I don't care for the hand, but the smoke/face is fascinating.
At first glance, I really only saw the models left side (on our right). It took a few more moments before the smoke on the left actually "turned into" the right side of her face.
Like on of those optical illusion tricks, but nice and subtle. Love it!
Please show us how you did the blending of smoke and face.
This one is cool! how the face is emerging from the smoke. But the fingers as candlelights, looks a bit to bizarre :( Must hurt to get your fingers burned up, doesnt it? ;)
Then there are some minors, on the brushing.. (like at the right of index finger, you can see a black area, that should have matched better the "not so black" around. This, may be cause of your screen beeing a tad darker than it should. (cause I believe mine is kind of calibrated, and I see those places where it should have been better).
pd. try to put more light/luminance on your monitor, and watch again the photo. :)
My pick for the top spot, clever idea, well executed with a few quibbles. The reuse of the same inward curling smoke form so often, in such close proximity really draws too much attention. If you were making a point with it, I missed it. If you simply liked an elegant shape, you over used it; it is pretty, but it draws too much of the viewers focus to what ought to be a tertiary element.
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