Earlier, I mentioned Nubar’s Holiday Nail Art Contest, and I’m happy that some of you entered and won! Here are the four winning entries, along with a few notes about the creation of each design.

1^st place: Janet Riffe, X-Treme Nailz, St. Albans, W.Va.

Janet created these nails on her own hands. “The nails were first applied, painted a base color, and all backgrounds were painted using a very small brush and acrylic paint (100% by hand: no stencils or airbrushing),” Janet says. “I then sculpted all 3-D shapes with both my left and right hands (I am in no way left-handed other than doing my own nails). I did not shape these 3-D images by themselves off of the nail; I sculpted them directly onto the nails using colored acrylic. I then painted each part of the sculpted pieces.”

Janet notes that for the spiral Christmas tree nail, she held a straw under the free edge of the nail and formed it entirely on site around the straw. The only "non-hand made" material on any of these nails, Janet says, are the rhinestones, pearls, small gold balls, and string for the Christmas light nails, though the Christmas lights plug-in is formed onto the end of the string and it is made of sculpted acrylic, and it has two prongs attached for the plug-in to look real.

2^nd place: Marissa Shear, Bellezza Hair & Body Café, Allentown, Pa.

Marrisa created a step-by-step design of a snowman and falling snow. She used a combination of Nubar stripers and extra materials like rhinestones.

3^rd place: Jessica Jaramillo, Jessica’s Nails at Intensive Hair, Boonville, Mo.

Jessica used a variety of colors to create her holiday themes. The themes range from spring and summer floral designs in pastels and brights to winter-inspired themes that feature green, red, and gold. 

Honorable Mention: Tae Hee Naggatz, Glendale, Ariz.

Tae Hee says, “I used acrylic paint for these designs. The designs were all drawn freehand from memory.”

Congratulations to all of the winners!

—Sree