Visit to Japan Nailist Association

Had an interesting evening visiting the Japan Nailist Association in Tokyo. They've moved to a nicer premise and is bigger than before. We spend much time exchanging ideas & catching up on the nails industry in both our countries. Look forward to opportunities in future for both our associations to work together for a better environment for those passionate about nails in our Asia countries.













Had a nice walk to see the beautiful Christmas lights after leaving the JNA office.













During my time in Japan, I also had the chance to meet up with many Japanese Nailist in the exchange of nail techniques & culture. The most memorable one would be learning to wear a kimono & incorporating the Japanese Kimono Designs into nail art. We were able to incorporate elements from the Japanese Culture & Kimono print into nail art designs.

But the most interesting part for me is when we had trainers from a Kimono School teach us to wear the traditional kimono the correct way, I can say that it was both exciting & difficult. There are many steps involved to enable us to be nicely "covered" in what looked like pieces of beautiful cloths.

Having successfully wearing the kimono can transform the entire posture & feel of a person, you'll feel more graceful... perhaps because you'll need to take small steps now due to the cutting of the kimono. I managed to make my own Obi bow...the "ribbon" sash behind the kimono. There are many many types of Obi bow- hanaba obi, anesa obi,etc.
They say a woman looks the most beautiful from the back view, technically with the face turned 45° to the side... we practiced many many times, as a woman need to memorize & wear a kimono on her own... this is exactly what they practise at the Kimono Academy.

Something I admired about the Japanese people, they truly take the effort to maintain their heritage & culture. It is so easy to lose all that during the process of development & progress. I am happy to be able to help retain something so beautiful of Japanese Culture with them.

NAIL EXCHANGE KOREA - Seminar Teaching at University

Seminar Teaching at Daejeon University. It is a university for students after collage to study beauty,hair, nails full time. They have many topics to choose from , even special effects make-up!

I was there to do an exchange seminar of Singapore Gel Nails Design Technique to the students.
It was quite an interesting experience for them. They are amazed at our techniques that is so fast and saves time for their gel nails.

Below photo of me with Chairman of KONEA, Ms Kim Mi Won and a male student after class.

Hope for them to come for an exchange program in Singapore soon. ^.^

NAIL EXCHANGE KOREA - Int'l Nail Competition

N.A.I.L.S is honoured to be invited again by the Korean Nailist Expert Association [KONEA] to participate in their annual international nail exchange event. I am again on their panel of International Judges for their annual Korea Nail Design Festival[K.N.D.F]. Judging next to Nailympics Head Judge Lysa Comfort and Russian's nail-industry mover Galina Stepanovna.

There was more mixed media nail art entries this time round, much to the delight of our Singapore nailist team. They were snapping away at the Nail art displayed for all to view. It is indeed a learning experience for all of them, I am sure they learnt much more in terms of nail art design than their salon experiences can bring.














The satisfaction of winning amidst the thousands of contestants brings Singapore nailist much honour & pride. Overall, every nail exchange with KONEA is always very fulfilling for everyone.
We had benefited so much collaborating with KONEA since 2006. Our association looks towards more fulfilling collaborations for the improvement of our nails industry.

Would try to upload more nail art from KNDF when time allows. ^.^

Nails Exchange with Hong Kong - Int'l Nail Compeition

N.A.I.L.S was invited to participate in the Nail Competition organised by Hong Kong Professional Nailist Union. It is their 2nd Int'l Nail Competition. We've brought along participants from Singapore to take part & support.

Our Singapore team comprises of nailist from singapore, malaysia, china & japan!! There was also a Japanese team from Japan that participated too!!














As you can see, it is also curtain judging for this competition. We saw some very good nails for the French Twist Category & French Sculpture Category, it was a very close fight for the winners.


















The Salon Success was also participated by many contestants as participants need not finish one hand prior to the competition. For Design Sculpture, participants need complete one hand prior to the competition, making it an easy win for the participants due to the reduced number of contestants.














Perhaps we can consider doing away with prior completed nails in future nail competitions; as judging is mainly done on the nails done on the day of the competition. It would also encourage overseas contestants to participate too, allowing for easier hand-model allocation.