1st Runner Up:
Janina Lumous
Tampere, Finland
2nd Runner Up:
Lenzi Brock
Vancouver, Wash.
3rd Runner Up:
Melanie McCulley
Hermosa Beach, Calif.
Finalist:
Yuri Nagumo
Nail Salon Ciel, Tokyo
Finalist:
Kasumi Ishii
Tokyo
Finalist:
Melanie McCulley
Hermosa Beach, Calif.
Finalist:
Rochelle Dingman
San Jose, Calif.
Finalist:
Phoebe Dingman
San Jose, Calif.
Finalist:
Makiko Yuda
Tokyo
Bonnie Huffman
Wentzville, Mo.
Denise Dolengewicz
Franklin Park, Ill.
Jesse Bruner,
Wilmington, Del.
Kaitlin Jeanette Smith
Garrettsville, Ohio
Katja Vähäkuopus
Oulu, Suomi, Finland
Mana Shimada
Tokyo
Michelle Whitaker
Rolla, Mo.
Miho Fukasawa
Toky
Robyn Schwartz
Grand Forks, B.C., Canada
Torie Bastian
Crown Point, Ind.
Veeah Chitwood
Rolla, Mo.
Yuki Tanaka
Tokyo
1st Runner Up:
Janina Lumous
Tampere, Finland
2nd Runner Up:
Lenzi Brock
Vancouver, Wash.
3rd Runner Up:
Melanie McCulley
Hermosa Beach, Calif.
Finalist:
Yuri Nagumo
Nail Salon Ciel, Tokyo
Finalist:
Kasumi Ishii
Tokyo
Finalist:
Melanie McCulley
Hermosa Beach, Calif.
Finalist:
Rochelle Dingman
San Jose, Calif.
Finalist:
Phoebe Dingman
San Jose, Calif.
Finalist:
Makiko Yuda
Tokyo
Bonnie Huffman
Wentzville, Mo.
Denise Dolengewicz
Franklin Park, Ill.
Jesse Bruner,
Wilmington, Del.
Kaitlin Jeanette Smith
Garrettsville, Ohio
Katja Vähäkuopus
Oulu, Suomi, Finland
Mana Shimada
Tokyo
Michelle Whitaker
Rolla, Mo.
Miho Fukasawa
Toky
Robyn Schwartz
Grand Forks, B.C., Canada
Torie Bastian
Crown Point, Ind.
Veeah Chitwood
Rolla, Mo.
Yuki Tanaka
Tokyo
We tallied your votes and nail tech Miki Nakano of Nail Salon Ciel in Tokyo took top honors this year with her oh-so-pretty puzzle image. Congratulations to Miki, and to runners-up Janina Lumous, Lenzi Brock, and Melanie McCulley. A giant thank you goes out to everyone who entered.
Meet the Winner
“I wanted to capture the unique effect of a water ripple as light hits its surface,” says nail tech Miki Nakano, who used Cal Gel to create the winning nails. “After creating a gradation using three colors, I placed a thin coat of white over the gradation. Then I randomly placed clear throughout the tip to create an illusion of the water’s surface before curing it. The total process took about two hours.” A tech of five years, Nakano used her own hand in the photo.
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