Acrylic vs. Gel Nails: What's the Difference?

Question
ok so i'm really confused are acrylics the kind that you glue a tip to your real nail and so on and then paint it ... or is it a whole fake nail on all of your real nail? and same question with the gels

Answer
There are several types of enhancements, and several types of products.
An enhancement can either be an extension or an overlay. An extension is done by 1) gluing a tip on the nail, cut it and shape it to the desired length and then the tip is blended (thinned out) until it is unnoticeable, and then the hole thing is covered with product; or 2) the extension can be sculpted by fitting a form on the nail, applying product over the nail and the form and once the form is removed the nail is extended. An overlay is done when the client likes the length she has at the moment and only wants to make her own nails stronger, to do this product is applied directly over the natural nail.
There are are also different product and all of them can be used for extensions (tips or sculpted) and for overlays.
The different types of product are: Gel, Acrylic and Fiberglass.
Gel is just that, a gel that is applied with a brush and to dry it is placed under an UV light, it has a nice built in shine and it is very strong and flexible.
Acrylic is made by combining a powder and a liquid, the brush is dipped in the liquid, excess is removed and then dragged in the powder to collect some, it is placed on the nail and dries thanks to the heat. It is very strong, the strongest of all three products, but has no shine so it has to be buffed to high shine, and it also comes in tons of different colors and glitters.
Fiberglass is the fastest type to apply, it consist of a fiberglass mesh and a resin, the mesh it placed over the nail, the resin is painted over it and then it is sprayed with an activator to make it dry.
Hope i could help, don't hesitate to contact me again if you have any other questions.