Acrylics? I have no idea...

[bakabakabeyond]

I want to get my nails done. I am a pianist and need them to be short, but still want them to look nice and last. Nail polish just chips off. I would like acrylics but feel they would look weird so short. Can anyone recommend what I should have done instead that will last at least a couple of weeks?

Sorry didn't mean to post in aibu

Can’t you just get gel polish on your natural nails?

No idea. I have never had my nails done before so don't even know what gel polish is. Thanks will look in to it

I don't think acrylics look strange short, but they make your nails thicker so I don't know if that would cause problems with the piano.

I would get a gel colour as pp suggested, does not chip and stays really shiny.

If you don't want length but just a sting colour then all you need are gel nails. Last 2-3 weeks and very shiny. Just paints onto natural nails and is set with a UV lamp.

Gel polish on your natural nails would look nice, and usually lasts a couple of weeks without chipping. You would need to have the polish removed professionally and then re-applied if you wanted to keep them on.
You could have acrylic or gel overlays, which would also be just over your natural nails, again they would need re-doing approx every 3 weeks depending on how fast your natural nails grow.
This would be a better option if (like me) your natural nails are different shapes/lengths, as they can use the acrylic/gel to build out slightly from your natural nail to get a more uniform shape/length. You don’t need to have tips. I will try to find a photo to explain what I mean!

I’d just use your own nail varnish with a good top coat on over the top. Acrylics you have to keep on for a while, are a pain to remove, and will grow with your nail so will end up clacking, and you can’t just give them a quick trim.

Ask for a gel or shellac manicure. The polish lasts longer but doesn’t involve extensions. They usually saw two or three weeks. It involves drying the polish under a UV light. That puts some people off but I am not aware of any studies that have demonstrated health safety issues with short exposure (a couple of minutes) once every few weeks.

Be warned - acrylics can really damage your nails. The natural absorbs water and doesn’t dry out when you have extensions. So when you finally take a break from them, your nails are as soft as paper and any length will be torn off almost immediately.

Don’t have acrylics as a pianist, they’re quite thick and will make a distinct noise on the keys.

I’d find a well recommended nail salon and have a gel manicure which will need redoing everything 2 weeks but stays lovely and shiny.

Acrylics take a while to put on, are quite expensive and come off often. I use stick on nails -they last about a week, have much better colours, textures and effects, you can get short ones or cut them and they have spares in case one falls off. You can get them in Savers from 1.99 . That might be a good starting point?

This is what acrylic over natural nails looks like.
Agree that for playing the piano, you might find they click/tap on the keys as they get longer, but you can file them as you would a natural nail to keep the length down.

I have short natural nails
With sns on, which is a powder polish, rather than liquid. It’s think (my child thought they were false nails as a result) but don’t chip and meant to last up to a month.