VICTORIA White is filing and polishing, titivating and tweaking her way to the title of "beautician to the stars".

Based in treatment rooms above the Mirage salon in Newport's Commercial Street, and at Wellfield Road, in Cardiff, Ms White has already seen two of her clients appear in Hello! magazine.

"Last August it was Jonathan Davies' wife, Helen, who came to me on the recommendation of one of my clients.

"I did her nails for the wedding, but you barely saw them when the pictures were published in Hello!

"So this year, when I did the same thing for Iestyn Harris' wife, Becky, I told her to make sure the photographer could see them.

"She must have remembered because you can see them so clearly in the magazine!"

A full set of acrylic nail extensions from Ms White costs £40. Women must find that an acceptable price as demand for her services has rocketed this year.

The good news is that you can't bite them.

"They're so hard you'd probably break your teeth if you tried," said Ms White."

And in theory, because the customer's own nails are growing beneath, they can take over when they become sufficiently long and beautiful. But it's not just women who like the idea of nail extensions.

"One day, at the Cardiff salon, a man turned up and booked an appointment for the following day.

"When the time came for the treatment I didn't recognise the client as he/she was wearing a wig, full make-up, a dress and high heels.

"I was a bit scared to approach him but the girls at the salon insisted I got on with it, and he turned out to be lovely. "He was going to a wedding."

Obviously all in a day's work to a beautician who offers massage, facials, waxing, tinting and the San Tropez crme-based tanning system.

Ms White trained at Barry College and spent five years working in a salon in Barry's Knight's Hotel.

"One of my clients who visited me there, Lisa, was married to Phil Smith (owner of Mirage and the Wellfield Road salon) and she suggested going self-employed.

"I met Phil and he explained the idea of renting treatment rooms above his salons.

"I honestly don't think I would ever have had the confidence to do it without their support."

Ms White has her own big day coming up at the end of the year. She's getting married in Barry on December 27.

Fortunately, she has two friends who are also beauticians and they've offered to sort her nails out.

Husband-to-be, Mike John, a carpenter, will probably do his own. The honeymoon involves a trip to Riviera Maya, in Mexico.

Hopefully, by that time Ms White will have somebody working with her or for her.

She has put an ad in the window of Mirage, looking for a beautician who is an experienced nail technician to share the Newport/Cardiff business.

"It has become too busy for one person to handle and it could be a good opportunity for someone looking to develop their career."