Just take a look at how some women clawed their way into winning the Beauty Asia Nail Art international competition held in Singapore recently.
From these rather outlandish and eye-catching entries, it is obvious the participants have been fighting, well, tooth and nail to win.
It just goes to show how creative a manicure can be. Some people might call it manic-cure.
This is the first such competition held in Singapore, but such nail tourneys are no passing fads. There are similar competitions going on in Taiwan, Korea and even London and the USA.
No longer satisfied with a freshly-painted set of nails, with perhaps, some stick-on crystals, or a hand-painted flower, some women want their finger extremities to do the talking about their personalities.
And by attempting this, they have nailed the job down to an art - as was obvious at the nails competition featured in the annual BeautyAsia 2007, the region?s most established beauty trade show held at the Singapore Expo.
A total of 42 participants came together to pit their creativity against one another and display their nail-painting skills as an art form.
Ms Jasmine Lim, founder of BMI Beautymart, which organised the competition, said: "Nail art is becoming more than just a fashion or beauty statement among Asian women. To many, it has become an art form and an expression of their individuality and femininity."
Winners were from Singapore, China, Taiwan, Malaysia and Japan.
Contestant Ms Patricia Wong, 39, bagged the first prize for her fairies themes in the Creative Nail Art category. Taking about a month to prepare her decorations and costumes, she made the intricate fairy models and flowers by hand. She used acrylic extensions to create her work, and the end-result was a fairy wonderland on the model?s hands.
Other contestants used pearls, crystals and hand-painted flowers to express their creativity.
In all, there were nine winners from the three categories. First prize winners picked up cash prizes of $500 each, a nail course worth between $1,800 and $2,000 and products worth from $1,000 to $1,400. The second prize winners won cash prizes of $300 and products worth $600, and third prize winners received $200 cash each and products worth $600.
