Polish & Paint Nail Artist of the Year

POLISH & PAINT NAIL ARTIST OF THE YEAR

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The Polish & Paint Nail Artist of the Year is a master tech who demonstrates unrivalled skills with nail paints: from nail polishes and stripers to gel paints, one stroke paints and acrylic paints, to create fantastic and detailed flat nail art designs. Picture submissions must feature flat nail designs. No airbrush art, or art created using stencils is permitted.

JUDGING

Once the entry deadline has passed on 10 March 2025, all entries will go through a first round of judging, and five finalists in this category will be announced on Friday 18 April 2025.

Finalists must then attend a practical judging day in London on Monday 19 May 2025 and complete a flat nail art design task on three nail tips (provided) in one hour, followed by answering judges' questions. Failure to attend this day will forfeit the finalist position and all associated benefits. Instructions and details about this judging day will be sent to finalists after 18 April 2025.

Scores at this practical judging day will be tallied to determine the winner of this category, who will be announced at The Scratch Stars Party on Sunday 6 July 2025.

Scratch Stars Judging Day, Comm By Helena Biggs

Nails created at the Scratch Stars judging day 2024 by Danielle Brindley, who went on to take the Polish & Paint Artist of the Year title 2024.

READ THE RULES & REGS

Answers must be given in less than 300 words. Text over 300 words will not be read or considered. Please do NOT use artificial intelligence (AI) to generate your answers. Any entries have more than 20% AI influence will be disqualified.

Please confirm(Required)

Tick to confirm you have read the rules and regulations, you gained a recognised nail qualification in the UK prior to 1 February 2024 (12 months or more) and are currently working as a nail professional in the UK or ROI for 10+ hours a week.

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Note: There is no autosave feature on this application form. Please copy and paste all below answers into a text document and save images elsewhere before pressing submit in case of technical error. Images must be no bigger than 4096KB. Please read the rules and regulations before entry.

If you are having trouble submitting your entry, please send all required details via Dropbox or WeTransfer instead to scratchstars@scratchmagazine.co.uk. A confirmation email will be sent on receipt of your entry. Please check your junk mail before contacting.

Your details

Name(Required)

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Business name

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Please upload a JPG or PNG file up to 4MB in size.

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Telephone(Required)

Email(Required)

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Address(Required)

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Headshot(Required)

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Please provide proof of a UK/ROI-recognised nail qualification obtained on or before 1 February 2024 (12 months ago)(Required)

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Which company do you currently hold your nail/beauty insurance with?(Required)

Please state which insurance company(Required)

Please provide proof of your current, valid insurance cover(Required)

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Your business Facebook page

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Your business website

Competition questions

Please list any online/offline nail courses, classes and workshops you have taken part in since 1 February 2024 (12 months ago)(Required)

List any artistic qualifications you have achieved or nail art workshops/classes you have participated in the last 2 years(Required)

What do you do to ensure your continued professional development (CPD)?(Required)

What do you enjoy most about using nail paints?(Required)

What polish/paint products and tools do you use to create flat nail art designs?(Required)

What are your top tips for perfecting flat art nail designs?(Required)

Roughly what percentage of your treatments involve hand painted nail art?(Required)

Please outline your key achievements/career highlights from the past 12 months(Required)

How do you plan to develop your business and/or raise your professional profile in the next 12 months?(Required)

How do you ensure a high standard of nail services, hygiene and client care? Please give examples where possible(Required)

How do you keep up-to-date with nail industry news and innovations?(Required)

Why would you be a worthy winner of this category?(Required)

Please provide a client testimonial/review of your service (or a web link to a review)(Required)

At least 40 words – with their full name included

Image uploads

Please upload 5 high-resolution images (JPG or PNG, 300KB to 4MB in size) of your nail creations, demonstrating flat nail art designs using nail paints. Images on tips are fine to submit, but please also include a minimum of two flat nail art designs on a client's nails.

Nail image 1(Required)

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Nail image 2(Required)

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Nail image 3(Required)

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Nail image 4(Required)

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Nail image 5(Required)

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Where did you hear about the Scratch Stars Awards?

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I consent to receive updates about the Scratch Stars Awards and its sponsors from 1 February 2025 onwards and confirm I've read how we use your personal information

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On pressing submit, you agree to enter the Scratch Stars Awards 2025 and will receive a confirmation email of your entry. Please check you have filled in all required fields as image uploads will need to be reselected if validation fails.

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The Scratch Stars Awards 2025 is sponsored by:

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