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How Do You Take Off Gel Nail Polish

Youre Removing An Old Gel Manicure Without Professional Help

How to Remove Gel Nails at Home! Damage-Free!

Once a gel manicure is on its last leg, you may be tempted to remove it yourself, but experts advise against it. The safest way to remove gel polish is by a professional, says Harpring.

If you absolutely cant make it to the salon for removal, she advises you first gently file the top of the polish to remove the shine, which allows the acetone to penetrate and dissolve the gel easier. Next, soak cotton balls in acetone , apply a cotton ball to each nail, and wrap it in tin foil. Leave the wraps on for 10 to 15 minutes, and then, using a wooden cuticle pusher, gently push the gel off of the nail plates. To finish, lightly buff the surface of the nail with a buffing tool, and apply oil to your nails and cuticles to rehydrate.

How To Remove Gel Nail Polish Without Destroying Your Nails

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You may not have had reason to wonder how to remove gel nail polish before, but if youre currently avoiding your salon and going the DIY nail route instead, its important to learn how to do it properly. Spoiler alert: Just ripping off your gel manicure is not a good idea. Everything might appear to be okay to the naked eye, but you actually strip the delicate layers of the nail plate when you tear your gel nails off this way, and it can potentially cause permanent damage.

To avoid screwing up your nails, we asked celebrity manicurist Patricia Yankee how to remove gel nail polish at home. Her professional advice to ensure the health of your nails is to head back to your salon for proper removal when its safe to do so. But if you cant or dont want to make the trip right now, there are a few easy-to-follow steps to get similar results at home.

& : Soak It Off & Wrap It Up

There are two ways you can do this next part.

The first option is to pour acetone into a small dish and soak your fingers in the acetone for 10-15 minutes. To make the process even faster, we recommend placing your small dish of acetone into a bigger bowl with warm water. Warming up the acetone will allow it to penetrate the product faster and make your removal process much easier.;

The second option is to soak your cotton balls in the acetone instead. One by one, place an acetone-soaked cotton ball on top of your nail. Grab a small piece of foil and wrap it around your fingertip to secure the cotton ball to your nail. Gently press the foil, so it forms to your fingertip. Allow your nails to soak for 10-15 minutes.

Pro Tip: Cut your foil during the prep phase, and use plain, non-moisturizing cotton balls

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How To Remove Acrylic Nails At Home

This process usually takes longer. You’ll have to have patience and make sure you’re somewhere comfortable and have everything you need with you,” says Punjani. Acrylic nails are a mix of powder and a liquid glue that, when combined, are shaped onto nails with a brush and then dried. It’s ideal for people to add length or change the shape of their nails. If you want to remove the nails without acetone, you can file them down.

  • Trim the nails to the shortest length possible.

  • File them using long strokes. Keep filing till you feel you have reached your actual nail bed. If you notice some of it still remaining on your nails, take a cuticle nipper and pry open the edges and clip it. Make sure to clip only small pieces at a time and do not try to pry open too much.

  • Once all of the acrylic nail is off, take the orange stick and scrape off all the acrylic glue.

  • Follow it up with lots of cuticle oil.

  • If you’d rather just soak the nails off, ;you can do that too, says Punjani. But keep hydrating and moisturising the nail with coconut oil or a cuticle oil to mitigate damage from the prolonged exposure to acetone.”

  • Clip the acrylic nails as short as possible.

  • Use a nail file to remove shine , nail polish or any colour to avoid creating any mess or get your hands full of colour.

  • Now, apply a generous amount of petroleum jelly on the skin surrounding your cuticles. This will protect them from the dryness that acetone can cause.

  • Youre Getting Gel Manicures Back

    How to Remove Gel Polish Without Acetone

    Since removing and applying gel nail polish can cause a lot of wear and tear on your nails, you should space out your manicures. By getting gel nails every two weeks consistently, the nail plate gets extremely suffocated, explains Hadley. This can lead to nail dehydration and eventually breakage, so make sure to give your nails downtime between gels. Its important to have a professional nail technician assess your nail health between applications to determine if your nails could use a sabbatical from polishes, explains Harpring.

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    Wait At Least 10 Minutes

    This is the most important step in how to remove gel nail polish and requires the most patience. You will need to soak for a minimum of 10 minutes to loosen the layers of polish. To help speed up the process, Soon suggests taking a hot towel and wrapping it around your handthe warmth helps the acetone work while softening the polish to make it easier to remove.

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    How To Safely Remove Your Gel Nail Polish And Acrylic Nails At Home

    If you’re yearning to try fun new nail artespecially the ones you’ve been seeing all over Instagramyou’ll want to get rid of your half-chipped gel and acrylic nails first. While taking off your nail polish at home has always been a major no-no, not having access to salons means you might have to take matters into your own hands. Kanchan Punjani, beauty and makeup education manager at Jean-Claude Biguine tells you how to safely remove your salon manicure.

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    Soak Cottonballs In Nail Polish Remover

    While acetone-free nail polish removers may work fine for regular polish, you should probably stick to the strong stuff when removing gel manicures. “I highly recommend an acetone-based remover because it will break down the product quicker,” says Nunez.

    Fill a small dish with nail polish remover and soak 10 cotton balls . Cotton balls are also smaller and better fit your nail, which means less harsh acetone on your cuticles.

    Youre Leaving Gel Polish On Too Long

    How to Remove Gel Nail Polish

    Since gel nail polish can be worn for weeks on end without even the tiniest chip, stretching the life of your manicure is tempting. However, Hadley suggests removing a gel manicure after two to three weeks maximum to avoid damaging nail beds and cuticles. Harpring agrees, adding that overextending gel manicures can not only lead to weakened nails, but also introduce potentially harmful bacteria. It is important to remember that once the gel begins to lift, it does allow for moisture to get under the gel and possibly lead to bacterial growth, explains Harpring.

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    How Do I Remove Acrylic Nails

    Trim start by carefully clipping your acrylics, cutting them as close as possible to your real nail length.

    Buff; like with the gel removal, grab a;nail buffer and rough up the surface of your polish until the shine is completely gone.

    Soak next up, fill a nail soaking tray with acetone, then place your nails in it for five to 10 minutes.

    Remove gently test a nail with a;cuticle pusher. If nothing shifts, re-dip your nails;for a further two to five minutes, then gently try again. Repeat the process until your acrylics have completely soaked off.

    Aftercare just a few finishing touches to go! Rub away any stubborn pieces of acrylic with a nail buffer before filing into a shape of your choice. Round, oval, square you decide. Now wash your hands and apply;cuticle oil;and hand cream.

    See that wasnt so hard, was it? Looks like youve nailed it.

    Two: The Foil Technique

    Time Required:;35-45 Minutes:

    • Gritty nail file
    • Orange stick

    Whilst this secondary technique is also great at removing gel nails, I actually dont think it is as easy as the Double Boiling Soaking Method outlined above. However, I often use it in the Salon to great effect because it is pretty easy to do and not particularly messy.

    The Foil method is essentially the same process, but instead of soaking your nails, you will be covering them instead. What you will be doing is resting a cotton ball soaked in acetone onto each of your nails, and then using aluminium foil to wrap the cotton ball in place.

    Step One:;You will first start by getting all of the items together, and by preparing the Aluminium Foil. You will need to essentially create 10 Foil strips that will be used to cover each finger.

    Cut the Foil into 10 even strips, and ensure that the foil is large enough to wrap around each of your fingers. If you go slightly overboard do not worry, it will just mean that when you wrap it will be slightly more bulky on your nail.

    Step Two:;Next up is to file your nails. You need to do this to remove the top coat that would have been applied to your gel nails. This provides the protection from chipping and the shiny effect, which we obviously no longer need. By removing the top coat, you will find it far more easy to remove your gel nails, so this is a pretty important step for this method and its resulting success.

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    How To Remove Gel Nail Polish Quickly:

    If you’re good at planning ahead, grab yourself a removal kit when you initially get your gel nail polish done. That way, when you want to take it off at home, you’ll have a kit handy. They’re super easy to use, and they come with everything you need to remove the polish quickly and easily.

    Carolyn Twersky is the Editorial Fellow at Seventeen.com. Follow her on and !

    What Tools Do I Need To Remove My Gel Nail Polish At Home

    How to Remove Gel Polish Without Acetone

    You will need a cuticle pusher, acetone, tin foil, a nail file and buffer, cotton pads, andif you’re feeling extrasome cuticle oil. If you don’t have a pusher, Christina Quercia, the head of nails for Glamsquad, says that you can use a spoon instead. You can also buy an at-home gel removal kit to make things easier.

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    Wash Up And Moisturize

    After you finish soaking in acetone, you want to make sure that you wash thoroughly, Yankee says. She also suggests putting on another coat of cuticle oil. If you want to get a little fancier than petroleum jelly this time, try the highly rated favorite Maccibelle Cuticle Oil , which comes in three different scents: milk and honey, pomegranate, and tea treelavender.

    Yankee also suggests keeping the habit up for a few days just to replenish the moisture in your nails, since acetone can be so harsh.

    Loosen Up The Top Layer With A Coarse Nail File

    The gel topcoat is a tough nearly impermeable layer that seals the color in placethats why gel manicures are able to last for weeks instead of days. Scratching the surface with a coarse nail file will help the acetone to penetrate without a hitch. When filing, apply a light and parallel pressure, Yankee says, which will help you avoid scratching the nail plate underneath.

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    How To Remove Gel Nail Polish At Home

    A gel manicure uses a gel-based polish that requires a UV or LED light to cure the polish and lock it into your nails. That’s why they last longer without chipping or fading. However, leave gel polish on too long, and the nails underneath can get brittle. It’s best to take it out with acetone, says an OPI brand trainer, who shares her go-to six step process.

  • Buff the shine of your polish using a nail file.

  • Soak a small piece of cotton with acetone and place it on your nail.

  • Wrap each nail with foil, and cover all the cotton swabs. Then let it sit for 15 minutes.

  • Twist and take out the foil and cotton together.

  • Wipe your nails with polish remover. You can also use a plastic pusher/orange stick to get rid of any nail polish stuck on the nail. Do not scratch it or peel it with any sharp object, as that can damage it.

  • Then, apply a nail strengthener to ensure that you don’t have any breakage, and file the edges so they don’t get caught on anything.

  • However, if you don’t have nail polish remover at home, Punjani says you can use a regular nail file too.

  • Cut and file your nails so that they are short and manageable.

  • Using a coarse grit nail file, file down your nails down slowly. Keep blowing the dust away to check how far you are from your natural nail to avoid damaging it.

  • Once you almost reach your natural nail, switch over to a softer nail file that won’t damage your nails as much.

  • Once you file off all of the gel polish, wash your hands/nails with a gentle soap.

  • Can You Take Off Gel Nails With Nail Polish Remover

    HOW TO APPLY & REMOVE SOAK-OFF GEL NAIL POLISH FOR BEGINNERS

    JemmaNote:

    So you have recently visited a Salon, who have in turn, applied beautiful Gel Nails that you simply adore.

    Youve thoroughly enjoyed your time with your new nails, but you are now getting to the point in where they are starting to chip off, and to not look as good as what they once did when first done.

    Now you are probably wondering:;Can You Take Off Gel Nails With Nail Polish Remover?

    Thats what we are going to address today, and by the end of it, you will know exactly if you can and how to effectively do so.

    I get this question all the time, especially because I apply gel nails to hundreds of clients a week at my salon. Many of them are cautious to get their nails done in the first place, or are increasingly anxious at the thought of having to return to get their gel polish removed.

    But the truth of the matter is, I know that you have invested in your Gel Nails already, and you shouldnt have to, nor even want to go back to the salon to get them removed.

    Besides thats just too costly both in time and in cash!

    I understand because, back in the day, I have been there myself.

    As such, I would like to provide you with some expert advice, tips and tricks to ensure that you do not have to do this.

    I am here to tell you how to safely and effectively remove gel polish right in the comfort of your own home.

    Contents

  • 4 Final Words
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    Try To Restrict Your Exposure To The Light

    A 2016 research from the American Academy of Dermatology disclosed that gel manicures may not be a safe alternative for people who are very sensitive to UV light. The UV dosage that you get throughout a gel manicure is short, yet its intense, Dr. Adigun claimed in the research. In time, this extreme direct exposure can add up to trigger skin damages.

    An additional issue is the increase in appeal of LED nail lamps, Dr. Adigun notes of her research study on the safety and security of gel manicures. LED lamps have become preferred as much for their faster treating times as the idea that theyre much safer than UV lights, but Dr. Adigun urges this is not the situation. Although many individuals erroneously believe these lights do not make use of UVA to cure, they use higher intensities of UVA wavelengths to achieve the much shorter treating times. This higher strength of UVA irradiance suggests that it calls for much less time for these lights to possibly damage the skin, she explains.

    Instead, Dr. Adigun recommends bringing along your pair of YouVeeShield handwear covers to safeguard your hands against UVA radiation . It is the most protective material because it protects the entire digits and also wrist, Dr. Adigun states.

    How To Remove Your Gel Nails At Home

    Be Sure Your Nails Are Ready

    Before you even begin considering the removal of your gel nails, Sally Hansen ambassador Hannah Lee, tells NYLON that you should first make sure your gel is ready for removal, noting that gel can usually last for two weeks. If you notice nail growth or that your gel has lifted, that’s a signal that your polish is ready for removal. She specifically suggested looking out for lifting, saying, “That allows for moisture to get under the gel and possibly create bacterial growth.”

    Gather Your Tools

    According to Molly Romah, lead nail tech at Chillhouse, you’ll want to begin by ensuring you have everything needed for removal. For gel nails, she recommends having pure acetone, cotton, a nail file and aluminum foil. As an added bonus, you may also want to make sure your Netflix is nearby, as the soaking process may seem to go a lot faster when you have something to watch.

    Time To File And Soak

    According to Lee, you’ll want begin the process by using a coarse nail file to carefully, and slowly, file down the top layer of gel. “You want to focus on removing the top coat and not the actual polish, so make sure to do this slowly,” she added.

    Soak your nails for about 15 minutes and then check on the progress. “The gel polish should look as if it is falling off the nail and lifted,” Romah said. “The remaining polish should be able to be removed with little to no pressure. If not, go back and soak for another five minutes and try again.”

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