"Traditional" French Manicure or no?

[Raychel]

I'm torn over rather to get get my nails done or not. I do like the french manicure look (as long as the tips aren't giant thick and chunky) but I don't plan to keep them up after the wedding and they don't look great growing out.

I want nice looking nails/hands and I'm good at keeping them up myself. I've got all the good stuff at home...scrubs, creams, files, polishes.

I don't really like longer nails either. I keep mine on the shorter side. So another reason I don't really like dealing with acrylics or other fake nails.

Another thing is $$$. I am so surprised to find these little last minute things you do adding up so much.

Anybody just do their own nails? Or do something different than the French Manicure look? If you have pictures please share! :D

[PurpleFlower]

SOrry I can't help I am getting fake french nails but this time not to long!! Cause I always end up poking my eyes bad when I want to take out my contacts!

[wendy9879]

I had the girl that did my nails do a "subtle" french manicure. She used an off white and put sheer pink on top. I think it looked really natural.

http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/5048/hs167sd1.jpg

[Sk8ermaiden]

I am the same as you Raychel. I like my nails short and natural. I plan to file my nails nicely and buff them shiny the day of the wedding. :)

[Tanyak]

I got a manicure the day before, which is really rare for me. I have short nails, so they just filed them and painted them with a pretty sheer pink from OPI.

I wasn't too concerned about my nails, so I didn't want to invest a lot. I went to one of those cheaper shops around here and my mani and pedi were $34 with tip. If you have all the stuff, I think you'l be fine to do it yourself. :)

[Kathy]

I highly doubt I'll get a full manicure; my nails are super short, even when I don't bite them, and it would just be odd for me to have some long fake nails. As for color (because hopefully they'll be a decent length at the time), I've been considering a nude polish with either beige, light pink, or white sparkle over the top. Whenever I do my nails, that's pretty much what I wear, and I don't see why that should be different for my wedding.

[Raychel]

Wendy that is pretty! I like that natural look a lot!

Lacy, I know people as well who always have their nails done a certain way and it would be strange to see them w/o that!

I could still go for a manicure and pedicure...just not with the whole fake anything in the mix. But I think I'll try doing them myself for the next week or so and see how things look with my own doings.

[Dmsangel]

I have good nails, but every now and then they just decide to chip or break. Of course I bet they'll do that near the wedding. So I'll probably get tips or whatever is the easiest.

[Kari]

If you have good nails DON'T get tips!! The fake stuff is very damaging to your nails. The only reason I get them is because my own nails are crappy.

[pricelessredhead]

I got fake nails before my wedding last May for the first time ever. I have really great nails, but two were pretty short the week before the wedding because they had broken, so I got tips. My nails took forever to recover! I knew they would take a long time, but I didn't know they'd take as long as they did.

[Angela]

I had a French manicure and pedicure before the wedding, but didn't do fake nails.....I can't stand how they look on me!

[Kari]

Since we are talking about nails and fake ones, can I just tell you how much I love my nail guy? he is SO good that I can put my nails next to just about any real nails and it is hard to tell the difference! (painted only of course! Unpainted it is pretty obvious what is fake not matter HOW good the tech is!)

[-->Kat<--]

I used to have a girl that did my nails that good Kari... but then I moved too far to go to her anymore. Now I have pink glitter powder on the tips and clear on the top.

[wendy9879]

Wendy that is pretty! I like that natural look a lot!


Thanks! ;) I worked hard to grow my nails long so I didn't have to go with tips.

[Krissy]

I usually prefer to keep my nails on the shorter side, but when I let them grow a bit and paint them myself, I get lots of compliments. If you don't want to spend the money, you could DEFINITELY do them yourself. But for sure, I wouldn't get tips if you have nice nails already.

I did a sheer pink for my wedding.

[Winter_Bride]

I got a french manicure on my natural nails (no tips, no gels, etc. I can't wear them as a nurse anyways!) DH and I both went for manis and pedis the day before the wedding - it was fun to do before the stress of the wedding!

The only warning I'll give is that they take FOREVER to dry! I've heard this from other girls as well - it's all in the polish they use, but it took mine an hour to set!!

[Christa]

I'll be getting a French mani

[Andrea]

Hey hun! If you're wanting tips but don't wanna really spend a lot of money...go to a drug store or pharmacy whatever...they will sell fake nail kits. They're GREAT inventions. They should have any length, and there are even ones that say short...but you can also make them ANY length you want. Then get them painted. You could have one of your gurls do a FM. You can get guide kits on FM's.

[*Stacie*]

I grew out my natural nails for the wedding and I had my moms nail lady do a gel overlay with a french manicure. They looked really good and this is one of the best pictures I have.

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b6ce20b3127cce8d0029e7f47900000015100DZs2bhuxYk

My friend who got married the month before had a really pretty silver color on her nails instead of the traditional french manicure. I cropped her head out for privacy reasons. Because she had silver detailing on her dress it looked so beautiful!

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b7dc09b3127cce81b7951f438400000016100DZs2bhuxYk

[laurak83]

I hate acrylic nails, I think they are trashy looking. I think part of it is personal experience, my dope-smoking college roommate was always more worried about getting her acrylics filled in than studying (she failed out). Also I work in healthcare, so anytime I see fake nails I'm thinking about all the bugs that are hiding beneath them. They are unhygenic.
Only my personal opinion, but natural nails won't go out of style when you look back at your pictures 20 years from now.

[Christa]

Laura, what do you do to get keep your natural nails from breaking? I work at a hospital and between my actual work and washing my hands a million times a day I can't grow my nails out at all

[Renny]

I'm going with fake nails because I can promise no matter how nice my nails will look before the wedding day they will break and look aweful come that day, it's just my luck.

I will probably get a french tip.

[MemphisMom]

If you have decent natural nails, I would definately take the time to keep them polished and stay away from the fake nails.

I love the french manicure on brides and think you could go in and have a nice manicure on your natural nails the day before the wedding.

Just take good care of your nails now and keep them polished so they don't break!

[Allyson]

I've been gettig my nails done for quite some time now, and I'm keeping it up for the wedding. I have a french manicure with LCN gel.

[laurak83]

I have pretty strong nails to begin with, my biggest problem is my skin getting dried out, not my nails breaking. I use the antiseptic hand-cleanser as much as I can instead of soap and water, that seems to help. Clear nail polish would probably help also.

[Mrs.H]

I used my natural nails with a very natural french manicure and I loved it. I don't typically do anything with my nails, so it was still "me" but looked nice in pictures.

[Renny]

I actually bought a polish today Hard as Wraps by Sally Hansen. I talked to a lady at the salon I will be using and she said it should help make my nails stay strong enough so I can actually just have my natural nails that I'm growing out.

[Raychel]

Oh the complete irony of me worrying about this when I ENDED UP WEARING GLOVES!!! :lol:

Actually I decided to do my nails myself the night before just incase I didn't wear the gloves b/c at the time I wasn't really planning on it. I think I have a pic somewhere I need to upload of how they turned out.