How To Take Gel Nail Polish Off Acrylic Nails Without Ruining Them

For anyone who has problem making a normal manicure final more than three days, discovering the magic of gel nails (near flawless for three weeks?!) can exist life changing. But the worst part about gel nails is that moment when you need to take them off and you lot just can't.

The options are basically stab and scrape and pare your fingernails with various objects for what feels like hours or head back to the salon to pay someone else to take them off. With social distancing and self-quarantining for coronavirus, the latter isn't even an option right now.

And then, I tested three methods to run into if there was a meliorate way.

Method #ane: The store-bought jar

You'll need: Whatsoever product you lot pick up in the nail polish alley at the drugstore.

If you can swing by your local drugstore, there a lot of "over-the-counter" gel removal options to endeavor. The frustrating part is that you can't know how they piece of work until y'all get them home.

This one was essentially an acetone-soaked sponge in a jar. The instructions told me to stick my finger in the jar and twist, implying that with this unproblematic motion, my nail color would magically come off. So I twisted and twisted and twisted ...

... and, null. I tried so many times! There was no style the shine was coming off.

And after all that twisting, nothing happened! — And subsequently all that twisting, zero happened! TODAY

The verdict: If y'all go this route, you're taking a gamble, and it'due south likely non worth your time, coin or energy. Pass.

Method #two: Aluminum foil wraps

You'll need: Aluminum foil, a nail file, cotton assurance and acetone nail smoothen remover.

The steps are pretty simple, and if you lot've ever gotten a gel manicure removed at the nail salon, this one will seem familiar because information technology's typically what the nail techs do.

It's just like how they do it in the salon. — It's only like how they do it in the salon.

First, buff your fingernails with a smash file, removing the shiny coating of the gel polish.

Then, soak a cotton ball in acetone until it's saturated. Put the soaked cotton ball on top of your buffed nail, and wrap your finger in a small square of aluminum foil to keep the cotton ball in place. Echo for all of your fingers.

Set a timer for x minutes.

Remove the foil wraps, and use the cotton fiber assurance to wipe off whatever leftover shine on your nails.

The verdict: B+. The cotton brawl soak left my fingers a disturbing shade of grayness, simply the polish had bubbled and puckered during the 10 minutes, and so that was encouraging. The bodily foil wrap process was extremely unwieldy and annoying, and it was hard for me to practice it on all my fingers. Plus, the cotton wool brawl-swipe method to finish removing the smooth didn't actually piece of work, and that felt rough and kind of painful on my fingers. If you lot use something else, similar an orangish stick, to scrape off the leftover polish, this method is pretty effective.

Method #3: The double boiler

You lot'll need: 2 bowls, hot water, a boom file, acetone nail polish remover and an orange stick.

I love a double boiler when it comes to baking — hello, melted chocolate! — only I had no idea you could use it in any other context. Here's how it works as a blast polish remover.

First, buff your nails with a smash file to remove that shiny polish terminate.

Then, fill a large basin with hot water and identify a smaller bowl inside. Cascade acetone boom shine remover into that bowl. Soak your fingers in the minor bowl for 10 minutes. Then, apply an orange stick to push off the remaining smoothen.

This orange stick is magic. — This orangish stick is magic.

The verdict: Success!!! This method was the hands-down winner. Information technology was piece of cake, information technology was clean, it was super cheap — no real supplies required — and information technology was *super* effective. The shine merely pushed right off.

And so, there yous have it! Struggling with an quondam gel manicure? Avoid the urge to peel and get double boiling!

This article was published on February. 24, 2017.