I'm looking for advice about artificial nails, and I would appreciate feedback from anyone who has any experience with this.
I was a violinist when I was younger, which means you have to have really short nails so you don't get a flat hand when you play. It has been a lifelong aspiration of mine to have really long, gorgeous nails, but I am thwarted at every turn. Right before I started dancing, in late 2007, I got acrylic nails for the first time, and I kept them for quite awhile--but they did a HELL of a lot of damage to my nails and I had to do some serious damage control for like 6 months afterward. I got them at one of those Asian places that is in every strip mall and they filed the tops of my nails down with that electric thing, which is what did all the damage. I later ended up getting gel nails, which I had a better experience with than the acrylic, but there was still a lot of damage later as they still filed my nails down. The issue with BOTH of these types was that these nail salons were very inconsistent--sometimes I'd get a fantastic nail tech who did really thin fills so the nail was always almost natural-looking, and sometimes I'd get a tech so bad that the nails were like an eighth of an inch thick. I'd try to make appointments with the techs I liked, but unfortunately, the receptionists' English was usually so bad that it was impossible to get across what I wanted. Also, no matter how regularly I got them filled, they would eventually lift up and come off.
I think I am done with getting nails at the Asian places, especially since I'm pretty sure they're actually not supposed to file the nails down with that electric thing but do anyways--it's supposed to be a major health risk, your nail ends up so thin that you can get bacteria into your nail bed and it will get infected. Plus the inconsistency is a problem. But, of course, the reason everyone goes to the Asian places is because the nice salons usually charge more than double what the Asian places do. But I would like someone who I can communicate with clearly and who can give me a really detailed description of the technical processes involved in all types of artificial nails. I've tried looking this information up online, but surprisingly enough, I haven't found a whole lot. I've yet to find a comprehensive website that seems even a little trustworthy.
I'm not really interested in getting fake nails that I apply myself. I've tried those before and found them to be such an epic waste of time and money it was laughable.
So, in conclusion, I wanted to know your personal experiences with artificial nails, especially if you've shelled out the money to get them at a real salon. I'm especially interested in silk wraps, but I can never seem to get anyone knowledgeable enough about them to explain the process to me. And anyone who lives in the capital district and has had a good experience, please let me know.



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Pretty disappointed. Maybe I'll have to suck it up and go with gel after all. No matter what money I'm making, I can't (and shouldn't have to be able to) afford $50 a week on my nails.

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