Gel vs Acrylic

Jul 26, 2013

Rachel M.

Hi Ladies, can someone tell me the difference between Gel and Acrylic Nails please? Also, which are the easiest to remove? Thankyou so much.

Jul 26, 2013

Amanda Nicole G.

There really isn't much of a difference other than personal preference. (In my opinion) They're applied very similar to each other, they both have tips applied to your nails and then acrylic or gel over them (and the gel is cured with a UV light), gels last longer and need less fills- but are generally more expensive (sometimes double of acrylics- but worth it), and I've found gels are less damaging to your actual nails than acrylics are... Acrylics are somewhat stronger because they're generally thicker (and appear more fake looking), acrylics also are matte under the polish/vs gels are glossy so even if you take the polish off you have pretty almost natural white tip looking nails underneath, acrylics can be so painful to remove if they don't soak them well & acrylics can also give you nasty bacterial infections/fungus if you don't keep under the nails clean/had them applied wrong/or the salon didn't practice good hygiene. I could keep going but there's a lot to type LOL! So I found this great website that covers pretty much everything you need to know verse the two!
http://gelnailsinformation.com/difference-between-gel-and-acrylic-nails/

Also there's another way/type of fake nails you can get, called pink and whites- these are still acrylics, although they can be done in the you've gel if you ask for it, but what I like about the way that these nails are the way they are done. They're called pink&whites because of the color of acrylic they use, these generally are pink/skin color at the base of the nail with white tips, but can also be painted over too which like I also said above; is great because when you take your polish off you still have pretty nails underneath rather than how acrylics look like without polish on them, they're very pale white and matte. Also pink and whites can be taken to another level if you want a colored tip...for example if you want hott pink tips but you don't want to use nail polish because generally the polish (and/or airbrushing which chips even faster) chip too quickly- so they will use a colored tip and acrylic on your nail instead which can be very fun with all of the colors acrylic comes in! But again, this is all up to preference! Sorry this is so long, but I hope this helps!! Xo