Judging criteria

Every effort is made to ensure that qualified judges are provided. Judges meet prior to the competitions starting so all are clear on what they are judging and their responsibilities. Judging sheets are made available to competitors after the awards ceremony and judges will make every effort to be available for any questions/critique afterwards, although this is not guaranteed. Any judging sheets not picked up after the competition will be sent out by the Nailympics administration team after the event.

The judging is blind, meaning only the models’ hands will be seen by each judge, with the exception of the Fantasy Nail Art competition. The judge will have no knowledge of which technician created which set of nails ~ models will be identified by numbers randomly assigned on the competition floor.

Judges do not judge every aspect of the set. Each judge is given 3-4 points out of 10 to judge. This way they can concentrate on a few aspects of the nails, rather than all. This helps to keep the judging consistent and keep any one judge from drastically raising or lowering a competitor’s score, since they do not judge all 10 points. The last benefit to this method of judging is that the process tends to move a bit quicker, which is good in larger competitions, such as this.

Judges are allowed to use partial points (6.5 or 7.3 etc), also in the event of a tie, the head judge’s score (Lysa Comfort) will determine the place. For any ties falling below 10th place, each entry with the same score will simply be listed in alphabetical order, as a place below 10th will not effect competitors’ standing in ranks.

In keeping with the Nailympics international status, every effort is made to ensure judges are a mix from around the world.

Please read all of the rules and get clarification on any you are not 100% certain of, as this is your responsibility. If you compete and are judged with a deduction due to a rule that you did not interpret the way it was meant, it’s too late to change this at the competition. Judge’s decisions are final and all entries are judged on the exact same criteria. Don’t learn a lesson at the competition, get all your questions clarified beforehand to ensure a more satisfying experience.