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Grab a coarse nail file and gently sand down the top layer of gel polish. Don’t sand down all the polish – you just want to remove the shine and rough up the top coat. If you don’t want to use the soaking or tinfoil method, you can purchase premade kits to remove your gel nail polish. These kits typically include cotton pads and plastic clips or pre-cut foil to hold the acetone-soaked pads against your nails. “Major moisturizing is needed after gel polish removal,” Soon says.
In the early 1920s, chemists developed what we think of today as nail polish. Use the emory board to gently scrape the gel polish off. Saturating a cotton ball with too much acetone can cause mild irritation to the skin, causing the skin to become red, dry or cracked. Improper removal can definitely cause nail damage, ouch! Have that hot towel at the ready; wrap the towel around your hands as they soak to speed up removal. The first thing that you are gonna need to do is file away the top coat of your gel polish.
Step 3: Protect your skin.
You've removed your gels, taken a refreshing bath, and saved yourself time and money at the salon. Make sure to moisturize your hands and nails afterwards, since acetone can really do a number on your nails. Use your emory board to spread a thick layer of petroleum jelly all over your finger, avoiding the nail polish. Apply the petroleum jelly up to the second knuckle to protect skin from any polish remover that might splash. Start by filing the gel top coat on your non-dominant hand.
"Gently push off any gel that's come loose using your orange wood stick or cuticle pusher," says Humphrey. You shouldn’t have to apply much pressure. "Re-wrap if necessary and repeat if parts of the gel have not come off — never force any product off the nail plate as this will cause damage," she adds. To save both your nails and your relationship with your nail tech, here’s everything you need to know about gel polish removal at home, including a step-by-step guide. Using a long-lasting nail polish formula can be a great alternative to gels with less hassle around removal.
Benefits of a Gel Polish Manicure
According to Allure, the cotton balls hold more remover than pads and better fit the nail shape to make removing gel polish go faster. Then wrap each finger in a three-inch square of foil. This will hold the acetone-soaked cotton on the nail and keep the solution from evaporating, Soon explains.
Gel nails require the use of UV or LED lighting in order to obtain that glossy look. Exposure to these lights can increase your risk of various types of skin cancer. Additionally, most people experience nail brittleness, which leads to cracking and disruption of your nail bed if the polish is not removed properly. This is why traditional nail polish remover doesn’t work on gel polish. Instead, you’re going to need to use pure acetone. Traditional nail polish removers are formulated with part acetone solvent and part oil .
The Edward Scissorhands (ie. cotton ball soak with tinfoil wraps or plastic wrap)
This allows the remover to work faster and reduces the amount of time that your nails and skin needs to exposed to the remover. Finally, wipe your nails clean with rubbing alcohol and apply some cuticle oil. Once your nails are soaking, the next step is to wait as the acetone takes effect. This can take anywhere between five and fifteen minutes. And it’s why another name for it is nail lacquer.
Now I found a great video that will guide you through step by step how to use this mixture to remove your gel polish. They are relatively new to the market and are very potent. These removers work faster and better than acetone, allowing you to remove your gel polish within 5-6 minutes. A gel polish remover is a specialized non-acetone solution that is used to break down gel polish.
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However, now the world after all that gel drama and detail has resorted to the wave of minimalism - and tbh, we aren’t complaining. If it doesn't come off very easily, like room-temperature butter, it's not ready - stick your fingers back in the polish remover. If you're going to use cotton balls, pull off 1.5x1.5 cm balls, making sure they're thin and big enough to cover the nail bed. Use a coarse nail file to file down the gel top coat layer until the top coat is no longer shiny and smooth.
Once done, get buffing; moving the file on your nails to get rid of the top coat and to see your bare nails, gel polish-less. Wondering what is today’s modern beauty mainstay, well it has to be the literal unhinged and non-chipping market fav; gel polish. Once a niche service reserved for the affluent, this nail polish is now affordable and available to one and all.
Patience and time are essential to the process. According to Allure, you should allow yourself a minimum of 30 minutes to remove gel nail polish properly. You’re going to be doing plenty of waiting, so be prepared to sit and relax. If you’re tempted to rush, you’ll increase the odds you’ll damage your nails by scraping the polish off rather than waiting for the acetone to soak it off.
Here are some tips for proper removal of your gel polish so your fingernails can continue to stay on fleek. Now that we have COVID to thank for fewer trips to the nail salon, we have to start getting creative in terms of our nail care. If you are a fan of the long-lasting gel polish options out there – welcome to the club. Many of us have started investing in at-home gel kits, which is quite a process, especially when it comes to changing your gel polish .

Stick to Tuttle's step-by-step tips for easy, safe gel removal. First, place cotton balls in acetone for a good soak. As they absorb the remover, file the surface of your nails (just a bit!) to break the top coat seal. Then, place the acetone-soaked cotton balls on the surface of each nail; wrap each cotton ball-topped finger with tin foil. And then you wait patiently—you want to give the acetone 10 to 15 minutes for the gels to become saturated and lift off entirely. "I recommend removal while you're FaceTiming a friend or watching TV, so you're not tempted to damage your nails by rushing. No harsh removal or picking, please!" says Tuttle.
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