The dwindling universe of nail competitions has just gotten a little smaller. Canada’s Allied Beauty Association (ABA) just announced it will be halting all nail competitions — at least for the balance of 2008 and 2009. “We hope we can bring them back in 2010 with a completely revamped program,” says the ABA’s Stephanie Gadbois. “We need a lot more people to be gung ho about it.”

Gadbois cited a lack of participation as the reason for the cancelation. “We didn’t see the numbers required to keep the competitions feasible from a financial standpoint. There were usually between two and 10 competitors at a given event and few spectators,” she says.

Jessica-Marie Ellison, a nail instructor in Ontario, Canada, who trains and prepares students to compete, finds the news “unjust and disheartening.”  “I feel that this show could be a wonderful, inspirational, and career-changing event for nail techs in Canada. It’s heart-breaking to hear that due to a ‘lack of interest’ our only live national competition is being cancelled,” she says.

Ellison believes the problem is not a lack of  interest, but a lack of organization and publicity in the individual provinces where the competitions are held annually. She recommends designating a person in charge in every province. She invites others concerned about the cancelations to contact her.

— Judy