Do you prefer long nails or short on a woman?

I’m a woman, and here are my preferences:

Short (not to exceed the tip of the finger)
Fake nails are not appealing to me
Clear (or very light pink) polish; though a light color now and then is nice!
Squared

I am not exaggerating – long nails on anyone make me feel a bit queasy.

I had acrylic nails for 20 years. Just recently quit to give them a break but I really miss them. I kept them fairly short and used pink and white acrylic with clear polish so they looked fairly natural.

short.
long nails remind me of witches and wraiths and should be limited to those.

I really have no need or desire for long nails, fake nails or painted nails. I keep mine clean and short (rounded). I like to keep life as simple as I can.

Depends. Is she a working girl, or is she a courtesan? A real person or a fantasy person? Different nails for different tails.

Short. Painted is tons of fun and I love all the colors (though, do have some preferences, but still love them all), but definitely short. I’ve been hurt too many times by long nails; what starts out as a simple encouraging back rub turns into a clawing, what starts out as a simple hand squeezing turns into a clawing, what starts out as a simple brushing of bangs out of my face turns into, yes, a clawing… Its like Edward Scissorhands, but if Edward Scissorhands paid a good amount of money twice a month to keep him in his state, unable to ever achieve intimacy.

Squared, natural look. My nails naturally grow like that. Most people who see them think I’ve got them done. No polish, unless it’s a special occasion. If that’s the case then I would wear my polish accordingly with what I’m wearing.
Small, but not too small. Around 1mm.

I don’t care as long as thye are neat. One thing I hate is the squared off manicures.

Longer more than short.

1–2 mm, rounded, natural with clear or transparent tint lacquer.
I had fake nails exactly once in my life for a special occasion. They hurt like hell, caught on everything and I nearly put my eye out not being able to sense where my finger tip ended. The worst thing though, was how filth built up underneath them. Yuck. I cringe whenever I shake hands with somebody with long acrylics thinking about the germ environments they are.

I think that a lot of women can pull off long nails and it looks beautiful, especially if they have pretty hands to begin with. I’ve even seen some men pull off long nails, which I know isn’t traditionally considered to be attractive, but I have known some men with beautiful hands.
I, personally, wear mine short. I usually trim them right to the tip of my finger, and I wear them slightly square because that is their natural shape. I have been known to wear fake nails for special occasions, though. Always with a french tip in muted colors, I can’t do flashy.

they also remind me of this woman

@ragingloli that photo makes my stomach knot up. Cringe. :\

@ragingloli That’s so gross. Oh, so many questions: How in the world did she get that jacket on? Or her earrings? Who wipes her butt? How useless is this woman?

It strikes me like some type of mental illness. She must have had an unusual attachment to her nails, this article says she hadn’t cut them since 1979.

I think long nails are passé. Natural and well maintained nails are fad and look much better. Acryllics are nice but long term use weakens the natural nail bed and you should take them off for a good period of time to nurture your own nails (well at least that’s what I do.) The last time I came out of acryllics (over a year ago), I finally got my own beautiful nails back only to start using the Gel Nail polish. Alas they finally grew a tad to long again and one broke, so I’m cutting them short again and starting over.

@ANef_is_Enuf I remember seeing her on some talk show or something…now those (especially her cuticles) are a little grotesque.

I find it most attractive when people are as close to their natural selves as possible. I used to wear acrylic nails when I was trying to fit in in high school, but now I hate them. As long as a person’s nails look good and are not fake, I don’t have any other preferences.

@Facade, I feel like I’ve watched you grow up!

No preference.

@Judi You’re so sweet! I’m glad it’s noticeable =)

On women, no real preference, but I have to say, fake nails just seem so lame to me. I don’t like bright flashy colours on nails, either. Long nails with dark colours can be cool though. Fingernails that are only long because they’re not looked after are just nasty.

A man with long nails is a bit odd, and a turnoff for me. But that’s when they grow them for reasons other than looks. Like holding joints or just not taking care of them. Guys who grow fingernails for looks like some women might is kinda cute.
I met this Goth once though, who grew out his fingernails on one hand like an inch each, and that was what went passed the fingertips. That was interesting, I’ve never actually seen real human fingernails that long before.
That lady in @ragingloli‘s pic though…what at @Blueroses said. How does she get anything done? I remember that Indian guy in the guineas world records, who had uber long nails, and his wife basically spent most of her time just taking care of his hand. After a while, she was like, dude, come on already.

I’m a female and I like to see shorter than longer nails that looks as natural as possible. Long thick plasticky and squared off paddles worn on fingers yuck me out. As someone with paper thin nails that need a little faux finish to look nice, it’s really tough to find a good nail tech who will stick around in one salon for any length of time.

Long nails on dudes is creepy, WTF? For some reason really old men do that and it just adds to the boniness of their hands. Like that creepy guy in the “Tales of the Crypt” intro.
With women that have had them on too long the real nail underneath is coming out and they always look boogery-nasty. The style that are black on the tips only. We all know what that looks like.

The ones that are ridiculously long…what for? I watched a woman struggling to open the door of her car one day with them. They seem like a big hindrance and maybe even a safety issue all the way around. It’s creepy when they click them on a desk ala Wolverine on X-men. I don’t see how a woman can be very useful sporting those talons unless their lifestyle is such that someone else is doing everything for them. Wonder what that job pays?

Short nails on women definitely.

Long, manicured nails are lovely I think. I may be a little biased though!!!

@woodcutter: ”... boogery-nasty.” I’m adding that to my vocabulary!

@Neizvestnaya Ha, I’d be curious about the first situation you say that in a conversation. keep us posted :D

@woodcutter: Will do!

When I was younger I loved really long nails, usually airbrushed by me, now I still love longer nails, but it depend on the woman, not one-size-fit-all.