Here's What You Should Know Before Choosing A Coffin Nail Shape

Although coffin nails are more low-maintenance than other long nail styles, they still require a complex process. According to Clutch Nails, few of us can get a coffin shape with natural nails, so most technicians will recommend other alternatives. Your technician might create the shape with a gel treatment, molding the gel into a coffin shape on top of your natural nail. This process is relatively quick with just the help of UV lamps, but a gel treatment will only get you a few extra millimeters in length.

If you already have long nails, a gel coffin shape will work great, but anyone with short nails should consider acrylics. As Clutch Nails explains, the acrylic process is similar to gel but will give your nails more strength and make them as long as you desire. Unlike gel, acrylic tips are simply glued on and shaped by filing. Although acrylics are more durable than gel, both processes can take an hour-plus, and will run $40 and up.

Moreover, as Groupon warns, this nail shape might make regular day-to-day activities more difficult. Just like stiletto or almond nails, coffin nails might mean saying goodbye to sports, easily opening packages, or even typing. That being said, as celeb manicurist Jin Soon Choi described to Harper's Bazaar, coffin nails are "a favorite among people who are really into nails and fashionistas in general," and is an elegant, edgy nail shape that's clearly here to stay.