I have been the girl who boasts about her natural nails and paints her nails every other day for almost as long as I can remember. But, for this past year, I have been the girl that goes to the nail salon every two and a half weeks semi-religiously and pays to get fill-ins for the talons I had on the ends of my fingers.

I loved the way that they looked and relished in the way they made my fingers look longer and my hands more girly. My hands have always been a little less than elegant and despite my fingers being long, they also resemble sausages and I felt like the acrylics helped that entire situation. Today, I decided to soak off my acrylics and give up that beauty for the sake of growing healthy nails back and hoping for the best.

One of the reasons I made this decision was the financial aspect. I spent about $30 for every fill in because I also splurged for gel nail polish. Going about twice a month meant I would give away anywhere from $60 to $70 per month which adds up to $720 to $840 this entire year from my small minimum wage paychecks. Once I actually realized just how much I was spending, I could not seem to justify it to myself to continue to place aesthetics over logic. I kept thinking about the fact that if I did not get my nails done and saved that money, I would have had enough to buy a plane ticket to get all the way to Los Angeles and back home to Baltimore at the end of the year.

Another major reason I decided to revert back to my own natural nails was the upkeep. Despite loving my nail salon and loving the feeling of being pampered, it was a lot. If I didn't go at least after three weeks, polish would start to peel up and some nails would start to fall off. And if I didn't have the money to go and get them done that week, then that means I would run to the store to buy a bottle of nail glue and continue to DIY fix my nails. The cycle was endless and I decided I was just completely over it.

Now, I know that the process is going to be long and it's gonna take a while to get back to my healthy natural nails, but there are definitely steps I can take to speed up the process and make it more bearable. One of the most important things you can do if you're deciding to ditch the acrylics is buy a good nail strengthener and cuticle oil. This will help the weak mess your nails have most likely turned into and will also help them grow so that stronger nails can take their place. Another important purchase you're going to make in your journey is a good glass nail file that can keep them shorter while they're weak to prevent breakage but won't damage your nails further.

Something that significantly held me back from making the switch was just the idea that my nails were going to be so damaged that they wouldn't even look good. But this is not the case for everyone and could be definitely manageable. And, who knows, maybe this time next year, I might just be on a plane going somewhere with all the money I save from not getting my nails done all year.