POLL: gel, acrylic, or natural nails

CCBelATC

& why did/will you??

MyWedding13

I love gel nails in pink and white...so you have a virtually indestructable french manicure. I used to have this on my nails all the time until I started working at a hospital and it was not allowed. Acrylic will ruin your nails. Natural nail is also nice, but I think the gel lasts a lot longer. That way you can have pretty nails on your honeymoon!!!

luckyme502

I am going with gel.  I have had them before and I love them! 

suzieharris

I have had acrylics for 25 years.  I know, I know that is as old as most of you are.  I am very happy with them.  I don't ever think I will have natural nails since I am a biter. 

waltzingmatilda13

I did natural nails with a light pink polish. I had fake nails once and I hated them. I usually wear my nail natural so I figured I wouldn't change that just because it was my wedding day.

pooh8402

I did acrylics because they are very familiar to me, they look really natural when done right, and I bite my nails when I'm nervous or stressed, and I was very stressed that week. no gels because a) I'd never tried them before and didn't want to risk it for the wedding and b) they lift very easily in humid weather anyway and it's very humid where I'm from.

smooth84

I just got gel this past weekend to test it out before the big day and OMG I am in love.

I did acrylic for about 7 years and then went to my natural nail which doesn't hold a manicure as well. I know gel and acrylic are probably both as damaging, but the gel seems to hold the color better and looks very natural and doesn't require tips. For the wedding I will probably do a light pink color but  I will definetely continue to do this after the wedding.

SarahRuthG

I'm actually getting my acrylics again tonight after work! I had them for about 5 months then took a break for about 5 again. I have to wash my hands ALL the time at work - like at least 12 times a day, so my nails are very weak. I love the look of acrylics. I was going to try gels but holy expensive! They are more then twice the cost of acrylics around here... I cant afford that. Not if I want to get pedi's too - hehehe

I will do a french on my nails and toes for the wedding.

knj92107

I prefer natural nails but I did pink and white gels for my wedding.  I only did this because I wanted the polished look to last through my honeymoon.  They were very thin and short (just the length of my regular nails, no tips) so they didn't look like fake nails at all

I've had both acrylic and gel and they both damage your nails.  A big part of the damage comes when the nail tech files down your natural nail - don't ever let them use a drimmel type thing on your nails!  All they really need to do is remove the shine/smoothness from your nail and this can be done by just lightly buffing.  That said, both acrylics and gels have left a little ridge in my nail near the cuticle, which then takes 6 months or so to grow out.

AmoroAgain

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_wedding-beauty_poll-gel-acrylic-natural-nails?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:358Discussion:f9955958-a8af-4e44-b278-9a7a4170a2d3Post:a53217e9-c7cb-4b0f-b730-5ac60c262d8f">Re: POLL: gel, acrylic, or natural nails</a>:
[QUOTE]I did natural nails with a light pink polish. I had fake nails once and I hated them. I usually wear my nail natural so I figured I wouldn't change that just because it was my wedding day.
Posted by waltzingmatilda13[/QUOTE]

This exactly.

[Deleted User]

I did a french manicure on both my toes and nails. I went with a light pink on my toes and just clear on my hands. I have naturally really nice nails and H didn't want me to get fake nails bc of that. They would probably have driven me nuts anyway/

*tinkertoy*

I just recently tried this new product Axxium from OPI.

I think it's a gel but here is the process. I paid $40.
- lightly buff nails (this is the best part IMO cause they don't damage your natural nail)
- 2 coats of clear gel painted on with a brush
-UV light for 2 min between all coats
- 2 coats of color (think all the OPI colors to choose from- I did Strawberry Margarita)
- UV light
- clear coat
-UV light

DONE!

They were totally dry, lasted almost 3 weeks (while I was on vacation in Cancun).

You are supposed to go back in and have them soaked off. This was my mistake, I thought I could just do it myself and managed to mess up my natural nails.

All that said, I WILL DEFINITELY do this again and for the wedding.

kpwedkk

I did natural nails with the french manicure look.

MrsCiaccio

Natural all the way!  Fake nails look like fake nails.

ntvenson

I know someone who did the gel polish I'm going to do it for my wedding day but she did the same thing and didn't get it soaked off-ruined her nails. If you follow the instructions this is a great way to go. I did acrylic for years stopped and tried to grow my own didn't work too weell. I decided to try again for wedding using nailtiques my nails look fabulous. Just enough nail to look pretty.

TriSaratops10

I second the Axxium system - lasted 3 weeks for me too and I normally can't keep a regular manicure for 3 hours (no joke!).

twinmommy46

Natural, but gel nails do hold that polish. I am doing pink nails and pearl toes with nail art on my big toe.