"Why choose one memory when I can include all of my favorites? Do I tell my age with these? Maybe. I was thinking so hard about this theme and always some sort of toy came to mind. I illustrated all of the 90s staple toys which I loved and created good memories for me."
Photo courtesy of
Brigitta Fajt
"I would say the Slinky was the hardest to make sure it's actually bouncy...and not the sculpting but putting hair on the troll dolls...harder than I thought. Of course cluster everything on a 'city map' rug essential to create a kid's room vibe."
Photo courtesy of
Brigitta Fajt
"Growing up in Chicago, there was never a shortage of cool things to do with my family. When I was very little, my mom took us to the Museum of Science & Industry and it was the first time I had ever seen organs in real life. I was shocked!"
Photo courtesy of
Brittany Higgins
"The first childhood memory that came to mind is of my grandma and her garden. I am convinced if she grew up here in the states she would have been a master gardener. One year we had put in a koi pond with a bridge, and to our surprise, those koi fish were basically immortal, they lived through everything. I was surprised to see them in the pond the following summer after a hard winter."
Photo courtesy of
Chau Tran
"Her (my grandma's) favorite flowers were gladiolus, but the most memorable to me was the overgrown daisy bed. Any childhood memory I have definitely started in her and her garden."
Photo courtesy of
Chau Tran
"My earliest memories are from when I was about 2 years old. I grew up in an old red brick house. I had my crib in a turquoise room with a big long window. Every year my father, (who passed away when I was young) would plant blue Morning Glory vines around my window.
I loved being outside and I remember playing in the flowers under my window and watching bees. As I thought more of that window, I remembered being frightened to look out of it at night because I thought I had seen a witch looking at me through it. I would have nightmares and cry in my sleep but I was too afraid (or just too little) to get any help from anyone. So my little mind just dealt with the fear."
Photo courtesy of
Jacqueline McClement
"I created this nail set overlapping in levels, like the layered memories I had as I thought of this time in my life."
Photo courtesy of
Jacqueline McClement
H.C. Andersen is from my hometown Odense, Denmark, so his fairytales were a big part of my childhood. I chose to focus on one fairytale The Ugly Duckling.
The moral of the story is to accept people for their qualities, their values, their friendship, and their humility. Do not judge others because of how they look.
This classic story raises questions about bullying, discrimination, and the importance of being true to yourself. The ugly duckling looked very different from his siblings, who made fun of him and treated him horribly because he didn't look like them. This is something i can relate to in my childhood, but I chose to be my own Fairytale."
Photo courtesy of
Jenna Jupin
"In case you wonder where the tips are, my 5 nail tips are the spine of every fairytale book in my design.
I made the books out of acrylic and painted them with gel polish and gel paint. The open book is made out of topcoat, painted with gel paint and finished with matte topcoat."
Photo courtesy of
Jenna Jupin
"I have only about 5 memories from the age of 6-13 so rather than paint the blackness of my lack of memory I have based my theme on the few parts of my childhood I remember. As a child I was diagnosed with Hodgkinson's lymphoma and spent my childhood in the hospital. I have painted my theme in a cartoon style to portray the world through a child's eyes. No matter how bad the situation, a child sees the world as fun and colorful. I chose to create a cancer cell on my nails (which has affectionately now been called Carrie) to portray the reason I was in hospital. I chose to make a battery linked to a blood transfusion drip as I remember that day was one that gave me the most energy after spending the majority of my time tired and exhausted."
Photo courtesy of
Josette Hambleton
"This challenge personally has been a tough one. I have decided to do this theme in a cartoon style to show that I am able to adapt to different styles within my nail art. I am predominantly an acrylic technician so as a personal challenge I have decided to only use gel within my piece."
Photo courtesy of
Josette Hambleton
"I decided to create a mixture of my favorite food items and cartoons. I featured a barbie because I had hundreds of them when I was young, and all my friends came to my house we would play together. Chupa Chups (is) my absolute favorite. I used to collect the packaging, cut out the circle from the middle, and stick them to the poster I was creating from the packaging."
Photo courtesy of
Kamila Borowiec
"Cassette - that one was a funny memory so I used to listen to the music and sing along all day, making up the words, pretending I knew English and other languages. My brothers could not listen to me anymore. I can't forget about my cartoons. I was obsessed watching cartoons - it was the best time ever. I even remember I had to stop watching them (I think I was 9 maybe) because the kids in the neighborhood would laugh if I would still be watching cartoons. I was devastated but I didn't want to be embarrassed so I stopped.
I featured mp4 because this was a must for me. I used to carry it with me everywhere. There's also a joystick - this was my absolute fave thing to do. We used to play all the time with my siblings and also very late night once mum was asleep, so we could just play a little longer because it was never enough. Roller (skates) - I loved those and still own a pair. Another of my favorites was a tamagotchi!"
Photo courtesy of
Kamila Borowiec
"I haven’t had a very easy beginning in “adult” life but I was very lucky to have an amazing childhood with the most incredible parents and family! It was hard to choose just one, but I chose what made who I am today which is the Disney universe, especially the Disney parks! When in Florida, we used to go there all the time!"
Photo courtesy of
Marie Henchoz
"The one that has stayed the most on my mind was the Haunted Mansion attraction! I was very scared of the dark and was so impressed by everything. This is why I chose to also make a night version! My Dad would always scare us or make creepy noises, and our heart rates went up, and we probably hurt other people's ears! So on my tips it is like a walk through the attraction itself with a lot of vintage tapestry and hidden ghosts!"
Photo courtesy of
Marie Henchoz
"I have to start by saying that my mum is and always was the best mum in the whole world. She was the hardest working person I know, each and every year on the 1st of June she would book time off, made sure she saved some extra money to celebrate international children's day with my brother and I.
Our tradition was a trip to Cricoland which was a fun fair. We could take as many rides as we wanted to. My favorite was a rollercoaster."
Photo courtesy of
Monika Kupien
"This memory from my childhood will forever stay with me and be cherished as the best day ever.
To illustrate it, I used a mix of painting and sculpting techniques with liquid and powder, hard gel, acrygel, and UV plastiline gel. In addition, hand painting was created using nail art gel and gel polish."
Photo courtesy of
Monika Kupien
"My mom explained to me that you can choose to donate your body to science after life and it was such a revelation in my little child brain."
Photo courtesy of
Brittany Higgins
"Why choose one memory when I can include all of my favorites? Do I tell my age with these? Maybe. I was thinking so hard about this theme and always some sort of toy came to mind. I illustrated all of the 90s staple toys which I loved and created good memories for me."
Photo courtesy of
Brigitta Fajt
"I would say the Slinky was the hardest to make sure it's actually bouncy...and not the sculpting but putting hair on the troll dolls...harder than I thought. Of course cluster everything on a 'city map' rug essential to create a kid's room vibe."
Photo courtesy of
Brigitta Fajt
"Growing up in Chicago, there was never a shortage of cool things to do with my family. When I was very little, my mom took us to the Museum of Science & Industry and it was the first time I had ever seen organs in real life. I was shocked!"
Photo courtesy of
Brittany Higgins
"The first childhood memory that came to mind is of my grandma and her garden. I am convinced if she grew up here in the states she would have been a master gardener. One year we had put in a koi pond with a bridge, and to our surprise, those koi fish were basically immortal, they lived through everything. I was surprised to see them in the pond the following summer after a hard winter."
Photo courtesy of
Chau Tran
"Her (my grandma's) favorite flowers were gladiolus, but the most memorable to me was the overgrown daisy bed. Any childhood memory I have definitely started in her and her garden."
Photo courtesy of
Chau Tran
"My earliest memories are from when I was about 2 years old. I grew up in an old red brick house. I had my crib in a turquoise room with a big long window. Every year my father, (who passed away when I was young) would plant blue Morning Glory vines around my window.
I loved being outside and I remember playing in the flowers under my window and watching bees. As I thought more of that window, I remembered being frightened to look out of it at night because I thought I had seen a witch looking at me through it. I would have nightmares and cry in my sleep but I was too afraid (or just too little) to get any help from anyone. So my little mind just dealt with the fear."
Photo courtesy of
Jacqueline McClement
"I created this nail set overlapping in levels, like the layered memories I had as I thought of this time in my life."
Photo courtesy of
Jacqueline McClement
H.C. Andersen is from my hometown Odense, Denmark, so his fairytales were a big part of my childhood. I chose to focus on one fairytale The Ugly Duckling.
The moral of the story is to accept people for their qualities, their values, their friendship, and their humility. Do not judge others because of how they look.
This classic story raises questions about bullying, discrimination, and the importance of being true to yourself. The ugly duckling looked very different from his siblings, who made fun of him and treated him horribly because he didn't look like them. This is something i can relate to in my childhood, but I chose to be my own Fairytale."
Photo courtesy of
Jenna Jupin
"In case you wonder where the tips are, my 5 nail tips are the spine of every fairytale book in my design.
I made the books out of acrylic and painted them with gel polish and gel paint. The open book is made out of topcoat, painted with gel paint and finished with matte topcoat."
Photo courtesy of
Jenna Jupin
"I have only about 5 memories from the age of 6-13 so rather than paint the blackness of my lack of memory I have based my theme on the few parts of my childhood I remember. As a child I was diagnosed with Hodgkinson's lymphoma and spent my childhood in the hospital. I have painted my theme in a cartoon style to portray the world through a child's eyes. No matter how bad the situation, a child sees the world as fun and colorful. I chose to create a cancer cell on my nails (which has affectionately now been called Carrie) to portray the reason I was in hospital. I chose to make a battery linked to a blood transfusion drip as I remember that day was one that gave me the most energy after spending the majority of my time tired and exhausted."
Photo courtesy of
Josette Hambleton
"This challenge personally has been a tough one. I have decided to do this theme in a cartoon style to show that I am able to adapt to different styles within my nail art. I am predominantly an acrylic technician so as a personal challenge I have decided to only use gel within my piece."
Photo courtesy of
Josette Hambleton
"I decided to create a mixture of my favorite food items and cartoons. I featured a barbie because I had hundreds of them when I was young, and all my friends came to my house we would play together. Chupa Chups (is) my absolute favorite. I used to collect the packaging, cut out the circle from the middle, and stick them to the poster I was creating from the packaging."
Photo courtesy of
Kamila Borowiec
"Cassette - that one was a funny memory so I used to listen to the music and sing along all day, making up the words, pretending I knew English and other languages. My brothers could not listen to me anymore. I can't forget about my cartoons. I was obsessed watching cartoons - it was the best time ever. I even remember I had to stop watching them (I think I was 9 maybe) because the kids in the neighborhood would laugh if I would still be watching cartoons. I was devastated but I didn't want to be embarrassed so I stopped.
I featured mp4 because this was a must for me. I used to carry it with me everywhere. There's also a joystick - this was my absolute fave thing to do. We used to play all the time with my siblings and also very late night once mum was asleep, so we could just play a little longer because it was never enough. Roller (skates) - I loved those and still own a pair. Another of my favorites was a tamagotchi!"
Photo courtesy of
Kamila Borowiec
"I haven’t had a very easy beginning in “adult” life but I was very lucky to have an amazing childhood with the most incredible parents and family! It was hard to choose just one, but I chose what made who I am today which is the Disney universe, especially the Disney parks! When in Florida, we used to go there all the time!"
Photo courtesy of
Marie Henchoz
"The one that has stayed the most on my mind was the Haunted Mansion attraction! I was very scared of the dark and was so impressed by everything. This is why I chose to also make a night version! My Dad would always scare us or make creepy noises, and our heart rates went up, and we probably hurt other people's ears! So on my tips it is like a walk through the attraction itself with a lot of vintage tapestry and hidden ghosts!"
Photo courtesy of
Marie Henchoz
"I have to start by saying that my mum is and always was the best mum in the whole world. She was the hardest working person I know, each and every year on the 1st of June she would book time off, made sure she saved some extra money to celebrate international children's day with my brother and I.
Our tradition was a trip to Cricoland which was a fun fair. We could take as many rides as we wanted to. My favorite was a rollercoaster."
Photo courtesy of
Monika Kupien
"This memory from my childhood will forever stay with me and be cherished as the best day ever.
To illustrate it, I used a mix of painting and sculpting techniques with liquid and powder, hard gel, acrygel, and UV plastiline gel. In addition, hand painting was created using nail art gel and gel polish."
Photo courtesy of
Monika Kupien
"My mom explained to me that you can choose to donate your body to science after life and it was such a revelation in my little child brain."
Photo courtesy of
Brittany Higgins
Welcome to Challenge #2 of Next Top Nail Artist: Season 10. Our nine remaining finalists have been hard at work, and they certainly have the amazing results to show for it.
Flip through the slideshow above to see everyone’s entries. We’re excited for you to get a peek at what they produced for this challenge, for which they were directed to design a memory from their childhood.
Give these creators a follow and congratulate them on making it this far into the competition. After the Challenge #2 eliminations, we will be down to six!
Good luck, everyone!
For reprint and licensing requests for this article, Click here.
Originally posted on NAILS Magazine
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