Long nails: natural vs enhancements

Have you tried just about everything to grow your nails?  Have you found that no matter what you do your nails end up breaking and you have to cut them all short again, and begin the process again?  Did you end up resorting to nail enhancements (also known as false nails)?

If you're like a great many women (and men) resorting to gel or acrylic nails you will probably have noticed they tend to look thick and chunky and really unnatural, yes?  What's the point in getting nail enhancements if they look fake (IMO)?

Most nail technicians will tell you nails are NOT tools!  Don't use them as tools.  That being said you don't want nails that are too thick that you cant do everyday things like: scratch your nose or ears, or peel that sticker off.

At the JOLI Natural Beauty Salon we do things a little differently.  Our motto is:
We want to make your false nails look as natural as possible. 

Let me take you on a nail journey to best explain.

nail art on short natural nails

Often I have to cut my nails short because one broke, then two (admittedly I am rough as guts on my nails)... then I cut them all and start the growing process all over again ... wahhhhhh!!!!!

nail art on medium length natural nails

Starting the growing process again by eating nuts daily and applying nail polish and cuticle oil on a regular basis.  Have you found any foods (or things) that help your nails grow long and strong?

 nails growing long after eating nuts & applying cuticle oil

 
I can and do grown my nails long (eating nuts helps; you can see the effects of this in the whiter part at the base of the nails), and they tend to look good.  However I eventually have to clean the bathroom, kitchen or car (poor me) and next thing I've broken one or two nails at the base, then my hands look silly because 1 or 2 nails are short while the others are long... and the process starts all over again.

I can repair these nails but the repairs are temporary until the break grows out enough that it won't be painful if the nail tip comes off.

natural nails - coffin shaped

A rare moment when all my nails are growing very long and none have broken ... yet.  When one breaks the whole look is ruined (and I always break my nails right at the very base) and I have to either cut all my nails or try to repair the nail.

gel nails with white tips

Every so often I will get frustrated with the process and do nail enhancements... because I can't seem to keep my nails all long, all of the time.

In the above image, I used white nail tips applied to short nails with a natural gel overlay.  Even though the white tips don't look natural notice the slim C-curve (the very tip of the nail) and the slim shape of the side walls.  I want to create a real as possible looking nail shape.

acrylic nail enhancements that are too thick/chunky

To give you an idea of the difference between real looking false nails vs fake looking false nails... these are nails I had done by another nail technician.  The C-curve is noticeably more thick (the nail tips) than my gel application (above) and you can tell by looking at these nails that they're not my own natural nails.  It's too obvious!

acrylics by another technician - fat looking nails

Note the chunky wide looking nails (left to right), they look unnaturally broad and unattractive.  Though she did an amazing job with the nail polish.

nail enhancements - coffin shaped - by another technician (not too bad looking)

nail enhancements (them vs me)

The above image gives you another look into the difference between how I do nail enhancements vs how others do them.  Even though the bottom R/H image you can tell by how white the tips are, they're not natural, the width and the thickness of the nails (in both bottom pics) look more natural than the two top images.

The point being, I covet long nails.  I always have!  I've wished to have long strong nails ALL of the time and am envious of those who can and do grow their nails long, and have long nails all the time.  However, even though I can grow my nails (by eating nuts and applying cuticle oil) they always break, one here, one there, because I am rough on my nails.  I eventually get disheartened and resort to nail enhancements.

When I do this I want my nails to look at natural as possible so I'll do my own, instead of going to a technician because they tend to make the nails too thick and chunky.

How about you?  Do you get nail enhancements?  Do they look close to your actual nail shape?  Do they look as natural as possible?

If you have long nails, what do you think the key is to having them long and what's the key to keeping them long?

Share your nail stories below.

P.S. you might have noticed I said the previous blog was the last on this site, however, I have unpublished posts I've written (such as this one) that I'll still publish.