What Type of Manicure?

OMG this post just put me at 5 stars! Wooohoo!!!

Yay for the stars!

To my understanding Gel and Shellac are the same. When I go to my lady, we always do gel. It lasts longer than regular polish and if you aren't too hard on your hands, it does not chip. I love gel.

Definitely get Gel.. Shellac is just a brand of gel nail polish. Love gel- lasts 2 weeks without chipping!

I have to get my nails done the Friday before my Sunday wedding as well (next week!!!!) and the gel usually lasts me about 2 weeks and I'm hard on my nails.

Do gel. I am brutal on my nails and it usually lasts 3 weeks on me.

Definitely get gel. It will last way longer. You won't have to worry about chipping.

I do acrylics but my daughter does Gel! Gel would be great for you! You can do french tips as well. Hers usually last about two weeks.

Thanks for posting this! I was wondering the same thing! Although if I want to have any nails at all for the wedding, I should probably go out today and get a gel mani done so they have a little time to grow (or at least not break more) before the wedding! LOL

Shellac works best! lasts for a least a couple weeks without chipping

I do the forever French gel manicure it's pricey but it's lasts 3 weeks and no chipping and your nails grow lol since I got engaged in May I refuse to have bear nails the ring is too pretty to have jacked up nails lol

Thanks everyone, I will definitely do the gel! I got a Living Social coupon for the salon I like to use so it's cutting the price in half.

Date twin!! Congrats on your stars!!

I personally love my shellac manicure, I posted about it awhile ago. I'll be doing an off-white French tip with glitter over the white. It looks so pretty! I'll see if I can go find a picture for ya!

ETA pics: 1st two pics are the day I got them done. 3rd pic is today - 4 weeks later...

Shellac mani for sure, I have never had the fake nails because I don't like the idea of not having my natural nails. But Shellac is my best friend. Like KristinB's pics, it last a loong time especially if you get a more natural looking color that won't be as noticeable when it grows out.

It's the only thing I do when I get my nails done. And I get compliments all the time, it really looks amazing.

Yes I agree with the above ladies. Shellac lasts longer and is worth the money. You will probably never go back to a standard mani after.

Am I the only one who can't get any type of nail polish to last more than 24 hours?

I used to get the gel/shellac polish and within 1 to 2 days it was chipping and looking nasty.

My best advice, get your nails done however you want and buy a bottle of the polish so you can do any touch ups that are needed.

Definitely gel. It's the only time I don't have to worry about screwing up my nail polish.

LOVE gel/shellac. I discovered the stuff in college, and have never gone back. I can't wear fakes, because I feel useless with the extra bulk/length. But gel lasts just as long, but is my real nail! Mine made it through the week before my wedding, and past our week-long honeymoon, where we did everything from ziplining to boogie-boarding (ie, not good for nails).

I've got gels. The way I understand it, gels and shellac are similar, but shellac is just one or two thin coats of the gel material on top of natural nails, while full gels have a similar process to acrylics (I used to do acrylics, and they've both got the priming/base coat of thick stuff/color-french-whatever/topcoat). If you're hard on your nails, I'd definitely recommend gels. I tend to bite my nails if I can do it easily, so the gels help me with that. My maid of honor has super-strong nails and she doesn't pick at them like I do, so she uses shellac.

LOVE @Kristin I get short gels with french tips but I might do bling for the wedding

I got a gel manicure once and will never get it again. Removing them is a pain in the arse! You pretty much have to go back to get them removed, which is something I'm not willing to do, lol. But they do last a really long time and are gorgeous!