When Art Meets Beauty – The Nailympics 2010

They say not many outside the industry know of the Nailympics or the Olympic Games of Fake Nails, but this international competition in nail art is now at its sixth edition in London.

As in past editions, the competition is fierce – and the tension the nail artists are under is great because each has national pride to think of before their ego, the Daily Mail writes.

In all fairness, many of the works displayed in the “fantasy nail art” event are not practical, but the almost painful attention to details that goes into making them is truly something remarkable.

There are other events as well (“fibreglass tip and overlay,” or “gel sculpture”), which draw the attention of many beauty experts and students; the Mail believes last year’s edition brought about 30,000 visitors.

“This is one of the most important competitions in the world. You come to demonstrate your skill and show what your country can offer. There is rivalry because everyone thinks he is the king. It’s normal. People don’t speak to each other before the event and there a lot of nerves. But afterwards, we are friends and talk,” Carmelina Gandolfo of the Italian team says.

The fantasy nail art competition is where teams go against each other and against the timer to prove they can sum up their country in 10 fingernails, which are duly decorated and adorned in figurines and colors.

“An explosion of creative madness where artists build whole scenes on their models’ fingers. Fairies, forests and angels are favorite designs, but some cute Beatrix Potter characters also put in an appearance this year,” the Mail says of this stage of the Nailympics.

Not only are these creations impractical, some of them are even dangerous outside the confines of the venue hosting the Nailympics.

“Not only are the lovingly crafted figurines so fragile you would knock them off in seconds if you tried to wash the dishes, but you also risk electrocution with some of the more elaborate designs, which feature flashing lights and revolving pagodas discreetly wired up to batteries strapped to the wrist,” the Mail says.

As noted above, it’s a mad explosion of creativity – and the pictures alone stands as proof of just how far some nail artists would go to make their vision come to life.

For more on the Nailympics 2010, see the Daily Mail piece here.