Judges From Around the World that Support Nailympia Competitions
7 Nailympia Judge
Antony Buckley
United Kingdom
Developer of Industry Standards| Online training| Product Research & Development| Salon
Area of judging expertise: Pink & white in liquid & powder acrylic & in UV/LED gel
Years as a judge: 15
Number of Nailympia events judged: 7
Nailympia events judged: London, Australia
Are you an educator?: Yes
Industry accolades: Multiple competition wins for pink & white liquid & powder.
Multiple 'Top 3' competition placings in UK, Europe & Japan.
I have trained many competition winners over the years.
I have trained educators worldwide.
Favourite nail brands: Gelish. I love it! It has exceptional quality & has everything I need to perform any type of nail service!
Industry figures you admire: Danny Haile - my mentor & friend, Najet Hamilla-Strand & Gari-Dawn Tingler. They are the people who have made me the tech & educator I am today.
Career biography: 1992 - I finished studying fashion & design & began a career in nails. I started at a local salon, then moved to a salon in Bolton. Whilst there, I took further classes & finally began my journey as an educator.
2000 - 2003 - After further training & a lot of practice, I became an international educator. I then started to travel throughout Europe for trade shows & trainings. I enjoyed multiple competition wins in the UK with pink & white using liquid & powder.
2005-2011 - I enjoyed numerous 2nd & 3rd placings in Japan in Design Sculpture & Emboss Design.
I have trained numerous competition winners in the UK. I also became a staff member of Nail Unique of Japan – teaching classes there as well as salon work and tradeshow/stage/classroom presentations.
2010- I became the European Director of Education & a global educator for Gelish.
Personal biography: I have lots of different hobbies. I always have to be doing something! i like practicing nail designs & applications, watching movies, listening to podcasts, I also knit and crochet too. I don't usually watch regular TV, but i'm more than happy to binge watch boxsets when I get chance!
Why you believe in nail competitions?: Nail competitions are the perfect way for you to grow as both a tech & a competitor! It's intense practise that benefits both your salon & competition work & your scoresheets are invaluable for you see where to improve to be the best you can possibly be.
Advice to competitors: Practice as much as possible - even in the salon there's always something you can practice & perfect, such as finishing, consistency & colour application.
Take as many competition classes as you can with as many people as you can & set yourself the goal to perfect one technique from each class. There are many ways to create a perfect nail & you want to arm yourself with as much knowledge as possible.
Read your score sheets & always talk to the judges afterwards to understand your scores. This is how you grow & improve; the judges are there to help you & are more than happy to offer advice.
Nail work
