In January, the editors of NAILS submitted their nominations for the best designs that were published in our monthly Reader Nail Art section in 1995. Since then, our readers have voted for their favorite designs in five different categories. The votes have been tabulated, and we are proud to present the winning nails—and the technicians who created them — in the Best of ‘95 Reader Nail Art. Winners will receive certificates of excellence in the field of nail artistry.

CATEGORY: FRENCH VARIATIONS

Winner: Divine Daisies (August ‘95)

By: Robin Cook, Imagemaker,

Bakersfield, Calif.

Cook first airbrushed a French manicure over a lace stencil. Next, she painted the daisy and vine by hand. Finally, she painted wisps of gold and white near the vine. She completed the design in less than 20 minutes.

CATEGORY: AIRBRUSHING

Winner: Color Slides (September ‘95)

By: Julie Fields and Renee Hayes, A Perfect 10, Stafford, Va.

It took Fields and Hayes about 30 minutes to airbrush this playful design that drips with color. First, they used stencils to create a white background. Next, they airbrushed over the white area, mixing three colors to create five different shades. They left a border of white for an accent.

CATEGORY: HANDPAINTED - CHARACTERIZATION OR DESIGN

Winner: Celestial Bodies (September’95)

By: Sue Ellen Schultes, Notorious Nail Salon, Green Brook, NJ.

Schultes used a side-loaded brush to indicate the contour of the eye sockets, cheeks, lips, and chin. Also with a side- loaded brush, she placed light colors against darker ones to create shading and highlights. It took her 15 minutes to paint each image.

CATEGORY: 3D

Winner: Knock’em Dead Red (April ‘95)

By: Jo-Ellen Bishop, 10 Reasons, Ft. Pierce, Fla.

After applying a red base coat, Bishop painted the nail tips diagonally with black polish. Next, she painted two parallel gold lines along the same diagonal with a striping brush. She applied clear gold sparkles to the corners and added red stones between the stripes on the ring fingers.

CATEGORY: HANDPAINTED –REALISTIC

Winner: King of the Jungle (February ‘95)

By. Susan Tumblety, Body Beautiful, Aberdeen, N. J.

Tumblety tried to make the images look as much like animation eels as possible. Each design took from a half-hour to an hour to complete. To accommodate clients’ schedules and pocketbooks, Tumblety usually paints just Simba on one fingernail and draws a paw design on the other nine.