If you’re like many other people out there, you value having nice-looking groomed nails. There’s a sense of both peace and pride with having nails that are properly filed and shaped, cuticles that are pushed back and cleaned up, fingers that are nourished, and of course, a design or color on your nails that suits your style. Even if you prefer a no-frills nail look with clear or no polish, having neatly-trimmed nail beds can do a wonder for your confidence. 

Have you ever noticed yourself making bigger hand gestures, pointing at things, or tapping your nails on your drink after you’ve just gotten a manicure? We’re guilty of being pretty proud of our fancied-up manicures, but there’s no shame in flaunting your lovely nails.

There are a number of different ways to go about having your nails done, including gel, shellac, regular polish, and press ons. But there’s also another method we love for our manicures. 

Let us introduce you to dip nails. You’ve probably seen images of dip nail powder at your salon or online. Essentially, dip nails have you apply a base coat on your nail before dipping it into a colored or sparkly powder. The powder sticks to the base in a way that coats the nail. Once the additional steps are followed, you’re left with a professional manicure that lasts for weeks on end. Let’s briefly go over the process of applying dip powder to your nails, then explore the benefits of using dip powder for your manicures. Lastly, we’ll give you the deets on an amazing at home nail dip kit that will give you salon-quality nails at a price you can afford. Keep reading to find out everything you need to know about dip powder.

Because the magic ingredient in dip nails is a pigmented color powder, there are only a few main products you need to achieve dip nails. These are build powder, base coat liquid, colored powder, activator liquid, and top coat liquid.

You start by preparing the nails and nail beds by cleaning them up. Push back the cuticles, clip away at hangnails, file the shape you want, and lightly buff each nail to create a surface the products can best stick to. 

Then, you apply a coat of base liquid to the nail, which is then dipped into the base powder. You apply the base liquid once more before dipping the nail into the colored powder. Up to two coats of colored dip powder can be applied, but you may only need one. After brushing the excess powder from the nails with a soft bristled brush, the nails are ready for the final two steps. 

You next apply the activator liquid in two coats, pausing to let it dry for a few minutes after the first coat, and filing around the edge of the nail before the second coat. The final step is to apply the top coat to ensure long lasting nails. 

The process is simple and fast! You can easily complete the entire manicure in about twenty minutes. The most important thing to keep in mind when doing your dip nails is to work on each nail at a time in steps. For example, you’ll want to apply the base coat to one nail before dipping it in the base powder. You can then follow this step with each other nail, but when applying the second coat and the colored powder, work on each nail individually again. This is to ensure the base coat doesn’t dry before you dip.

Dip nails are an incredible method for giving yourself a manicure because they’re a quick and easy process that doesn’t require fancy gear like an LED lamp. They also don’t require any meticulous painting of your nails like with regular polish—so even if you’re the owner of a shaky hand, you can still create a lovely manicure. 

Plus, you can expect your dip nails to last from three to six weeks without chipping. And because the powder and sealing liquids create a strong coating for your nail, it can safely grow out underneath without you worrying about breakage.

 

But the best feature about dip nails is how you can do them by yourself at home with a nail dip kit. Nailboo sells our top pick for dip nail kits because theirs includes every product you could possibly need (the colored powder, base powder, and all the liquids, plus nail tools and remover clips). And, they have a large assortment of shades ranging from simple to sparkles galore. You can continue to return to their site and individually order new colors and designs after you’ve purchased your kit.

As people who love having nice nails, we know there’s no better method for doing your dip nails at home than with a nail dip kit. You have full freedom to change up your nail look as often as you want for drastically less than it would cost to make regular trips to the salon. But don’t take our word for it.You know where to go to try it for yourself!