Judges instruction for Nail Structure Categories

• 10 point total on all categories
• 1 point a nail
• In a one hand competition, point total is reduced to 5 points
• Each nail is judged on its own merit
• The nail must meet all of the criteria for the category being judged to earn its point.

Nail structure

Convex

• The exterior contour of the nail form should be completely symmetric
• The surface of the nail should have no inconsistencies or appear to be uneven on the outer surface
• The judge will examine the nail by looking at nail from a head on and from the back side perspectives
• The convex or surface of the nail should contour symmetrically throughout the entire nail until it reaches zone 1

Concave

• The interior contour or tunnel of the free edge must be completely symmetric
• The nail’s concave should have the appearance of the inside of a tunnel throughout the entire free edge that is apparent to the eye or until the c-curve stick touches the finger’s tip from the underside

Arch and Apex

• The high point (apex) of the arch should not appear overly apparent
• It should have a subtle and gradual incline that is located consistently in the second zone (see example) of each nail
• The entire arch including the apex, should be not be overly apparent or appear too flat in the second zone
• The arch should not be located too far forward or back in the second zone when looking at the entire nail from a profile perspective

Form Fit

• The nails extension should be free of any notches or gaps on the lateral side folds where the free edge extension begins
• The notches are created during the application process and can not be created with a file
• There should not be any residual product present on the backside of the free edge, which was a result of bad form application. When the form is not applied properly, there is a gap in between the natural free edge and the form

Judges instruction for Shape and Refining Categories

• 10 point total for all of these categories
• 1 point for each nail
• ½ points may be given if the nails has two areas that are required to be judged in that For example, there are two sidewalls on each finger nail. Therefor, half points may be given when judging sidewalls
• If it is a 1 hand competition the point total is reduced to 5 points and each nail must meet the criteria of both sides to earn 1 point
• Each nail is judged on its own merit
• The nail must meet all of the criteria for the category being judged to earn its point

Shape and refining

Free edge thickness

• The entire Free edge should be no thicker than 1.5mm
• The nail must be consistently thin throughout the nails free edge and measure the same on the sidewalls and center
• The free edge should not be any thicker than 1.5mm until it reaches the top of the finger tip from the underside of the nail
• See example of measuring tools

Sidewalls or groove-walls

• The Free edge must extend straight out from the lateral folds
• The nail should not flare out or taper in when looking at the hand from a front perspective
• The nail should be uniform on each side
• There can not be any ridges on the free edge extension
• The sides of the free edges should feel smooth and appear to be filed clean
• There is a ½ point earned for each side of every nail being scored
• There is only one score earned in a one handed competition and both sides must be perfect to earn one point

Lateral side extension

• To find the lateral side extension you must look at the extension from the nails profile
• the free edge must extend straight out from the natural nails lateral fold
• The nail should not drop down or appear to be tapered upward from the profile perspective
• The nail should appear to have symmetry so the side extensions are consistently located
• There should be no exposure of the natural nail’s lateral fold
• There is a ½ point earned for each side of every nail being scored when the competition is two hands
• There is only one score earned in a one handed competition and both sides must be perfect to earn one point

Judges instruction for Shape and Refining Categories continued

• 10 point total for all of these categories
• 1 point for each nail
• ½ points may be given when the nail has multi-criteria that are required to be judged in that category. For example, there are two elements required to earn .5 point. Therefore, half points may be given when judging C-curve
• If it is a 1 hand competition the point total is reduced to 5 points and each nail must meet the criteria to earn 1 point. No half (.5) points are given
• Each nail is judged on its own merit
• The nail must meet all of the criteria for the category being judged to earn its point

Shape and refining

C-Curve

Division 1:

• The C-Curves must be a minimum 30% – 40% of a circle and no more than 50%
• Each c-curve should appear symmetric

Division 2:

• The C-Curves must be a minimum 40% and maximum 50% of a circle
• Each c-curve should appear symmetric
• Both of these criteria are required to earn a .5 point for each nail. If a nail does not have symmetry and the proper degree of c-curve in will not earn .5 point
• To earn the second possible .5 point for each nail each side edge of the c-curve must measure evenly on each side and appear completely symmetric
• To earn 1 point the nail will have the first two criteria for .5 point and will have matching edges to earn .5 points, to make a total earned of 1 point

Division 3:

• The C-Curves must be a minimum 40% and maximum 50% of a circle
• Each c-curve should appear symmetric
• Both of these criteria are required to earn a .5 point for each nail. If a nail does not have symmetry and the proper degree of c-curve in will not earn .5 point
• To earn the second possible .5 point for each nail each side edge of the c-curve must measure evenly on each side and appear completely symmetric. AND must look consistent in shape to its match finger. IF BOTH OF THESE CRITERIA ARE NOT PRESENT BOTH NAILS DO NOT EARN .5 POINT

Judges instruction for Shape and refining

• 10 point total on all categories
• 1 point a nail
• If 1 hand competition point total is reduced to 5 points
• Each nail is judged on its own merit
• The nail must meet all of the criteria for the category being judged to earn 1 point

Shape and refining

Nail shape

• The shape of the nails must look consistent and uniform
• The top of the Free-edge must not appear to be filed unevenly
• The Free edge must look straight as it extends from the nail plate
• It should not look as if the nail was applied crooked or that the nail is off in a tilted direction
• The extension should be applied true to the natural nail
• The nail should be straight to the nail. Not straight to the finger
• The hand will be turned around so the nail is examined from the front perspective

Surface smoothness

• The nail should not have any file lines of demarcations on the surface
• The finished product application should look and feel smooth with no bumps or dips on the surface
• There should not be any apparent ruff or dull spots. All production application should be filed and buffed completely smooth
• If gel sealer is applied, it must be applied on the entire nail
• There must not be any portion of the surface of the nail exposed and left unsealed
• The nail must feel smooth on the entire surface
• The gel sealer must not have any bubbles

Judges instruction for Length

• 10 point total for this category
• The points on the score sheet that represents the polished hand are the points earned for each matching finger’s length accuracy
• The points on the score sheet that represents the french hand are the points earned for each nails accuracy with the French application ratios
• If it is a 1 hand competition, each nail earns 1 point for the accuracy of the French extension
• The matching nail length is NOT considered in a 1 hand competition

Length

• Points are given for two different criteria
• The first point is earned with each nail being measured individually and then scored
• The nail is measured from the Cuticle to center of the smile-line to match the length of the top of the Free edge to the tips of the smile-line. See example of diagram
• If the smile points are not matching from side to side and one tip appears to be higher, measuring the length is considered to the higher (longest) smile tip
• The second point is earned with both hands being measured together. The nails must also match hand to hand from cuticle to free edge to earn 1 point for matching fingers

Diagram example

Judges instruction for application and finishing

• 5 point total on all categories
• 1 point a nail
• There will be 10 points for this category if the competition has French application exposed on both hands with no red polish covering either hand
• Each nail is judged on its own merit
• The nail must meet all of the criteria for the category being judged to earn its point

High shine finish

• The French hand should have a high gloss shine that has a glass finish appearance throughout the entire surface of the nail
• The shine on the French hand should have a reflective appearance
• The sides, edges and cuticle area must be considered
• Lines of demarcation are NOT considered as long as the shine is apparent
• If gel sealer is applied, the sealer must be completely cured
• The sealer should not feel or appear to be tacky or dull on the surface of the nail
• All of the tacky residue (inhibition layer) must be completely removed off of the nail

Product control

• The application of the product should look evenly applied with a sharp division of color at the smile-line
• There should not be a noticeable pink hue or shadow pulled over the white gel
• The White gel should have a solid appearance throughout the entire nail
• If cover pink gel is used to create a nail plate extension, it should not be applied over the white gel at the smile-line or be seen from the top view of the nail
• There should not be any shadows or transparencies in the white or cover powder pink gel
• If you are using cover pink gel to extend the nail plate, the natural nail must not show or shadow in the extended nail
• There must not be any air bubbles and or pitting in the product

Gel Polish application

• The red gel polish hand should be completely cured and have gel top seal applied perfectly with no inconsistencies in the application
• Base and top coat and two coats of red gel polish should be applied
• The gel polish should be applied close, consistently even at the cuticle
• The application of the gel polish should not appear to have streaks
• The sides and tip of the nails edges must be covered
• There must not be any red or clear gel polish on skin or back side of nails

Judges instruction for application and finishing

• 10 point total on all categories
• 1 point a nail
• If it is a one hand competition, the point total is reduced to 5 points
• Each nail is judged on its own merit
• The nail must meet all of the criteria for the category being judged to earn its point

Cuticles

• The cuticle and surrounding skin must not have any new cuts or irritation around the nail
• There should not be any noticeable ledge of product that can be felt or seen
• The application of product must be apparent and cover the entire cuticle area without leaving a large margin between the cuticle line
• If the product is overly filed and no longer apparent, it will not receive its point
• All 4 criteria must be considered to earn 1 point. There are no half (.5) points allowed

Underside

• There should be no visible dust, debris, water, glue or polish on the back of the nail
• There should not be any excessive oil on the nail
• The product application must appear smooth behind the nail with no excess product
• When cover pink gel is applied, the back of the nail must appear to have a clean line of separation and the white must appear clean and opaque in shade

Judges instruction for Smile lines

• This category is judged differently for each category
• Division 1: Total points is 5. 1 point possible for each nail
• Division 2 Total points is 10. 2 points possible for each nail
• Division 3 Total points is 15. 3 points possible for each nail
• Each nail is judged on its own merit
• The nail must meet all of the criteria for the category being judged to earn its point

Smile-line

Division 1 total possible points per nail: 1

• The smile-line must be consistently shaped from nail to nail and have a sharp division on all exposed nails
• The consistency of the smile line shape will be determined by the majority of the nails that appear to have the most similar appearance in style
• If the smile line has a clean line AND represents uniformity with the other nails smile lines in earns 1 point

Division 2 total possible points per nail: 2

• The smile-line must be consistently shaped and have a sharp division on all exposed nails
• The consistency of the smile line shape will be determined by the majority of the nails that appear to have the most similar appearance in style
• Each nail will earn 1 point when the smile line appears to have the first two criteria listed above
• Each nail will earn 1 point for the 3rd criteria listed below
• The line should be centered and evenly aligned on the nail plate so that it does not appear to be lopsided or sideways

Division 3 total possible points per nail: 3

• The smile-line must be consistently shaped and have a sharp division on all exposed nails
• The consistency of the smile line shape will be determined by the majority of the nails that appear to have the most similar appearance in style
• Each nail with an exposed smile line will earn 1 point when the smile line appears to have the first two criteria listed above
• Each nail with an exposed smile line will earn 1 point for the 3rd criteria listed below
• The smile line should be centered and evenly aligned on the nail plate so that it does not appear to be lopsided or sideways. If the smile is applied properly and centered it will earn 1 point
• Each nail with an exposed smile line will earn 1 point for the 4th criteria listed below
• The application of the smile line should be evenly applied so that the tips of the smile-line are parallel and match perfectly.