There is such a thing as ‘Nail Olympics’—and this year is the competition’s 12th year, having started in Last Vegas in 2001.
For this year’s competition held in Rome this week, The Associated Press brings us a behind-the-scenes look to see 220 nail artists from all over the world pitting themselves against each other—with their fate in the hands of a jury of eight people from Japan, the US, Korea, Italy, Sweden and the Czech Republic.
Even though only few emerge victorious, the nail art submissions range from frightening to just outrageous, for the seven different categories.
Some criteria for the bold nails include: the structure and shape of the nail, application of art, and the model’s cuticles.
[via The Week, images via AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino]