Winner of NAILS Magazine's NTNA Week 9, Tracey Lee!

Four years ago, NAILS Magazine introduced a contest called Next Top Nail Artist (NTNA), a competition that showcases nail artists from around the world, in search of the next big name in nail art. We at Bio Seaweed Gel are most honoured to be a sponsor of the NTNA competition for the third year running, and would like to thank NAILS Magazine for considering our brand. We feel very connected to this competition, as we pride ourselves on carrying polishes that make nail art doable, even to the inexperienced user. This year, BSG was the curator of Week 9 of the competition, and we offered a $500 BSG prize pack to the winner of our challenge.

Nail art is a very integral part of the modern nail industry, giving nail artists freedom of expression and allowing them to portray any given client’s personality within a set of 10 nails. Nail art is an internationally recognized form of expression, regardless of the language spoken by the artist. While producing visually attractive nail art can be a difficult task, we would like to showcase an artist that seems to have perfected the talent.

The BSG Girls would like to formally congratulate Tracey Lee on winning Week 9 of NAILS Magazine’s Next Top Nail Artist!

Week 9 of Nails Magazine’s NTNA Competition was our chance to design a challenge for contestants to showcase their artistic skills while giving credit to a place in the world that helped influence their talent. The category for this leg of the competition was Paint the Town. Contestants were asked to choose a neighbourhood that has had the most impact on their creativity. We have recently opened a second office in Orange County, California – and of course we brought some hometown Toronto flavour to OC with us. So we thought it would be appropriate that our week of the competition be centered around neighbourhoods that have a lasting impact on the artist, as Toronto has had on BSG.

All of the nail artists that have made it this far in the competition are absolutely amazing! With only 2 weeks left, 4 artists remained, and it was time to put their skills to the test by having to create their chosen neighbourhood out of a very specific set of materials. Competitors were asked to create their entry using 10 nails tips of any size. Artists were to produce a 3D artwork, using only the 10 nail tips of their choosing, gel and gel polish (no acrylic or acrylic paint). Embellishments were also allowed.

And (drum roll please...) here is Tracey's winning entry:

 

Tracey’s entry perfectly portrayed 27 Boxes – a shopping mall in the Melville suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. The shopping mall is created out of 27 colourful shipping crates, piled on top of one another, creating an attraction that sums up the feel and personality of Melville and its inhabitants. Her design was very thought out, and her gel work extremely intricate. To see a step-by-step tutorial of Tracey’s creative process, click: http://nailartgallery.nailsmag.com/traceyleenails/photo/457949/ntna-challenge-paint-the-town/user.

 

Here is a glimpse at the rest of Week 9’s entries:

 

Jonny Diep Pham surprised us with his surfer-dude alter ego from Bondi Beach, Australia.

Liina Leino’s culture-bearing Helsinki, Finland.

Tracey Vinson’s non-princessy version of Orlando, Florida.

 

To read more about each artist’s entry, and for a step-by-step tutorial of how they created their pieces, click: http://www.nailsmag.com/nexttopnailartist/2016/challenges/week-9-bio-seaweed-gel

We would like to thank all of the artists for their entries, and congratulate all for making it this far into the competition. And for the artists remaining, we would like to wish you the best of luck in the next and last two weeks of the competition!

We cannot wait to be a part of NTNA Season 5!