Uspicy LED 18W nail lamp: £69.99*: available here

I love having nicely painted nails, but isn't it just the worst when they chip and look awful two days later? Especially when you're out and about when it happens, and a big piece decides to flake off (ughhh). It's quite the dilemma really as I think nails finish off a look nicely, but keeping the colour looking good is constant upkeep and maintenance. It's even more of a problem if you're off on holiday or are having a particularly busy week- and I can imagine if you have kids or work long hours that it's a nightmare finding the time to sit and redo them every other day. Of course there's always the option of having them professionally done for a long lasting finish, but at twenty-odd pound a pop they're a fairly expensive treat (and most of the time I can think of better things to do with a spare £20- 3 for 2 at Boots anyone?) I was given the chance to review this LED nail dryer from Uspicy and it's been the answer to my nail polish prayers- long lasting nail colour that's easy to do at home and doesn't chip for two whole weeks? Yippee!

This was my first time attempting to do my own gel nails, and I was surprised by how quick and easy it was- if I can do this myself then trust me anyone can. All you need to do is add a base layer, two layers of the coloured shellac and a top coat- curing each layer under the dryer until it feels sticky before moving onto the next. There wasn't any instructions with the polishes, but I cured each layer for one minute which worked perfectly (there's a timer feature on this dryer, which makes the whole process SO easy and precise.) The brand of gel polishes I chose was 'Bluesky' I found them on eBay for £5 each although this lamp works with any brand of gel and shellac polishes. With it being a nail 'dryer' I expected it to be hot and/or noisy but it's neither, it simply cures the gel polish with it's LED lights. This type of light cures the nails up to three times quicker than other nail dryers too, and doesn't cause damage to the skin or nails.

While just shy of £70 this is definitely an investment: along with the dryer you have to buy a base coat, top coat and polish colour so getting initially set up isn't cheap. However if you're regularly paying upwards of £20 a time on Shellac nails it will soon pay for itself, and if you find the upkeep of regular nail polish a problem then this really is ideal. While I was sent this dryer for review purposes this is 100% something I would buy with my own money, and have no problem whatsoever in recommending it- it really is a brilliant product. You only need to spend fifteen minutes once a fortnight, and can be safe in the knowledge that your nails look great and wont be resulting in a chipped mess within a couple of days. If you use the code YMW49IW4 here you can get 25% off up until the 1st May, meaning you can snag it for just over fifty pounds!