If she digs in her heels and says no polish whatsoever, you can still go to a professional manicurist and have your nails buffed and cleaned up. (Men do this but don't like to admit it. :) )

Good point, I never really thought about that! I would say just keep them as natural as possible.

Trojangirl1- I was just talking about the really square, really thick, really fake looking nails with the HUGE bright white tip. Those are Porno nails. If you do a small stripe of subdued white it will be way better. I would suggest a soft pink all over though, just a couple shaed different than the actual nail color but still dark enough to cover. OPI just released their new "Soft Shade Collection" which is perfect for Rush. The colors are subtle enough to not clash with different outfits but still cover up nail imperfections.

LyrePantsOnFire- Acrylics look kinda wack without polish. There are nailpolishes out there now that are a matte finish, meaning they are not shiny. If you get a beigey-pinky color in matte finish that is close to your natural nail color, no one can tell you're wearing polish! The colors cover up wierdness-es of the nails without looking like regular nail polish. The natural shades are hard to find in matte finish now b/c it is new, but they have a matte-ifying top coat that you can put over any color of your choice now! They might have it at Sephora, Ulta, or probably Sally's Beauty Supply (aka heaven)!

You can definitely buff the nails. I use a product that is available from a beauty supply (and Christian Dior at 5x the price) that is pink in color (for reference only) that is a cuticle cream. Believe me, your cuticles will look very good within three days.

Funny how the world is different: men go routinely here for their mani/pedis. (Not Mr. Ellebud nor junior Ellebud). The only weird time is that friends really can't talk about stuff. The men are generally straight.

Thanks all for the great advice! My hijacking is at an end, haha. :)

@ellebud, spot-on advice as usual and the "no..s" probably saved this PNM from potential disaster.

When you can't remember PNMs because there are so many, the ones that stand out usually do so because of some feature or mannerism (like the PNM who flapped her arms like a bat or pretended to be swinging at a baseball in an attempt to illustrate what her last name rhymed with, I kid you not, I still remember her to this very day).

To the OP: remember to focus on conversation skills in addition to your details about your appearance. There was a great post in the Auburn PNM thread (I think that's where it was) that spoke to the importance of conversation. ellebud also wrote about this in a thread a while ago, I believe.

^^^^thank you...I'm blushing.

AzTheta, I'm so glad you brought that up! I've been working on them all summer with random people I encounter in situations.

I know it has NOTHING to do with nails, but I did have one small question (so minute, I don't believe it deserves a whole thread :p)

As far as conversations, is it better to keep it like a casual interview, or a casual, back and forth conversation.
Examples to illustrate my thinking:

Casual interview:
Active: "What did you do this summer?"
Me:"Oh I went to New York for the first time with my family, we went shopping at such and such, ate here, etc" and let the conversation continue and let her ask most of the questions...

or
Back and Forth:
Active: "What did you do this summer?"
Me: Same answer PLUS "What did YOU do this summer?"

I (as I'm sure most people do) always like to reverse the question in a conversation to get their answer. This is mostly a question for the first round, where I feel first impressions are crucial and time for them to get to know me is limited. I'm sure conversation will become more natural and friend-like as recruitment goes on.

P.S. Sorry if this is just me overanalyzing everything again :)

Think of it this way, she wants to get to know you personally, you want to get a feel for the sorority. Answer her questions and talk about some random stuff, but make sure you find out what you want to know if you have any questions about her sorority.

Everyone says that people love talking about themselves, but sorority girls love to talk about their sorority and their sisters!

Definitely ask the what did you do....my favorite is...what's yours? And try not to ask/answer a question that requires a yes or no answer.

So, I am planning on getting nails (so I don't have to redo nail polish every day), whether it be acrylic, solar, gel. I don't know, but could you post some photos where they don't look hoochie, but a bit more natural looking. Thanks!

The only problem with this is matte looks best on bright, dark or jewel tone polishes. With neutral colors (ie: light pink or beige), your hands look flat (think mannequin.... I have the top coat and tried it, not very flattering). I echo what some others have said and think a buffed nail would be best.

It depends...I wear acrylics without polish. I think the cheap acrylics need polish because it's cloudy, but we use a newer acrylic with a UV treatment afterwards, it's one where you can see my nails underneath. It's nice and clear and allows me to keep shiny nails for the 2 weeks between fillings. I'm a terrible nail biter, and I need some sort of tip or wrap.

At the end of the day, as long as you don't come in with three inch purple nails covered in little pictures of unicorns or something, or porno nails, you're probably ok. (And if you make sure they're clean of course.)

I think as long as they are a normal length and shaped well, no one can tell if they are fake or not. I have 3 acrylic nails and the others are natural. No one knows which ones are which. I keep them on the short side as I love to work in my yard, build things, etc and it's way too much trouble to do with long ones. A nice neutral beige or pale pinky fleshy color and you're good to go.

Uh, what?

This is when you know our "helpfulness" of posting rebuttal pictures has come back to bite us.

Plus I think other posters just spent this whole thread telling people NOT to get fake nails!