The world-renowned Nailympia competition has officially announced its locations for the 2025 season, with the first event set to take place at the Premiere Anaheim trade show in Anaheim, California. Scheduled for February, this marks an exciting start to a year packed with talent, creativity and global participation in nail artistry.

As part of the esteemed Premiere Show Group, Nailympia Anaheim will attract nail technicians, artists and industry professionals from around the globe, offering a platform to showcase unparalleled skill and innovation. Nailympia continues to hold its place as the ultimate competition for nail professionals, celebrated for its non-biased judging system and commitment to fairness.

Nailympia’s Unique Approach to Competition

Nailympia has built its reputation as a competition free from brand influence, ensuring that skill and creativity are at the forefront of its judging criteria. It caters to all skill levels and its evolved judging system remains true to its founding principles:

• Blind Judging: All competitions are judged anonymously. Judges have no knowledge of the competitor whose work they are assessing, ensuring fairness and transparency.
• Unified Divisions: Competitors from all divisions are judged together based on merit, allowing for instances where a Division 1 competitor can outscore higher divisions.
• Skill-Centric: Nailympia evaluates competitors purely on their technical skills and artistic creativity, making it an open playing field for all participants, regardless of the brands or systems they use.

Expanding the 2025 Schedule

While six confirmed locations are already in place, Nailympia is exploring the possibility of adding a second event in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, for 2025. This expansion aligns with the competition’s global mission of reaching new markets and providing opportunities for nail artists worldwide.

The Origins of Nailympia

Nailympia’s roots trace back to The Nail Olympics USA, a competition founded in 2001 in Las Vegas. Created by three organisations—IBD (run by Lee Tomlinson), Too Much Fun (Dianne D’Agnolo & James Johnson), and EZ Flow (David Daniel & Danny Haile) – its concept was revolutionary:

• Competitors could use any system or brand.
• Judging would be division-based and anonymous, ensuring fairness.
• Skill levels would determine divisions, with competitors ranked only after judging was complete.

This ethos laid the foundation for Nailympia, which was later introduced to London in 2005, with Alex Fox – then editor-in-chief of Scratch Magazine – serving as the global competition director.

Looking Ahead to 2025

As Nailympia prepares to dazzle audiences once again, it reaffirms its commitment to showcasing exceptional talent, fostering creativity and maintaining a fair and inclusive environment. Whether in Anaheim, Ho Chi Minh City, or its other global stops, Nailympia 2025 promises to be a thrilling year for competitors.

New rules & score sheets can be viewed on this website www.nailympia.de

Nail imagery for 2025 – with thanks to Elena Popova

Nails – Elena Popova @popovaelena_nfp 

Photographer – Elena Gelberg @pena_litrova

Make-Up Artist – Varvara Tabutarova @varvara_tabu 

Hair Stylist – Ksenia Golubeva @ksenja_golubeva

Model – Alina Philipskaya @alina__0606