Have you heard of dipping for nails?

Acrylics and two week manicures are popular choices on our little green isle but dipping could be an entirely new experience for some of us.

At this stage most of us have probably tried a two week manicure. The hardcore nail addicts will be acquainted with acrylics, gels and nail extensions. Nail dipping has actually been around for a long time but is only becoming popular more recently.

Whether you like nail art, a simple nude nail, a classic red or a french manicure you can have any of them with this technique. I am only a recent nail fanatic. I never took care of my hands before. As a makeup artist my hands tend to be covered in makeup and I am generally very hard on them. If you work with your hands or you are just a bit rough with them you might find regular nail polish chips easily. Even a two week manicure like Shellac won't actually last two weeks. You'll need something more hard wearing if you want it to last.

It's a catch 22, though. Shellac, acrylics and gel overlays destroy your nails. Lots of nail technicians will try to defend the treatments but I've tried them all and they have all been detrimental to my nails. However, like a lot of people I am hooked on having good looking nails. So now I choose to keep them covered and looking pretty. Dipping has become my new favourite technique. Rather than using UV light to set the paint like with Shellac or gels, this technique involves dipping the nails into a super fine powder and building up layers.

These are my newly 'dipped' nails. I love the finished effect.

The finished effect feels lighter than wearing gels or acrylics. The finish is like an eggshell once the layers have been build up and buffed. They have a matte finish and the texture is like that of an eggshell. Then a glossy top coat is applied and hey presto! they are gorgeous. You can wear them with extensions if you want all your nails the same length.