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Nailympia COMPETITIONS NEWS

Nailympia Anaheim : The results

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

T he third edition of the Nailympia Anaheim nail competition welcomed 84 competitors taking 254 seats – 110 of which were in the arena during the two-day event at Premiere Anaheim.

Turn-in art and poster submissions were extremely popular at this event, with 71 total entries across the likes of Reality Nails and Manicure Poster. The biggest arena category was Gel Polish Manicure, with 27 competitors taking part across three divisions.

I have been delighted to witness the growth of Nailympia Anaheim, in addition to the steady growth of the competitions in Orlando and San Antonio. Clearly, nail professionals across the USA and beyond are witnessing and feeling the power of competing. It’s exciting to see this energy emerging, and to recognise that nail artists experience profound positive impacts on their businesses when they take part.

It’s not just the competition itself, but the people they meet and connections they make that help transform and illuminate competitors. I feel truly happy to be part of this experience.

The sponsor for this event was Byootique, and CEO, Andy Lee, took to the stage to show his support for Nailympia, and his respect and appreciation for nail pros. He gifted a mobile beauty trolley to each of the six trophy winners.

With Byootique CEO, Andy Lee.
INDIVIDUAL TOP SCORER Francesca Paliotto – Italy

WINNER OF WINNERS

Division 1 Thanh Thao Tran – USA Division 2 Linh Duong – Canada Division 3 Francesca Paliotto – Italy

ART WINNER OF WINNERS

Thanh Thao Tran – USA

TOP USA TECH

Anh Thy Vu – USA

Salon Nails by Francesca Paliotto – Italy.
Runway Nails by Maryna Kozhevnikova – USA.
Gel Polish Manicure by Mateja Petkova – Slovenia.
Reality Nails by Anne-Marie Menard – Canada.
Hanna Khalin with Yuliia Kovalchuk.
Flat Art Boxed by Akiko Morita – Japan.
Gel Polish Manicure by Uliana Vadiuk – USA.

GEL POLISH MANICURE

Division 1

1st – Anna Pryshchepa – USA 2nd – Uliana Vadiuk – USA 3rd – Iuliia Pashina – USA Division 2 1st – Olga Preston – USA 2nd – Natalia Iakovleva – USA 3rd – Viktoriia Fedorovykh – USA Division 3 1st – Mateja Petkov – Slovenia 2nd – Viktoriya Komar – USA 3rd – Anastasiia Moskaliuk – USA

REALITY NAILS

Division 1

1st – Thanh Thao Tran – USA 2nd – Anne-Marie Menard – Canada 3rd – Lauryn Silva – USA Division 2 1st – Naomi Nguyen – USA 2nd – Linh Duong – Canada TIED 3rd – Oksana Viriutina – USA & Halyna Kaliugina – USA

Division 3 1st – Jennie Yen Nguyen – Canada 2nd – Francesca Paliotto – Italy 3rd – Hanna Khalin – USA

RUNWAY NAILS

Division 1

1st – Thanh Thao Tran – USA 2nd – Kim Dang – USA 3rd – Carmen Ramos – USA Division 2 1st – Halyna Kaliugina – USA 2nd – Naomi Nguyen – USA 3rd – Oksana Viriutina – USA Division 3 1st – Maryna Kozhevnikova – USA 2nd – Hanna Khalin – USA 3rd – Jennie Yen Nguyen – Canada

SALON NAILS

Division 1

1st – Thuy Tran – USA 2nd – Huong Quynh Dang – USA 3rd – Kim Dang – USA Division 2 1st – Linh Duong – Canada 2nd – Anh Thy Vu – USA 3rd – Olena Fedorchenko – USA Division 3 1st – Francesca Paliotto – Italy 2nd – Mateja Petkov – Slovenia 3rd – Viktoriya Komar – USA

FLAT ART BOXED

Division 1

1st – Evguenia Nowatzki – USA 2nd – Thanh Thao Tran – USA 3rd – Akiko Morita – Japan Division 2 1st – Yuen Ting Lau – France 2nd – Liudmyla Keremet – USA 3rd – Naomi Nguyen – USA Division 3 1st – Veronica Luviano – USA 2nd – Flavia Andresa Alexandre Menezes – Brazil 3rd – Karyna Kuliushyk – USA

Flat Art Boxed by Thanh Thao Tran – USA.

‘‘ Nail professionals across the USA and beyond are witnessing and feeling the power of competing. ‘‘

PEDICURE POSTER

Division 1 1st – Uliana Vadiuk – USA 2nd – Aaliyah Sagall – USA 3rd – Alla Ismailova – USA Division 2 1st – Khrystyna Baranska – USA 2nd – Oksana Viriutina – USA 3rd – Robin Sloangrepo – USA Division 3 1st – Zita Shirgazina – Russia 2nd – Hanna Khalin – USA 3rd – Tetiana Dolhosheia – USA

MANICURE POSTER

Division 1 1st – Diana Manucharian – USA 2nd – Alla Ismailova – USA 3rd – Madison Sao – USA Division 2 1st – Oksana Viriutina – USA 2nd – Olena Fedorchenko – USA 3rd – Yu-Chieh Wang – Canada Division 3 1st – Viktoriya Komar – USA 2nd – Viktoriia Voloshyna – USA 3rd – Karyna Kyliushyk – USA

EXTREME NAIL STYLING POSTER

Division 1 1st – Olga Ponomareva – Russian Federation 2nd – Brigitta Szelei-Farkas – Hungary 3rd – Huong Quynh Dang – USA Division 2 1st – Oksana Viriutina – USA 2nd – Victoria Korableva – Russia 3rd – Olena Fedorchenko – USA Division 3 1st – Anita Chahal-Millar – United Kingdom 2nd – Inna Kharlak – Russian Federation 3rd – Hanna Khalin – USA

AI NAIL VISION POSTER

Division 1 1st – Kim Dang – USA 2nd – Diana Manucharian – USA 3rd – Huong Quynh Dang – USA Division 2 1st – Halyna Kaliugina – USA 2nd – Linh Duong – Canada 3rd – Oksana Viriutina – USA Division 3 1st – Georgina Takacs – United Kingdom 2nd – Alexandra Molnar – USA 3rd – Karyna Kyliushyk – USA

TO STILETTO & BEYOND

Division 1 1st – Thanh Thao Tran – USA 2nd – Huong Quynh Dang – USA 3rd – Iuliia Pashina – USA Division 2 1st – Liudmyla Keremet – USA 2nd – Halyna Kaliugina – USA 3rd – Linh Duong – Canada Division 3 3rd – Maryna Kozhevnikova – USA

To Stiletto & Beyond by Maryna Kozhevnikova – USA.
Pedicure Poster by Alla Ismailova – USA.
Manicure Poster by Oksana Viriutina – USA.
Extreme Nail Styling Poster by Hanna Khalin – USA.
AI Nail Vision Poster by Halyna Kaliugina – USA.
Extreme Nail Styling Poster by Oksana Viruitina – USA.
To Stiletto & Beyond by Iuliia Pashina – USA.

The Nailympia Anaheim 2026 judges: Arena: Alisha Rimando (head judge – USA), Aigul Fritzke (Canada), Anastasia Huz (USA), Anastasiia Rozdobutko (USA), Buddy Sims (USA), Christina Glennon (USA), Christine Nguyen (USA), Emese Koppanyi (USA), Hirsch Hunty (USA), Jenny Nguyen (Vietnam), Kirsty Meakin (UK), Lisa Boone (USA), Margarita Yutsaytis (USA), Max Estrada (USA), Mino Vo (UK), Svitlana Motyl (USA/Ukraine), Takeshi (Japan), Tetiana Dudiak (USA), Yuliia Kovalchuk (USA), Zrinka Vuksan Bolancha (Canada/Croatia). Online: Catriona Leith (UK), Elena Maltseva (Tunisia/Russia), Elena Popova (Russia), Eve Tran (Germany), Gemma Lambert (UK), Georgie Smedley (UK), Giselle Caballero (Canada/Mexico), Guin Deadman (USA), Jacqueline O’Sullivan (UK), Kathleen Lights (USA), Margarita Yutsaytis (USA), Marian Newman BEM (UK), Melanie Lewendon (UK), Modi Liu (Canada/China), Natalia Trefon (Poland), Rebecca Orme (UK), Sara Pinto (Portugal), Tamara Bhagoe (The Netherlands), Tatitana Litvinov (Romania), Valerie Ducharme (Canada).

The Joy Of Nails by Kim Dang – USA.
UV Hard Gel Competition Nails by Francesca Paliotto – Italy.
The Joy Of Nails by Viktoriya Komar – USA.
Stiletto Nails by Mateja Petkov – Slovenia.
L&P Acrylic Competition Nails by Linh Duong – Canada.
Head judge, Alisha Rimando, was presented with a trophy in appreciation of her contributions to Nailympia Competitions.

UV HARD GEL COMPETITION NAILS

Division 1 1st – Uliana Vadiuk – USA 2nd – Huong Quynh Dang – USA Division 2 1st – Anh Thy Vu – USA Division 3 1st – Francesca Paliotto – Italy 2nd – Mateja Petjov – Slovenia 3rd – Viktoriya Komar – USA

L&P ACRYLIC COMPETITION NAILS

Division 1 1st – Thanh Thao Tran – USA 2nd – Alla Ismailova – USA Division 2 1st – Linh Duong – Canada 2nd – Anh Thy Vu – USA Division 3 1st – Francesca Paliotto – Italy 2nd – Alexandra Molnar – USA 3rd – Veronica Luviano – USA

THE JOY OF NAILS

Division 1 1st – Thanh Thao Tran – USA 2nd – Kim Dang – USA 3rd – Iulia Pashina – USA Division 2 1st – Anh Thy Vu – USA 2nd – Linh Duong – Canada 3rd – Olena Fedorchenko – USA Division 3 1st – Francesca Paliotto – Italy 2nd – Mateja Petkov – Slovenia 3rd – Viktoriya Komar – USA

STILETTO NAILS

Division 1 1st – Thanh Thao Tran – USA 2nd – Kim Dang – USA Division 2 1st – Linh Duong – Canada 2nd – Anh Thy Vu – USA 3rd – Yuliia Benzyk – USA Division 3 1st – Francesca Paliotto – Italy 2nd – Mateja Petkov – Slovenia 3rd – Viktoriya Komar – USA

Dates for the diary 2026

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

27-28 September Nailympia Puerto Rico The Nails Expo, San Juan, Puerto Rico

4-5 October Nailympia London London, UK

To register your interest in Nailympia’s upcoming events, visit bit.ly/nailympia-ryi-2026 or scan here

The Nailympia Competitions 2026 global campaign imagery is courtesy of: Nails: Elena Maltseva @elena_maltseva_nail

Coordinator: Elena Popova @popovaelena_nfp

Photographer: Elena Gelberg @pena_litrova

Make-up artist: Varvara Tabutarova @varvara_tabu

Hair stylist: Ksenia Golubeva @kcenja_golubeva

Model: Elizaveta Plotnikova @plotnikova_elizabet

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

/Nailympia @nailympiacompetitions

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This article appears in March 2026

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