If you know me, you know how much I love my nails painted!! Before having LilMissK, my nails were almost always impeccably painted in the most season appropriate colors. During pregnancy I painted my nails sparingly since some chemicals in the nail polishes aren’t very pregnancy friendly, and once the little one was born, it almost become zero as who had the time for that! LOL!! And also adding washing bottles along with other water related chores, do not go well with longevity of painted nails.

For vacations etc. I used to get Shellac/Gel nails, till I discovered dip powder nails, almost accidentally. You see, long story short, my mom-in-law prefers me having long nails, but my nails are small, stout and refuse to get long, so before my trip to India last June, I went to the nail spa and asked them what I could do to get some length added in there (thatsoundssowrong!) and enter fake nails which can be achieved by attaching some long tips to your existing nails. I decided against this because I do not like having long nails with a small baby and after some discussion, decided to give dip nails a try, but with my current nail length.

How does the process work:

When you get a dip/powder manicure, it’s actually far from a manicure – they do not soak your hands, cut your cuticles, push back cuticles or even shape your nails, It literary starts with the technician taking your nail polish off / wiping your nails down, and then applies a liquid to your nail bed followed by literally dipping your nail into a small container of powder!! Then they shake off the excess, and repeat the steps of applying the liquid and dipping into the powder a couple of times, usually a total of 3-4. Once the nails have set, the technician then takes an electric tool to buff the nail surface to smooth it out, this is when they will shape the nail as well. Once that’s done, a regular top coat is applied and you are asked to let it set for 5 minutes before you can leave.

The process to be very fast and simple, and roughly the same length of time for a gel manicure, but no light needed! They do come out thicker, so that’ going to take some getting used to. These last a long time, I have had them 4 weeks max. only because when the nails grow, it starts looking a little unkempt with those cuticles popping out.

The removal process is pretty simple, but a little tricky at the same time. Either you can have them removed at the salon or just let acetone saturated cotton balls sit on top of the nails to loosen, then scrape them off. In my opinion the damage done to the nails is more when you try to do it yourself. So leave it to the professionals!

Having done them twice, I would definitely get it done again, but would wait atleast a month or two between 2 dip nails, just for my nails to get a chance to breathe and feel healthy again. I feel it’s best done when traveling so you can be mind free from color chips!

* Image courtesy Google! *

Hope this is a helpful post for those considering dip powder nails!

Have you gotten them before? How did you like them?!