Hi Roughquest. i have been getting "false" nails for about 3 years now. I used to be able to grow my own, they were so strong and hard. However after i had my son they were so brittle and broke very easily. Now i get Acrylic nails with a gel overlay.
This is the white powder they dip thier brush into which turns into a paste like gel, then she uses another brush to dip into an actual gel to put over that layer.
I have had a lot of differnt types - just gel, just acrylic, and i find with two little ones, the acrylic and gel overlay to be the best as far as not chipping and lasting between fills. Your real nails will grow underneath and you will see the growth, i go every 2-3 weeks to get fills, they will file off some of the top layer and file down to a length you like and fill in the growth area. I get a french manicure, which means the tips are white. I think this is my favorite so far. Each place you go will vary as to what varieties they offer.
I hope this helped you a little. Good luck!