Learning How to do Nail Art at Star Products International

Unless you've had your head under a spectacularly large rock of late, you'll know that nails are big news in beauty at the minute. There's been an accompanying resurgence in the popularity of nail art, and you can always take a trip out to WAH Nails in Dundrum if you want to leave nail art to the pros. If, however, you're more of a DIY girl but feel that you could do with brushing up on your skillz - or, indeed learning them from scratch - you could always partake of a nail art course.

That's exactly what I did last Wednesday when I took myself off to Star Products International in Dublin 12 to check out their one day Nail Art X-tra course. As an invited guest, I was a bit concerned that I'd be the only, eh, over-enthusiastic amateur among a load of proper nail tech types, but there was actually a pretty good mix of pros and interested beginners in my class of seven.

Our stations weren't exactly glamorous - small upturned plastic bowls on which five false nails were stuck with five blobs of Blue-Tak - but in fairness they did the job perfectly. The first task of the day was to paint 20 false nails in an array of colours so that we'd have a starter selection of ready-to-go bases for our creations.

Well. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven as I happily selected my colours and got stuck in.

Participants receive a kit bag at the outset of the course containing everything they're going to need for the day, and our tutor Ania eased us into things by showing us how to apply transfers and stickers to our painted tips. That wouldn't be my cup of tea, but sure at least now I know how to do it.

We then moved on to the nitty-gritty of applying wraps and decorative films, which looks easy but is actually really bloody difficult: these things are fiddly at best and would move you to tears at worst. We also covered marbling, learned how to work with striping tape, glitter dust and rhinestones, and were shown how to use various nail art brushes and nail paints, as well as dotting tools and nail art pens.

The hands-on aspect of the course really appealed to me, and the small size of my class meant that all attendees received lots of individual attention. Tutor Ania was more than happy to answer all and any questions thrown at her and step in to help students when required.

It was actually one of the most enjoyable days I've had in a really long time.

SPI runs regular courses across nails, tanning and lashes; the next Nail Art Xtra course takes place on November 29th 2010 and costs €150. Check www.spi.ie for more information.