Nailympia COMPETITIONS NEWS

2025 reflections & Nailympia London results

Immerse in competition highlights, interviews & points to note from the Nailympia realm, with its global director,

ALEX FOX

The 2025 Nailympia competition season ended on a high in London, with the reveal of the European Cup and Global Cup champions.

The 21st year of Nailympia featured six locations, with Germany hosting its final event and China its first. Huge success was experienced at all sites, with tangible growth across the arena and online categories. The greatest expansion was seen in the USA, where all three locations: Anaheim, Orlando and San Antonio, experienced swells in competitor numbers.

As I reflect on the past two decades, I am comforted and inspired by how deeply Nailympia has supported and shaped the nail industry. It has helped build careers, brought new techniques to the forefront, influenced product development and created nail superstars. Truly – what’s not to love about the nail sector and the spirit of competition? I’m excited to move into 2026 with seven Nailympia competitions confirmed: kicking off in Anaheim on 1 February, followed by China, Orlando, Mexico and San Antonio – then a new location in the Caribbean and culmination in London.

More details about each location will be revealed soon. Meanwhile, let’s take a look at the winners of Nailympia London, where Italy’s Deborah Cocco rose to fame after taking the Global, European and Premiere Cups for 2025, alongside a host of other trophies throughout the year.

The 21st Nailympia London took place at the Professional Beauty Autumn trade event in the ExCel centre. It welcomed 214 competitors from 39 countries, taking 597 competition seats across 20 online and arena categories. They were judged by an esteemed panel of multi award-winning global nail professionals and educators, and nail techs and spectators from all over the world gathered for the results announcement on 13 October.

GLOBAL CUP CHAMPION Deborah Cocco – Italy – 2,109 points

EUROPEAN CUP CHAMPION Deborah Cocco – Italy – 1,098 points

INDIVIDUAL TOP SCORER Deborah Cocco – Italy – 1,362 points

WINNER OF WINNERS Division 1 – Ilenia Croce – Italy Division 2 – Bianca Kovacevic – Italy Division 3 – Francesca Paliotto – Italy

ART WINNER OF WINNERS Division 1 – Ilenia Croce – Italy Division 2 – Etelka Simo – UK Division 3 – Alice Nali – UK

TOP UK TECH Division 1 – Hieu Nguyen Division 2 – Anita Pazmandi Division 3 – Kirsty McDonough

TEAM TROPHY TEAM DECO: Deborah Cocco, Francesca Paliotto, Valentina Federici, Bianca Kovacevic, Federica Lucifora, Chiara Panaia.

Silvia Gago López

Rodica Crismaru

Vanessa Grossi

Tuyet Luong

Maryna Hlukha

Tran Papp

REALITY NAILS: Consumerism/Technology/Tradition Division 1 1st – Ilena Croce – Italy 2nd – Aurelija O’Neill – Ireland 3rd – Irina Rulkova – USA

Division 2 1st – Daniela Blahova – Slovakia 2nd – Anita Pazmandi – UK 3rd – Federica Lucifora – Italy

Division 3 1st – Deborah Cocco – Italy 2nd – Anita Chahal – UK 3rd – Anuja S. Mathur – India

FLAT ART BOXED: Carnival & Cabaret Division 1 1st – Tuán Khang (Ray) Nguyen – UK 2nd – Liudmyla Keremet – Ukraine 3rd – Filecha Phrommala – France

Division 2 1st – Le Truong – USA 2nd – Stefania Gavini – Italy 3rd – Naoe Shiraishi – Japan

Division 3 1st – Pui Lun Yeung – Hong Kong 2nd – Jacqueline McClement – Canada 3rd – Robert Klonowski – Poland

DESIGN NAILS FOR AN ALBUM COVER: Folk Music Division 1 1st – Tuán Khang (Ray) Nguyen – UK

Division 2 1st – Marta Szkop – Poland 2nd – Daniela Blahova – Slovakia 3rd – Tran Papp – UK

Division 3 1st – Vanessa Grossi – Italy 2nd – Anuja S Mathur – India 3rd – Erika Nortier – Italy

POSTER PEDICURE Division 1 1st – Aleksandra Kubicka – Poland 2nd – Irina Rulkova – USA 3rd – Elena Molodykh – USA

Division 2 1st – Tetiana Dolhosheia – USA 2nd – Samantha Ownby – USA 3rd – Rodica Crismaru – UK

Division 3 1st – Zita Shirgazina – Russian Federation 2nd – Magalena Dabrowska – Poland 3rd – Henriette Skydt Svensson – Denmark

POSTER MANICURE Division 1 1st – Maria Teresa Concu – Italy 2nd – Desirè Bassani – Italy 3rd – Viktoriia Prokopenko – USA

Division 2 1st – Samantha Ownby – USA 2nd – Federica Lucifora – Italy 3rd – Alexandra Tur – UK

Division 3 1st – Melinda Tamás – Hungary 2nd – Sylwia Siudalska – UK 3rd – Ágnes Szōnyi-Majoros – Hungary

Deborah Cocco

Erika Nortier

Zita Shirgazina

Maria Teresa Concu

Liudmyla Keremet

Aleksandra Kubicka

Anita Pazmandi

Melinda Tamás

Sylwia Siudalska

Monika Smigiel

Silvia Gago López

Lee Thao

Tran Papp

Anuja S. Mathur

Vanessa Grossi

Marta Kolodziejczyk

Chan Mia

Kieu Huynh

EXTREME NAIL STYLING POSTER Division 1 1st – Chan Mia – Ukraine 2nd – Lee Thao – Poland

Division 2 1st – Yuliya Ilhani – Turkey 2nd – Inna Popova – Russian Federation 3rd – Marina Shchelkova – Poland

Division 3 1st – Evelin Nagy – Hungary 2nd – Anita Chahal – UK 3rd – Loi van Nguyen – Vietnam

AI NAIL VISION POSTER Division 1 1st – Yuliia Streletska – Ukraine 2nd – Kinga Wachala – UK 3rd – Desirè Bassani – Italy

Division 2 1st – Tran Papp – UK 2nd – Zulfiya Muksinova – Uzbekistan 3rd – Ying Ching Li – Hong Kong

Division 3 1st – Jacqueline McClement – Canada 2nd – Marta Kolodziejczyk – Poland 3rd – Magdalena Dabrowska – Poland

MIXED MEDIA BOXED ART (Open theme)

Division 1 1st – Tuán Khang (Ray) Nguyen – UK 2nd – Kayleigh Brown – UK

Division 2 1st – Stefania Gavini – Italy 2nd – Ying Ching Li – Hong Kong 3rd – Renáta Deák – Hungary

Division 3 1st – Silvia Gago López – Spain 2nd – Vanessa Grossi – Italy 3rd – Paola Marrone – Italy

TO STILETTO & BEYOND: Cultural Identity Division 1 1st – Kieu Huynh – Australia 2nd – Kinga Wachala – UK 3rd – Noor Milaji – State of Palestine

Division 2 1st – Daniela Blahova – Slovakia 2nd – Tran Papp – UK 3rd – Raziyeh Cheki – Iran

Division 3 1st – Loi van Nguyen – Vietnam 2nd – Minh Tuong – Vietnam 3rd – Anuja S. Mathur – India

GEL POLISH MANICURE Division 1 1st – Desirè Bassani – Italy 2nd – Maria Teresa Concu – Italy 3rd – Yan Sin Kwong – UK

Division 2 1st – Marie Juranova – UK 2nd – Federica Lucifora – Italy 3rd – Etelka Simo – UK

Division 3 1st – Kirsty McDonough – UK 2nd (tied) – Maksymilian Borowy – Ireland & Marta Ramza – Poland

THE JOY OF NAILS Division 1 1st – Ilenia Croce – Italy 2nd – Mariana Nishimaru – Ireland 3rd – Desirè Bassani – Italy

Division 2 1st – Bianca Kovacevic – Italy 2nd – Susanna Caselli – Italy 3rd – Etelka Simo – UK

Division 3 1st – Deborah Cocco – Italy 2nd – Francesca Paliotto – Italy 3rd – Kirsty McDonough – UK

FANTASY COMPLETE LOOK Division 2 1st – Etelka Simo – UK 2nd – Tran Papp – UK

Division 3 1st – Alice Nali – UK 2nd – Robert Klonowski – Poland 3rd – Erika Bakos – Hungary

FRENCH TWIST Division 1 1st – Ilenia Croce – Italy 2nd – Desirè Bassani – Italy 3rd – Maria Teresa Concu – Italy

Division 2 1st – Viktorija Trifonova – Latvia 2nd – Federica Lucifora – Italy 3rd – Anita Pazmandi – UK

Division 3 1st – Deborah Cocco – Italy 2nd – Francesca Paliotto – Italy 3rd – Veronika Pogány-Gocza – Hungary

SALON NAILS Division 1 1st – Ilenia Croce – Italy 2nd – Desirè Bassani – Italy 3rd – Cristina Renna – Italy

Division 2 1st – Bianca Kovacevic – Italy 2nd – Anita Pazmandi – UK 3rd – Federica Lucifora – Italy

Division 3 1st – Deborah Cocco – Italy 2nd – Wiktoria Kozlowska – Poland 3rd – Francesca Paliotto – Italy

UV GEL COMPETITION NAILS Division 1 3rd – Ilenia Croce – Italy

Division 2 1st – Bianca Kovacevic – Italy 2nd – Chiara Panaia – Italy 3rd – Susanna Caselli – Italy

Division 3 1st – Francesca Paliotto – Italy 2nd – Deborah Cocco – Italy 3rd – Ágnes Szõnyi-Majoros – Hungary

Robert Klonowksi

Hieu Nguyen

Etelka Simo

Bianca Kovacevic

Tran Papp

THE JUDGES: A THANK YOU

To the incredible judges: 38 online and 31 in the arena, thank you for giving your time, expertise and passion so generously. You judged from your salons across the world and on the competition floor, sharing your knowledge and helping shape the next generation of nail artists. Your dedication supports and strengthens this industry we all love, and you guide, encourage and elevate standards, helping others believe in what they can achieve. Nailympia is what it is because of you: your integrity, care, belief in community and love for the craft. This sentiment is extended to all judges that are affiliated with Nailympia across the globe.

Nailympia London arena judges: Head booth – Anneke van der Sar (Netherlands); head floor – Jacqueline O’Sullivan (UK) and Liesbeth van Langelaan (Netherlands); Aliz Dora Toth (Italy); Andreea Simona Ignat (UK); Antony Buckley (UK); Cécilia Gimenez (France); Charli Jepson (UK); Catriona Leith (UK); Dinupa Jayasooriya (Sri Lanka); David Fowler (USA); Hazel Dixon (UK); Jade Barber (UK); Jennie Nippard (UK); Jessica Djohar (Germany); Kirsty Meakin (UK); MaeLing Parrish (USA); Marian Newman BEM (UK); Max Estrada (USA); Milena Mingozzi (Italy); Najet Hamila Strand (Sweden); Madelene Wolf (Sweden); Natalie Hofmann (Switzerland); Nina Lewis (UK); Rute Rodrigues (Portugal); Sandy Cheung (UK/Hong Kong); Sara Pinto (Portugal); Scarlett Senter (UK); Stefanie Lo Re (Germany); Viktoria Kysil (Ukraine/ UK); Vincenzo Russello (Germany); Zrinka Vuksan Bolancha (Croatia/Canada); and scoring verifier, Sean O’Sullivan (UK).

Deborah Cocco

Vanessa Grossi

Robert Klonowski

Evelin Nagy

L&P ACRYLIC COMPETITION NAILS Division 2 1st – Bianca Kovacevic – Italy 2nd – Susanna Caselli – Italy 3rd – Chiara Panaia – Italy

Division 3 1st – Francesca Paliotto – Italy 2nd – Deborah Cocco – Italy 3rd – Flemming Nordqvist – Denmark

PERFECT MATCH Division 2 1st – Bianca Kovacevic – Italy 2nd – Susanna Caselli – Italy 3rd – Chiara Panaia – Italy

Division 3 1st – Francesca Paliotto – Italy 2nd – Deborah Cocco – Italy 3rd – Ágnes Szõnyi-Majoros – Hungary

STILETTO NAILS Division 1 1st – Maria Teresa Concu – Italy 2nd – Hieu Nguyen – UK 3rd – Ilena Croce – Italy

Division 2 1st – Bianca Kovacevic – Italy 2nd – Anita Pazmandi – UK 3rd – Viktorija Trifonova – Latvia

Division 3 1st – Deborah Cocco – Italy 2nd – Francesca Paliotto – Italy 3rd – Valentina Federici – Italy

Thank you to the sponsors for helping to shape Nailympia London in the arena and online. Your belief in the vision has allowed us to create a truly outstanding competition experience: one that inspires, uplifts and celebrates nail professionals around the world.

Dates for the diary 2026

1-2 February Nailympia Anaheim Premiere Anaheim, California, USA

20-22 May Nailympia China Shanghai, China

30 May -1 June Nailympia Orlando Premiere Orlando, Florida, USA

30-31 August Nailympia San Antonio Premiere San Antonio, Texas, USA

September – TBA Nailympia Puerto Rico Venue TBA

4-5 October Nailympia London London, UK

For information about Nailympia Competitions, including how to enter, visit www.nailympia.com

/Nailympia @nailympiacompetitions

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