Second place in 3D competition at IBS Las Vegas

I decided in May that I would like to enter the 3D nail art competition at the International Beauty Show in Las Vegas. This show was the weekend after the Premiere Beauty show in Orlando, so as we going to be in the US already it meant staying one extra week.

The competition theme was "Prehistoric Age", so I prepared tips that contained backgrounds of different layers that embedded hand painting and bas-relief acrylic designs, and onto these added some 3D acrylic figures of a dinosaur, parrot, neanderthal man/woman/child and a homo sapien man. The designs were based on the four main prehistoric ages and had to be less than 5cm high:
















This was the first time that I had entered a 3D nail art competition and it was a lot of work to make the nails! When it came time for the award ceremony, we were allowed to look at the work made by all the competitors. The standard was very high and I didn't think that I would be going home with a prize. When my name was called for the second place, it took some seconds for me to believe it! Bob gave me a nudge and I went to the stage to collect my trophy. It was a very funny experience as last time I was on a stage I was a judge and giving out the prizes ;-)



















I am very happy with my second place. Although I wanted to get some prize, I wasn't keen to win as that would put more pressure on me in future competitions. Entering competitions requires different skills to just making nail art and I have a lot to learn about the different competitions. So I want to take my time. For example the rules stated the tips had to be 5cm high or less, but I could see from the other work that it was OK for the acrylic design to be bigger than the tip. Every competition has some things that aren't totally clear until you enter, so next time I will know ;-)

Now I have the competition bug! After we arrived home from the USA, I immediately started work on my design for Nailympics London in September!