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