Sam & Mel Show nail art contest winners announced
By Alex Fox | 15 October 2020 | Feature, Tech Talk
Sam Biddle and Melanie Lewendon of the Mel & Sam Show have announced the winners of their September month-long nail art competition, which attracted 40 entries. In recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness month for October 2020, this competition afforded great industry support and prizes while inviting contestants to enter for free, yet donate to Breast Cancer Research.
The winners are revealed as:
1st place – Candida De Lange
2nd place – Nixxi Rose
3rd place – Charlotte Wright
All entries can be viewed on this show reel by clicking here.
All sponsors & judges can be viewed here.
Alex Fox spoke to Candida De Lange from her nail studio in South Africa
Candida De Lange, South Africa
Q: How did you find out about this competition?
A: I follow Sam and various other talented nail artists on social media and saw her post.
Q: How long have you been doing nails?
A: I’ve always had an interest in nails. I started out as self-taught and received my first course certification in 2016. I’ve since taken many courses, workshops and classes.
Q: Who did you train with?
A: I’ve trained with many educators over the years. But the three who’ve honestly changed my way of doing nails and truly deserve a mention because they’ve given me so much more than just education, are Charmaine Kay Doyle at Maskscara in Cape Town, Amanda Stroh from Bio Sculpture and Alina-Olena Kuzmenko from Alina Fox/QD Nails for her amazing nail art courses.
Q: Why do you love art on nails?
A: I’m a very creative person; for me adding nail art to a set takes it from good to amazing. Naked nails are like a cake without frosting and sprinkles. So, when I have the opportunity or the time to sit and work on a full set of boxed art nails, I’m in my element. Some of my sets can take weeks to complete. The amount of time and detail cannot be done on a client, yet they are my absolute favourite things to do. I have two wonderful daughters who regularly challenge me with designing full character sets, which pushes me out of my comfort zone, but after each set is complete, they’re so proud of me and literally jump up and down with excitement.
Q: Tell me about the concept behind your winning nail design?
A: I started out with the cancer ribbon, but wanted something different from the normal floating ribbon. I found an image of a faceless angel, and the look of her all tied up really spoke to me. It spoke of how we feel when something dramatic happens to us. We become helpless, like another faceless statistic. Sam mentioned in the brief that she wanted to feel the elements in the design; so this is where the ‘many faces’ came from. I know first-hand that battling cancer in any form causes a roller coaster of emotions, not only for the ones physically going through it, but for family and friends too. Happy, sad, angry, confused; just too many emotions to express. These emotions became the inspiration, showing the faces of cancer, the faces what we don’t normally have the strength to show our loved ones.
Candida’s winning design
Q: What products did you use?
A: I used a range of Gel-it gels from Maskscara. I used Gel-it colour gels (solid/glitter/translucent), builder gels for the angel, liner/sculpture gels for detailing, as well as alcohol inks for the back ground. I then used its high gloss carbon top coat to seal it in.
Q: Tell me how you feel about winning?
A: Honestly, I’m shocked. When I saw the other entries I believed they all deserved to win. Some of the stories and inspiration behind the sets were incredible. When Sam messaged to say I’d won, I was really shocked and so honoured. I honestly didn’t expect it. I entered out of pure inspiration from Sam’s journey and post.
Cancer is something that has ripped my family apart. My mother lost her battle with breast cancer at 33years of age, (I was just 8-years-old), my grandfather passed before I was born, my cousin won her battle with breast cancer and my best friend Samantha’s 5-year-old daughter, Arizona, is currently fighting Stage 4 Neuroblastoma cancer.
I’m just one story of many, many stories out there. So, it truly is an amazing feeling to have won this competition with my design.
Follow Candida on Facebook & Instagram.