OK, so here I am. Four days later, deciding I want to document how utterly amazing my FIRST Live competition was. And boy it was intense. Let me take you back to the very beginning, way before I even entered. February 2018 I thought about entering the competition but wondered if I was good enough or whether or not I’d be able to face the fact I’d have to have an interview – I’m not so good at ‘speaking’ in front of strangers or crowds so that part terrified me. It’s my goal this year to be a more confident speaker – so if anyone has any tips please let me know!
I finally decided to push myself and enter the competition, then came the wait. We had to wait until April 2018 to find out if we had actually made it through to the final 5. They day came for finding out and I checked through the finalists posted on the site (2 days late as I was ill in hospital), oh no, I couldn’t find my name there, I hadn’t made it. I was definitely disappointed. However, later that day a follower on my instagram congratulated me on getting through to the final rounds, I was like whaaaattt! Let me go and check again. Again I checked and couldn’t see my name. At the time I didn’t realise there were categories missing from the list. I then found out that when viewing the results on your phone you need to zoom out in order to view ALL of the categories (silly me). And low and behold there it was, MY NAME! Listed under Mixed media nail Artis of the year!! I was LITERALLY SHOOK! And when I say that I really mean it. I was super excited. We were then sent the rules and the theme (DISCO FEVER). I knew I was up against some fabulous Nail Techs, especially one I looked up to and hope to train with in the near future, the fabulous Hazel Dixon. Her work is stunning!!
**Visit Glitter Planet for amazing glitter and nail supplies**
Ok. So now i’m in the running for Mixed media nail artist of the year, along with 4 other fabulous techs. The rules are in my hand, and I’m ready for a challenge. Which is a good job really because we only got allocated a 1 hour time limit for designing 3 Mixed media nail tips, which had to consist of 2 or more medias. Like is this even possible?? I have no idea, but it must be…Anyway me being me as cool as a cucumber, I don’t do anything for another 2 weeks. I keep myself calm and now and then an idea would pop into my head of what I’d like to create. The week before the contest I had to get my but into gear. I started to PLAN my idea. I knew I wanted it to be crisp, clean and bright. with enough detail and a good display of skill/technique. As I write this I’m hoping I managed to represent myself well.
I had my design In my head and I had practiced a couple 3 times, each time changing my technique to ensure I could fit it into the 1 hour slot. The final time after refining my technique I was shocked to have 10minutes left on the clock, but I knew that I’d possibly experience some nerves, and the judges on the floor may talk to you & ask questions, so having 10 mins to spare was a GOOD thing. Because after all that it’s probably not going to end up being ‘spare time’ lol.
The day is here 14th May 10.00am! We all get set up into the room, desks and products at the ready. I Wasn’t really nervous at all at this point. I was quite calm and I wasn’t shaking. But as soon as the lovely Helena from Scratch mag said “GO” (10.30am) my body was over ridden with adrenaline and passion, The shaking began. I prepped my nail Tips and then came to hand paint the checkered dance floor, now, my logic behind this while practicing at home was that its the most time consuming part so if I get it out of the way at the beginning then, it will be really good. But now I’m at the London College of beauty therapy (LCBT) I was shaking so much it was a struggle to get the lines perfect. Some how I managed to pull it off, and within the 60mins I completed my whole design.
My Final Design
Now the wait is on for all of the finalists to find out whether they have done enough or now. The competition was SO tough and the other techs in my category produced some amazing final pieces. All of us will have to wait until the Scratch summer party in July for the winners to be announced. If you want to attend the hottest nail party in the UK you can purchase your ticket here: click here to buy tickets
Good luck to all of the other finalists in every category you all preformed amazingly! Here are some images of the other techs entries from my category:
See what I mean when I say the level of skill was high!! It was super amazing to be able to see how other techs created their idea and interpreted the theme disco fever.
Thank you so much @scratchmagazine for such an amazing day and having me as one of your finalists it was an amazing experience!! See you in July!! And thank you guys for taking the time to read my blog post.
“Always remember, you are BOMB.COM, LIT AF. Don’t ever let anyone tell you any different! You’ve got this. Mwah”
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Love from Not your average nail tech
Lorna Andrews. x
Not Your Average Nail Tech - Blog For Nail Techs and Enthusiasts 