Nailathon sees international level competition

Moving over regular manicure, pedicure and filers, the second edition of StyleSpeak Nailathon saw a global level nail competition where participants from around the country were judged on their nail-based expertise, technical knowledge and creativity.

Held on February 10 at Worli, the competition had eight categories. Three of these were new — the soak-off gels category, sculptured gels and submission entries, where people who did not attend the show could send their art made on nail tips.

With the new witches theme, the international jury was taken by surprise at the amount of creativity coming from Indian cities. Participants had come from places like Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Chennai, Tumkur, Udaipur and Lucknow.

Sandhya Chipalkatti, editor and publisher of StyleSpeak, which is a magazine dedicated to salon trade and trends, said that the nail industry will prove to be the biggest business wave for the salon industry in the coming years. "The nail industry is not considered a money-making arena in India but it can be an industrious money spinner for salons. The awareness around nails even among the clients has increased, especially in working women," said Sandhya.

Sandhya narrated an incident of a participant from Pune who was coerced by a friend to join and was head hunted by a brand. "Today, she runs her own academy. Another girl from Goa is now participating and winning in global competitions," she said. Kamini Goindi was the participant from Pune who won the second place in the fantasy en vogue category.

"I only saw foreign based competions on Facebook and had a dream to view one of them. I was over the moon when I got to participate in this event and it changed my life. I am well-settled in the nail industry today and run my my own salon with the support of a certified nail brand," Kamini said.

The competition was divided in two parts where one was all about the technique and the other about creativity. She said that there were no winners in the sculptured gels category as no technician was able to measure up to the required standards.

Sandhya was optimistic that this year nail brands will come in huge numbers and also conduct training. She predicted that this business will become another huge income source for salons besides the usual hair, make-up and beauty.

The other categories were Bridal Chic, Classic flat art, Fantasy en Vogue, French Jazz, Salon team Challenge, Salon Fast & Perfect. The winners were declared by a jury panel which comprised international nail experts Wonluishon Ragui, Kavita Bathija, Dorris Godambe, Asha Hariharan and Olena Paul.

Actress Vidya Malvade felicitated the winners of the championship.