I got my nails done before I purchased my paint filly. She reared suddenly and ripped two off my right hand. That hurt so bad. I haven’t gotten gel nails since.
I feel lucky if I don’t have horse shit under my nails. I’m too cheap to ever do anything but put on some normal store bought nail polish on rare occasions.
I’ve tried just about every kind of nail strip and the best ones are made of real nail polish. Sally Hansen, Color Street, Incoco are all made of polish. They are a lot more thin and flexible to apply and get the wrinkles out, plus I feel like they don’t lift around the edges letting dirt underneath. I love them! They can last me a good 10 days or more.
I love all the patterns that Jamberry has (they even have a cute horsey one) but I don’t enjoy applying them (have to be heated to activate the glue), I feel like they are thick and always have wrinkles and I haven’t have luck keeping them on as long as the polish based strips.
LOVE my gel manicures. I did it once myself, but definitely like the pros better. It lasted longer that way.
I have lousy nails anyway, couldn’t possibly “DIY” gel or otherwise. I pamper me by a mani-pedi once a month to six weeks. Regular polish on toes, gel/acrylic, short, on my fingernails. Lasts fine at the barn. Are my regular nails trashed? Yes. But they were bad to start with so it doesn’t really matter to me.
Color Street is amazing. Truly the only nail polish I have ever worn that lasts more than two days. I get a full 10 days out of it, and my horses are at home so I am hard on my hands.
It’s also easy and fast to put on. No more waiting around for nails to dry. It comes off easily with acetone polish remover and doesn’t damage your underlying nails. Really good stuff. The color choices can be pretty gaudy, but there are more traditional colors to choose from.
I recently did shellac nails at the salon and they lasted for 2 weeks before the nail polish started to chip. 2 weeks is what the technician told me so I decided to put them through the test and man did they hold up to a lot of rough work. But, it was also really hard to get them off when I was done too.
l will be adding the shellac polish to my collection for now on.
i have acrylics with gel polish every 3 weeks and have never snapped or torn one in about 6 years. the worst ive done is very slightly chipped a corner.
acrylics stand up to horse works so well!
I’ve been doing dip powder nails at the salon. I love it! I have short, weak nails that break a lot and a professional job so I like them to look decent. It lasts about 3 weeks (no chipping ever but they start to grow out noticeably at around 2.5 to 3 weeks so its time to have them redone). I like that no UV light is required. Takes about an hour and a half total including the time to soak the old off, but its worth it 
Gel pedicures have always held up to Jiu jitsu where normal nail polish gets chipped because I drag my toes across the mat. I don’t get my fingernails done much, but I’ve always been happy with how it holds up when I do .
I have acryllics with gel polish. I started with just gel, and then when I moved to Buffalo the arcyllic/gel combination was basically the same price as just gel, so I upgraded.
They rwally hold up to everything, but even the regular gel held up nicely in full time working student positions.
I’m admittedly nuts about my nails, and haven’t had unmanicured hands in yearrrrsss. My philosophy is that you can have a good manicure and go out in jeans and a tshirt and look pulled together, but, even if you wear an Escada suit, with ratty nails you still look homeless.
Lately my nail tech has been doing a “confetti french”, which is super fun and gets tons of compliments.
I love the dip powder! They are super strong like acrylics. Love nice nails even if that’s the only thing on me that sometimes appears pulled together 
I used to get gel every two weeks because I have a job that I need to look professional and my nails are so bad they crack at the side very low in the bed. It was incredibly painful. Now, I get dipped gel. It’s the powder and activator mentioned above. It can last 4-5 weeks, but it takes a lot to find someone really good. If they are not, it will crack in chunks. Get a referral. It’s like $10 more with tip I think, but lasted so much longer it was cheaper by the month. I’m always looking to save where I can. Horsey has to eat! I also discovered that the darker colors don’t crack as easily in the surface. Don’t know why, just an observation. I’m interested to try the Sally Hansen and jamberry. Surely, one of my teenage daughters can pamper me since I drive them to the barn all the time and do it for me. Right? Oh, and feed them and stuff.
