I love the look of manicures and want to try doing them more often. Here are the three types I've tried and how they worked out. Would love to hear others' experiences and suggestions.

Regular nail polish. The finish is almost as good as Gel if done right. On me, lasts about 3-4 days before the tips start getting ragged looking. I then want to remove the polish immediately. I can't stand a slightly sloppy looking manicure. Hardly seem worth it. LOVE the variety of color, esp OPI, and there are so many brands to choose from.

Gel. Nice hard finish. Lasts about 1-1/2 weeks on me before the tips get ragged (maybe longer). Has to be done in a salon unless you want to buy the UV light to do it at home (There are more and more brands of these lights available for home use). Not so great for nail health, depending on your own nails. Removing it is a total PITA. I don't mind spending time at the salon, and they do a much better job at prep, but I find it annoying to work it into my schedule. Also pricier than doing at home. BUT, the biggest issue is that my nails grow so fast that within one week there is a noticeable space between my cuticle and the lower edge of the polish, and the longer I wear the polish the worse it gets. It's more noticeable in darker colors. This is another sloppy look that I hate, and if I keep the gel on for 2 weeks I'm in "sloppy land" land for half of that time. One other thing is that I prefer my nails really short and need to trim them at least once a week, which means I'm "trimming" the GEL polish which contributed to the ragged look.

Then there is Dazzle Dry. New to me, carried at my primary salon. I have had ONE manicure with this and I liked it. Has the look and longevity (almost ) of GEL without the UV light curing. Dries very fast, and removable like regular nail polish. No worse for nails than regular nail polish. It's pricier than regular (and maybe GEL too, haven't compared), and has limited color options Only available via some salons, the company's web site, or Amazon. I think it's more environmentally friendly than many other brands but I have not looked into that. I think I'm going to try this for a while, I can do it at home, and can easily remove at home once that cuticle space is annoying and then reapply. With a little practice I should get better at the prep work

Photos are my thumb right now, with Gel polish applied 7 days ago. Visible space between cuticle and ragged edge of polish.