Contessa Winners 2006 - present [Canada’s Nail Art Awards]

2012: Nails by Catherine Cote. Photography by  Caroline Lafond.

2012: Nails by Catherine Cote. Photography by  Caroline Lafond.

2011: Nails by Jessica Marie Ellison. Photography by Rebecca Palladina

2011: Nails by Jessica Marie Ellison. Photography by Rebecca Palladina

2011: Nails by Jessica Marie Ellison. Photography by Rebecca Palladina

2010: Jessica Marie Ellison (Nail Enhancement Artist of the Year) used Entity Nail Couture and sculptured these nails to be like competition nails.

2010: Ashley Ann MacKenzie (Nail Art Technician of the Year) started with Entity One Gel. She then polished the nails a dove gray, then literally splatter painted them using CND white and Hot Pop Pink polishes. She cautions that if you try this, you’ll wind up covered in nail polish like MacKenzie was.

2010: Ashley Ann MacKenzie (Nail Art Technician of the Year) used Entity Nail Couture’s liquid and powder for the base, then added an appliqué of real suede over the top.

2010: Jessica Marie Ellison (Nail Enhancement Artist of the Year) applied Entity gel on clear tips, with Lippmann Collection Nefertiti polish on top. She wanted to evoke the ’80s with these nails. She says she usually does a stiletto, but this time she did an oval shape.

2010: Jessica Marie Ellison (Nail Enhancement Artist of the Year) applied Entity French tips with a clear acrylic overlay done in a salon-length style that’s typical of the style she does on most of her clients. The nails feature a matte finish.

2010: Ashley Ann MacKenzie (Nail Art Technician of the Year) used Entity Nail Couture’s liquid and powder, including for the sculpted key. Then, she polished the nails using Nefertiti from the Lippmann Collection.

2009:  Fuhrer used a self-adhesive foil to create the snakeskin design. The black and the glitter are Christrio color gels.

2009: Fuhrer used CND White for the sculptured white part, mylar for the blue shimmer, and added tiny blue beads. The prop is a garden ornament from her parents’ backyard.

2009: After Fuhrer filed the nails, she used an e-file to create a hole through the nails, then threaded a chain through. A jewelry designer-friend was the source of the large ­jewelry piece, and the nail color is Christrio black gel.

2009: Mather used CND’s liquid-and-powder to create these nails. She chose bubbles as her prop because she thought the iridescence would be neat.

2009: Mather used CND Brisa gels to create the overlay in this photo. She chose the Buddha head sculpture because of its uniqueness.

2008: “I chose daisies because I wanted something in my pictures that resembles beauty, since that’s what I’m creating each day on my clients,” said Kali Howden (Nail Enhancement Technician of the Year).

2009: Mather used a red gel that’s part of the CND Brisa Bolds collection. She chose a soft square shape because it was the most complementary to her model’s hands. She wanted to create sleek elongated nails, while at the same time keeping them very wearable. The gold garden ball was a unique prop.

2008: Jessica Marie Ellison (Nail Art Technician of the Year) took her inspiration from fashion and food. These nails are with CND Rock Royalty and embellished with real dessert sprinkles.

2008: Jessica Marie Ellison (Nail Art Technician of the Year) used 3-D acrylic to create the gingerbread nail. “I incorporated things that aren’t meant for nail art to inspire viewers to realize how cute a color looks on nails,” Ellison says.

2008: Jessica Marie Ellison (Nail Art Technician of the Year) used CND House of Rebels, Cream Puff, and Swarovski nail gems to create these nails.

2008: Kali Howden (Nail Enhancement Technician of the Year) used red gel to create this look.

2008: Kali Howden (Nail Enhancement Technician of the Year) featured a flower theme in her photos.

2007: A professional nail tech for two years, Jennifer Bennett crafted her nails using LCN gels. She wanted to demonstrate a variety of nail lengths, including the shorter pink-and-whites that are client favorites. The models, all patrons at the mall where the salon is located, were selected not just for their looks, but for their hands and nail beds, she says.

2007: Janis Tecson credits her win to the support and encouragement of her photographer, makeup artist, models, sister, and salon owner, Daren Jorgenson. Through her entries, she hoped to portray three different personalities she believes are present in every woman. All three models wore sculpted acrylics with nail polish for the base colors. “The blades on Nicole, my strong, provocative woman, [shown here] were sculpted with acrylic and finished off with nail polish and acrylic paints,” she says.

2007: Janis Tecson

2007: Janis Tecson

2007: Jennifer Bennett

2007: Jennifer Bennett

2006: Ellison made the heart out of black acrylic and added amber stone appliqués. She used a form that had been doubled for length and sculpted it out right from the nail.

2006: These sculpted acrylics were made with CND’s Metro powders. Ellison sculpted each piece of the 3-D stiletto individually, then assembled them to form the shoe.

2006: To get these nails to look like a fashion sketch, Ellison applied two coats of white enamel over Brisa gels. After allowing the polish to dry thoroughly she used a pencil to sketch her designs, then went over them with a black illustration marker. She painted highlights with pink watercolor paint and finished with two layers of top coat.

2006: Thackeray’s clients began requesting chevron-shaped smile lines after getting a look at these lovely nails.

2006: Thackeray used her own nail clients as models in her entry.