Posts Tagged ‘international nail judge’
Meet – Krasimira Petrova – Bulgaria/Austria
Get to Know a Nailympia Expert in 25 Steps…
NAME: Krasmira Petrova
Business name: Krasi Mira Enterprise
Location: Vienna, Austria
Nationality: Bulgarian
Who Trained You: Antony Buckley, Danny Haile, Tom Holcomb & Elena Maltseva
Years in Nails: 18 years
Years Judging: 12 years
Nail Brand You Represent: Gelish, Hand & Nail Harmony & Morgan Taylor
Role in Industry: Educator, distributor & salon owner
Favourite Trade Exhibition: Intercharm Moscow, Russia
Favourite Nail Tool: The Spoon Pusher & Go File by Gelish
Favourite Book: Seat of the Soul, Gary Zukov
Favourite Movie: No Reservations
Favourite Food: A mish mash
Favourite Vacation Destination: Santorini, Greece
Your Hobbies: Latin Dancing, cooking and art
What Inspires Your Work: Creative people and all the beauty around
Who You Admire In Industry: Danny Haile, David Daniel, Gari-Dawn Tingler, Antony Buckley, Elena Maltseva, Alisha Rimando, Georgie Smedley, Alex Fox, Tom Holcomb (even though he’s now passed away I will always admire him)
Top Technique You’ve Mastered: Pink & White and nail art – any type
Advice to Competitors: Work on your emotional intelligence just as much as on your nail skills, because this is your #1 enemy!
Hot Tip or Trick for Competitors: Choose your model wisely!
What Lockdown Has Taught You: A very close friend of mine told me during this difficult time, ‘Krasi, relax and Osim Chaim – check this on the internet’. After checking I found a story regarding the meaning of these words, which I found so incredible, that I’m sharing a small part with you.
‘’…Do not solve problems, not to make money, not looking for answers to questions, not to set goals and reach them without losing weight, after all, no! Just enjoy the life!’’ V. Hugo
My interpretation is drink your favourite coffee, eat your favourite food, dress well, do things that bring joy into your day, be good to yourself and others, laugh and enjoy life!
An Affirmation You Love: I can BE, I can DO and HAVE everything I wish anytime, anywhere
Why Nailympia: Simply because this is the most upright competition in the world. The judging process is like a symphony; smooth, fair, easy and thanks to the ingeniously structured judging system, we can really relax and enjoy the time without stress. Last, but not least, Alex Fox and team with their vibrant and contagious energy make everybody addicted to this special life event and memorable experience.
Krasimira Nail Academy
https://nailharmony.at/de/
Instagram: krasimirap
Twitter: Krasimira Petrova
Facebook: Krasimira Petrova
Meet – Catherine Wong- Singapore
Get to Know a Nailympia Expert in 25 Steps…
NAME: Catherine Wong
Business name: NailQueen
Location: Singapore
Nationality: Malaysian, living as a permanent resident in Singapore for the last 30 years
Who Trained You: When I first started using the acrylic system in the 90’s, I trained with EZFlow products, hence I had the opportunity to learn from Danny Haile, Alisha Rimando and Antony Buckley.
I then went on to train with Tom Holcomb and Tom Bachik specifically in French sculptured nails when they launched the Entity.
Enfu Oh, founder of NFU coloured acrylic systems was my educator when I fell in love with coloured powders and 3D nail art.
Trang Nguyen mentored me for competition, helped me understand the nail business and with building a great competition and education team in South East Asia.
Anna Lajourdie, who was training for Akzentz when I first started distributing at the time, was a huge inspiration to me in perfecting my salon style French gel application. In my journey as a nail professional, I’ve attended countless classes with various educators internationally. There weren’t any online classes back then and so I invested a lot in travel or to fly them out to me!
Years in Nails: 24 years (2021 inclusive, however I stopped nail as a full-time career in 2015)
Years Judging: 11 years
Nail Brand You Use: EzFlow, Entity, Akzentz, NfuOh, ONS, EMI
Role in Industry: Freelance educator now. I was previously a distributor up until 2015
Favourite Trade Exhibitions: Beauty World Japan, SINAIL Korea, CIBE Guangzhou, Beauty Dusseldorf , just to name a few
Favourite Nail Tool: Nail Art Brushes
Favourite Book: The Art of Living by Epictetus
Some of my favourite quotes from the book:
- ‘The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best’
- ‘First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do’
- ‘There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things, which are beyond the power or our will’
Favourite Movie: The Godfather
Favourite Food: Korean BBQ
Favourite Vacation Destination: Bali
Your Hobbies: Nail art, cake decorating, flower arrangement, fine dining, travelling
What Inspires Your Work: Art & fashion
Who You Admire In Industry: Alisha Rimando, Viv Simmonds, Gina Silvestro, Lilija
Michalikova, Marina Shyvtsova, David & Stephanie Fowler
Top Technique You’ve Mastered: Design sculptured nails, mixed media & fantasy, hand painted nail art
Advice to Competitors: Read and understand the rules. When practising, use the judging criteria as a checklist to go through your work and ask yourself how you would score your own work, so you know what to look out for when attempting to make improvements. If you’re competing for the first time, then you may want to find a mentor or attend a specific class where you can get the right guidance. Nothing valuable in this world is free of charge, so don’t expect good training to come free. Your career is an investment, so invest wisely. Research and find a suitable mentor for your specific needs.
Hot Tip or Trick for Competitors: Find a great hand model! Beautiful hands and nail beds are halfway to a set of winning nails. Make sure that your model understands what is required of her (discuss the do’s and don’ts), feed her well before the competition and keep her warm and comfortable so you can work peacefully.
Always bring a table lamp (if it’s not provided at the venue ) and check the voltage so you carry a converter suitable for the country you are competing in. (100-120V for USA, 220-240V for Europe and Asia)
Arrive at the venue early and choose a table that’s not directly where the wind is blowing, otherwise you will be in the receiving end of all the filing dust when everyone starts filing
What Lockdown Has Taught You: Be the change. Don’t wait for things to change, but change yourself to adapt so you don’t get left behind.
A Funny Day/Memory At The Nail Desk: Working on a fellow nail educator’s nails while they’re sleeping is a norm before a beauty or training event. I used to fly to the USA & Mexico for beauty shows and training events. A few of us from different countries would end up sharing an apartment. We would fix each other’s nails late into the night, so the one getting the nails done would always be sleeping to the point of snoring.
Another funny incident: It’s quite typical for nail artists to hold another nail artist’s hands to admire her latest nail designs. I remember picking up Gina Silvestro’s hands to do just that in a posh steak restaurant at the Treasure Island in Las Vegas and the waiter gave us both a dirty look!
An Affirmation You Love: Carpe Diem
Why Nailympia: Nailympia is a global competition that draws a lot of good quality competitors, which are not only highly skilled but also very driven to excel. The judging team of multi-talented and highly experienced judges makes judging such a breeze and fun to work with. Personally, whenever I’m judging at Nailympia London in particular, I learn a lot even as a judge and get inspired to pick up my nail brushes to play when I get home.
Instagram: @catherinewongnailqnailart
Facebook: Catherine Wong
