Tokyo

NOTABLE ENTRY Crystal Gardner, Blue Eyes Salon, Hagerstown, Md.
18/19
 
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NOTABLE ENTRY Crystal Gardner, Blue Eyes Salon, Hagerstown, Md.

1ST runner-up: Debbie Brew, Jenniffer & Co., Mentor, Ohio
19/19
 
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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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