Weddingbee boards

I should preface this with, I'm a licensed manicurist and I did nails through college.

 Silks, by far are the least damaging on your nails. However, they're also most difficult to add length with. Ideally, you should use silk to strengthen your nails so that they are capable of growing out and simply continue using silks until your wedding. However, if that is not an option, have a reputable establishment apply tips and then silks. I say reputable because the application of the tip is crucial. They can either make it look natural or like a hunk of plastic. They also posess the least amount of strength out of the three. However, they're applied with super glue so they are technically water soluble. Post wedding, you should have a manicurist soak your nails in a bowl of pure acetone covered with a towel. The towel will help the heat from your hands heat the acetone. Warmer acetone is more effective. However, don't nuke it or boil it! If you want it warmer, put warm water into a bigger bowl and place the smaller bowl inside. 

Gels (the UV cured kind from Creative Brisa or OPI) is more damaging than silks, but less damaging than acrylics. The reason is, it is pre-mixed, you won't get that, chemicals are soaking into my nail bed feeling. However, it has no solvent. The only way of removing them is by yanking them off with nippers which would make them more damaging than acrylics. However, gels are exceptionally clear and shiny, which makes it look like uber top coat. You can have them buff it down to a nice thin coat and then apply a thin coat of gels over it or clear polish and grow it out with your natural nails. Depending on your taste, Gels may not be the way to go, because like silks, they have little to no color. They have come out with colored gels, but they're not like the vibrant pinks you see with acrylics.

 Acrylics are mixed and polymerized on your nail bed. They typically warm up as they cure. They're probably the most caustic, but you can remove them by soaking a very long time in acetone. Also, they are by far the strongest, so you can get away with them being the thinnest of the three. They also come in vibrant colors if thats your cup of tea. In fact, they come in shimmers and primary colors (if you go to a salon that carries Creative). I guess that's all...

I should preface this with, I'm a licensed manicurist and I did nails through college.

 Silks, by far are the least damaging on your nails. However, they're also most difficult to add length with. Ideally, you should use silk to strengthen your nails so that they are capable of growing out and simply continue using silks until your wedding. However, if that is not an option, have a reputable establishment apply tips and then silks. I say reputable because the application of the tip is crucial. They can either make it look natural or like a hunk of plastic. They also posess the least amount of strength out of the three. However, they're applied with super glue so they are technically water soluble. Post wedding, you should have a manicurist soak your nails in a bowl of pure acetone covered with a towel. The towel will help the heat from your hands heat the acetone. Warmer acetone is more effective. However, don't nuke it or boil it! If you want it warmer, put warm water into a bigger bowl and place the smaller bowl inside. 

Gels (the UV cured kind from Creative Brisa or OPI) is more damaging than silks, but less damaging than acrylics. The reason is, it is pre-mixed, you won't get that, chemicals are soaking into my nail bed feeling. However, it has no solvent. The only way of removing them is by yanking them off with nippers which would make them more damaging than acrylics. However, gels are exceptionally clear and shiny, which makes it look like uber top coat. You can have them buff it down to a nice thin coat and then apply a thin coat of gels over it or clear polish and grow it out with your natural nails. Depending on your taste, Gels may not be the way to go, because like silks, they have little to no color. They have come out with colored gels, but they're not like the vibrant pinks you see with acrylics.

 Acrylics are mixed and polymerized on your nail bed. They typically warm up as they cure. They're probably the most caustic, but you can remove them by soaking a very long time in acetone. Also, they are by far the strongest, so you can get away with them being the thinnest of the three. They also come in vibrant colors if thats your cup of tea. In fact, they come in shimmers and primary colors (if you go to a salon that carries Creative). I guess that's all...

Argh, first it wouldn't post any of it, now it has posted it twice!

What a great question-- I've been wondering about this but didn't think to ask the hive!  Thanks for the really thorough, informative responses, you guys are great.  One question, though, if I were to go the silks route (my nails naturally grow pretty long, but may break/snag as I finish up the wedding DIY stuff) do I need to get them done a while before the wedding and then redone the day of? How durable are they/how long do they last?

Thanks for the expertise! 

Hey jlsween,

You should have them done regularly every 1-2 weeks depending on how much you beat up your nails. Then, have them touched up the day before the wedding. They'll be significantly stronger than your natural nails alone, but don't beat them up the way you would beat up acrylics. 

rosychicklet,

 you can just wear a clear coat of polish over silks if they are done well. like all skilled labor, it depends on who is doing it. I've seen atrocious cloudy messes to silks that would only show if you were looking at them closely from just the right angle with just the right lighting, you  might see a bit of the grain of the fabric. I have a friend who uses 100% pure silk (a lot of people now use microfiber, which is what they make casts for broken bones out of). The silk is so smooth and so transparent that the only difference is that the color of your nails is slightly lighter, but you don't even know that its fabric underneath. The microfiber has much more of a moire or a grain to it.

prettykatie,

 I'm guessing you're asking about pink and whites (forever frenchs, french acrylics, solar pinks, etc). The name varies by the salon. Pink and whites are different from regular acrylics in that they are done with two colors of powdered acrylic. Regulars are just done in pink or clear (depending on your preference). Its like putting a really thick topcoat on. Its shiny, and can be tinted, but you still see your nail underneath. Pink and whites, think Britney Spears. You see the white tip at the front and the pink towards the back. Its like a french manicure, but done with acrylics. 

rosychicklet 

No problem :-). I knew my time doing nails had to pay off at some ponit. I'm glad I can answer your questions. Now to your question, it depends on the manicurist. Most will take a soft buffer and take a layer or two off of the old silks. Then they'll put down one or two layers of silk. The thing is, you don't need the strength near your lunula. You need the strength at the area where the white meets the pink on your nail. they simply added the layers to blend in the new growth. By the time that part of the silk gets to the pink/white meeting area, it will be several layers thick.

Wow, thanks so much for all the info, SoCalBride!

Hey NorCalBride,

 Take it as a compliment that they discouraged you from getting acrylics done. They're perfectly fine for people who can't grow nails, but honestly, if you have fairly strong nails, all you need is polish. I was a manicurist and the only time I had ever worn these nails was when I was taking a class or competing. I'm such a dork, no matter what I do, I have to go to competitions. 

 Hi Niki,

 Solar nails are a fancy term for uv cured gels (hence the solar). And yes, typically, they last longer. Honestly, if you go to truly skilled and educated manicurist, you shouldn't ever have to have new sets put on (outside of you waiting too long to have a fill). I worked in the industry for several years and rarely had to put a brand new set on a person. It actually takes us longer to file and fill than it does to start from scratch. The solars are also more flexible and give more. Thus, if you need your nails to bend, yes they will hold up longer. However, acrylics have always been stronger as far as hardness goes. 

 As far as things turning yellow, I should warn all the brides out there, avoid applying strong sun block on your own near the wedding. Some of the sunblocks out there turn acrylic and gel nails yellow very quickly. I've even seen bullfrog sunblock cause major lifting. Try to find a sunblock with mexoryl (ecamsule), which blocks sun, but I've yet to see it cause problems with lifting acrylic nails. It was recently approve by the FDA for sale in the US (it's been available around the world for years). You'll probably find it through L'oreal, but I believe many others now produce it as well.

i had the same issue for my wedding. i am a surgeon and can't keep long nails and needed something i could remove easily right away. i did virtual nails at dashing divas. check out their website: www.dashingdiva.com for locations. the nails melt off in a solvent you can buy for them and leave your nails in their original condition. i have tried silks and acrylics and they look great but are more difficult to remove and leave your nails looking beat up afterwards.

Although they can buff and file your nails down, you'll rarely find a manicurist ethical enough to do so. They'll usually just rip them off. Why? Because few salons charge you money to remove acrylics. Its a simple matter of economics. In a high end full service salon with five manicurists, I was the only one willing to spend the 30-45 minutes to soak, buff and file them off to their original condition. The damage is usually done when they prime your nails for the acrylics as well. Many manicurists seem to think they need to take a thick file and leave grooves in your nails. In actuality, they only need to remove the first 2 layers to cells and a smooth dull finish is fine.

The same is true with silks everyone. There are manicurists out there that think they need to file the top of your nail before they apply it. They do not, they only need to softly buff it. In fact. when I repair my own nails, I don't even bother buffing it. I just lay the silk on top and put a coat of super glue on it. Then, as the nail grows out and its exposed to water and it begins to degrade, I can the pull the entire silk off as if I'm taking off a clear coat of nail polish (you'd still be removing approximately  two layers of cells), but its hardly noticeable to the naked eye.

Hey NorCalBride!

What you should probably do is bring your own products to a skilled manicurist (even reputable manicurists won't stock up on everything).

Steps for the perfect paint job (after the manicure):

1. Clean the surface of the nail with Creative Scrub Fresh (to remove excess cuticle oil and lotion, but its even better if you skip the oil and lotion or have both applied after your nails are dry, no amount of scrubbing will completely remove the stuff and they do prevent awesome adhesion).

2. Apply a thin coat of OPI BondAid. It is a ph balancer and really primes your nails for great adhesion. (always make sure each product has dried before applying the next!)

3.  Apply one thin coat of Creative Sticky Base Coat. This stuff dries sticky and really gets the lacquer (try to use lacquer and not polish, although they are often use interchangeably, there is a difference when they are labeled correctly) to adhere. 

4. After the base coat has dried completely, apply two coats of your nail lacquer (preferably OPI). If you are doing a french, do one coat of the white and one coat of the overall color wash.

5. Apply your top coat, the best one I've used thus far has been Seche Vite Dry Fast Top Coat (it goes on uber thick, dries to a super high shine, hardly chips [it is super flexible]  and it dries quickly). If you had a French manicure, and you are patient, apply two thin coats of the top coat for extra protection. If you have a steady hand, it is super beneficial to draw the tip of your brush across the front, horizontally, to cap your nails.

 ***A note, some people have nails that will grow like mad, but will also bend quite a bit. If your nails bend a lot, you may want to just get a thin layer of silk to harden them up a bit. When the nails bend, they cause your lacquer to crack underneath, this will eventually cause the paint job to chip or come off. You can usually tell this is happening if you have straight pieces of paint coming off horizontally and not just chips in the front.

 A French Mani For Girls With A Tan

If you're looking for a different look, purchase some of your own lacquer from OPI or Seche Vite. They have awesome colors (soft whites, biege whites, bright whites, pink whites, pretty much anything under the sun, they also have milk shades of pink, biege, more fluorescent pinks, don't be scared of the color in the bottle, try it on, a lot of clear hot pinks or raspberries go on with just a tint, thus giving your nails a nice rosy shade).

 Dry Cuticles?

Look for a product with jojoba oil like Creative's Solar Oil. Jojoba oil, last time I checked, is composed of the smallest molecules of any cosmetic oil so it absorbs super well. It has a couple great attributes including the fact that it aids in healing (its used for stretching ear lobes), and it is a fungicide. I've also had awesome luck with Burt's Bees Almond Milk Beeswax Hand Cream. Its nice and thick. You can get both in different sizes (a pocket size is perfect and important for your purse). If you're prone to dry cuticles or hands, you should be carrying the product around with you. Remember, everytime you wash your hands, you're washing away the moisturizing product as well! Once a night may not be enough.

Hope this helps :-) 

Ha ha, I actually hardly ever do nails anymore (only for friends, family, and a client who didn't want to give me up so instead she pays me a ridiculous amount of money to come to her house). I'm finishing up college, and I've had just about enough of nail polish remover and feet I'm more than happy to share my knowledge in the area though!