SCRATCHCOLUMNIST
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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