Wedding Nail Tips from a Professional Manicurist
by Jennifer Leung, Licensed Manicurist and Salon Owner
When it comes to wedding, much attention is spent on wedding gown, makeup, cake, etc. But the nails are often left until the last minute. As a result when close-ups of your hands are taken at cake-cutting and other precious moments, the nails made those pictures look less than perfect.
Plan Ahead
The best nails cannot be done days before the wedding, you must plan at least three months ahead. If your nails are too short, it will take couple months to grow to the shape you want. If they are brittle, soak it in lemon or lime juice daily. It will make them stronger. If there are cracks in your nails, they can be mended by silk wrap. Most nail techs can do them in a salon.
Types of Nails to Get
There are basically 3 types of nails you can get. Which one to pick depends on your nails’ condition.
Artificial Nails
These are essentially fake nails. Most commonly there are 2 types: acrylic and gel. They are basically the same thing in terms of the result. The application process, however, is different. Most people have acrylic because they have been around longer. If your nails cannot grow long enough for the wedding or if they break easily when they become long, a nail tech can extend your natural nails by gluing plastic tips to them, then cover them with either acrylic or gel. The problem with artificial nails is that it takes time to get used to if you have not had it before. Plus the chemicals are not kind to your natural nails. If you have never had artificial nails before and decide to have it, try it at least couple months before the wedding. Whenever a nail tech takes off the acrylic or gel on your nails, they use acetone and probably some electric filing as well. Both of them do some damage to your natural nails. In case you decide not to go with artificial nails and want them taken off, you must give your natural nails time to heal.
Soak-off Gel (e.g. Shellac, Gellish, etc.)
These are essentially special nail polish that are more resistant to chipping and therefore can stay longer. This is the choice if you want your polish to stay longer on your natural nails. Soak-off polish require UV lamp to dry. If they are chipped, you need to go back to a nail salon to fix them which will be difficult right before or on the wedding day.
Regular Nail Polish
The best thing about using regular nail polish is that they are easy to fix and maintain. You can fix a chip yourself at the last minute if you have the polish. They tend to become dull in a few days and most manicures with regular nail polish last from 4 to 7 days. To make them last longer and to keep the look fresh I recommend getting a bottle of quick dry top coat and apply it on the wedding day.
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