Accept That Gel Manicures Might Not Be For You
Using a long-lasting nail polish formula can be a great alternative to gels with less hassle around removal. Because these polishes have a base coat in them, you can get away with fewer layers of polish, minimizing potential chipping. “Gels are super long-lasting, but some polish formulas are, too. This is exactly why we made a longer-lasting polish at Olive & Junewe had clients wanting the wearability of gel, in an easy-to-remove polish formula,” explains Tuttle.
Tips And Tricks For Gel Polish Beginners
DIY gel nails are amazing and in my mind, gel is definitely the best nail polish. But, if you are new to gel polish you may encounter a few problems and think gel polish just isnt for you. Gel polish application and removal can be a bit tricky, but I promise that the art of a gel polish manicure CAN be mastered. Here are 10 tips and tricks to help you in any mishaps you may have.
10 Tips and Tricks for Gel Polish Beginners
1. Clean Your Nails. You must have clean, dry nails in order for gel polish to adhere correctly. After buffing your nail, use a lint free wipe soaked with 91% alcohol to cleanse your nails of any extra debris. Clean all the way to the cuticle and around the sides. If there is any debris on your nail, the gel polish will stick to it instead of sticking to your nail. :-/ Thats a recipe for disaster. Well, a recipe for a shorter lasting manicure, anyway.
2. Shake Gel Polish. Gel polish has a unique formula that really needs to be shaken before each use. If you shake your gel polish before you use it, you will have an easier and more even application. You dont need to shake the base coat or top coat, just the colors. I use the Robart paint shaker to shake my gel polish. See my review here. It definitely makes it much easier and faster, but you can just shake with your hands, too.
for more gel polish tips and tricks from What The Gel Nails.
Why Should I Be Careful Taking Off Acrylic Or Gel Nails
If you peel off your false nails without using one of these methods, you risk scraping off the top layers of your delicate nails.
This can lead to breakages or unsightly white patches on your cuticles.
Scrubbing at your nails without caution could also lead to them becoming coarse, dry and flaky.
This affects the skin texture, making any future manicures look a lot less polished.
Alternatively, if you want to avoid risking it yourself, you can maintain them for as long as possible simply by giving them a fresh coat of paint with a little extra detail.
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Gently Buff Away The Remaining Polish
Gently being the key word here. Applying just a little pressure, use your cuticle stick or manicuring brush to scrape away the the remaining polish. If the polish isn’t sliding off with minimal pressure, that’s a sign that it needs more nail polish remover: Soak a fresh cotton ball, and wrap it up with aluminum foil for a few more minutes before nudging off the rest of the polish.
Secure The Cotton With Aluminum Foil
To hold the cotton or cotton ball in place, grab a roll of tin foil straight from the kitchen or pre-cut squares like these ones from ForPro . Cut into small squares and wrap each finger to secure the cotton ball in place. If you dont feel coordinated to use the foil method Poole also suggests gel removal clip caps
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How Can I Make My Gel Manicure Last Longer
1. Keep Your Nails As Dry As PossibleWhile your gel nails wont chip as easily as a regular polish manicure, you can make them last longer by keeping them as dry as possible. Make sure to take precautions such as wearing rubber gloves when you do the dishes or clean your house. When your nails get wet they expand, and when they dry they contract, which can cause your nails to chip. Taking these extra steps will ensure your gel manicure lasts as long as possible.
2. Invest In a Cuticle OilCuticle oil can work wonders for your nails. In addition to hydrating your cuticles, it strengthens and conditions your nails, which keeps the polish from chipping, breaking and becoming brittle. You should be using cuticle oil at least once or twice daily, especially if youre wearing gel polish.
3. Take a Break Between Gel ManicuresIf youre constantly getting your nails painted with gel polish, without any breaks in between, theyre more likely to become weak and brittle. Your gel polish will last longer if your nails are strong and healthy, and taking a break between manicures is one of the best ways to keep your nails in tip top shape.
4. Make Sure to FileIf youre nails are getting too long, growing unevenly or if you notice a snag on one of them, make sure to file them down. This prevents further chipping, splitting and tearing, which will not only wreck your manicure, but also damage your nails.
Soak Some Cotton Balls In Acetone
When you use acetone to remove gel nails, you need to protect the skin around your nail bed first by covering it with a thick layer of cuticle oil, cream, or Vaseline.
This is because acetone is very drying to the skin. It can leave your skin dehydrated after gel removal, so its essential to have a barrier between your skin and any excess acetone.
Soak one end of the little pieces of cotton in acetone and let them become saturated.
Now place the acetone-dipped end onto your nails, allowing the liquid to soak into the manicure thoroughly. This acts as a gel polish remover.
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Secure Cotton Balls To Your Fingernails With Aluminum Foil
Place an acetone-soaked cotton ball on top of your nail, then wrap a small piece of aluminum foil around your nail to hold the cotton ball in place. Once all ten digits are wrapped up, sit back and relax for 15-20 minutes will the nail polish remover does its thing. Once you remove the foil, the nail polish should look like it’s fall off of your nail.
How To Remove Gel Polish At Home
1. Resist the Urge to PeelIt can be tempting to peel your gel polish off, but resist the urge! Peeling gel off your nails can be extremely damaging to your natural nails. You end up peeling off the top layers of your nails themselves that can lead to brittle nails that weaken over time.
2. Start with a Nail FileIf youve ever gotten your gel manicure removed at the salon, you probably noticed they file down your nails before starting the removal process. Grab a coarse nail file and gently sand down the top layer of gel polish. Dont sand down all the polish you just want to remove the shine and rough up the top coat.
3. How to Remove Gel Polish Without AcetoneThere are many sources that will tell you to use acetone to remove your gel polish, but acetone can be bad for your nails and skin, so if you can remove your gel polish another way, its ideal. Wait at least two weeks before trying to remove your gel polish so that it has time to loosen and naturally chip off.
Once theyre chipped, you can lift up part of the gel nail with your fingernail or a pair of tweezers. Run your finger under lukewarm water and use a finger from your free hand to gently push the gel off your natural nail. Go slowly to do the least damage possible. If the polish wont come off with water, cover your nail with olive oil or cuticle oil and try again. Use a nail file to buff off any remaining gel.
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How To Remove Gel Nails
In order to remove gel nail polish at home, you will need acetone and cotton balls. First, you will need to very gently buff the shine off your gel nails. You can do this easily with a nail file. You dont need to be too vigorous. Just try to get the shine off the top.
Then, simply soak a cotton ball in the acetone and place it on your nail. You can wrap your nails with tin foil to get the cotton balls to stay on the nails. You will need to let your nails soak in the acetone for 10 to 15 minutes.
Then, remove the foil and the cotton balls and wipe off any remaining polish.
Easy Ways How To Remove Gel Polish At Home Without Acetone
Gel Polishes are extremely durable and long-lasting when compared to regular nail polishes. But at the same time, gel polishes are much more difficult to remove.
This is why most individuals soak their gel polish nails in acetone for long periods of time.
But prolonged exposure to acetone can be very damaging to your natural nails. You see acetone is a very strong chemical and will severely dehydrate both your nails and skin. Citation.
Now, thankfully they are other removal methods you can use. So in this article, I am gonna walk you through several different ways to easily and safely take off gel polish without using acetone.
4 Ways How to Remove Gel Polish at Home Without using Acetone are:
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How To Remove Your Gel Nails At Home Like A Pro
Don’t damage your natural nails, with this expert advice
Whether you’re a seasoned nail salon goer or you like to DIY your gel nails at home, when it comes to removing gel nail varnish, things can get tricky. Do it wrong and your nails are left weak, brittle and prone to peeling and breaking. But, learn how to remove your gel nails at home and you can save yourself time, money and a trip to the nail salon.
While there are gel nail polish removal kits you can buy, you can also remove your gel nail polish at home without necessarily having to fork out on removal kit. With just a few key tools, you can easily remove gels at home.
Below nail expert and owner of Treatwell Salon Partner, Selfish, Ksenia McAnulty breaks down how to remove gel nail varnish at home without causing damage to your nails.
Gel Nail Polish Removers To Consider
Here are some of the most recommended gel nail polish removal methods you can use to successfully remove gel from your nails.
Keep in mind that before trying any of these methods, you should use your nail file to file the top coat lightly or a buffer to buff the top layer of gel polish off before soaking it in acetone.
1. Soaking Your Nails in Acetone
Due to the high-solvent nature of acetone, it remains as one of the best nail polish removers. However, using acetone frequently removes lots of natural oils and pales your skin, so keep your nails soaked in acetone for 15-20 minutes.
Nonetheless, it’s still a good gel polish remover. You have to settle for one of the two options to use it: file your nails and soak them in acetone, or soak cotton in acetone, and wrap your nails with cotton and foils. Either way, the polish will be out in minutes.
2. Use a Gel Removal Steamer
A gel removal steamer does just what the cold one cannot do-it steams the whole process giving a warmer environment for faster effective results.
To use it, first make sure you have filed and buffed your gel polish. Then pour the acetone remover into the base, switch on the steamer, then stick your fingers into the 5 finger holes.
Typically, most gel removal steamers will beep you, indicating its done. When youre told its complete, use an orange wood stick or a nail scrapper to scrape off the gel polish.
Repeat the process until the gel nail polish is scraped off of each nail.
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Wait Wait Waitnow You Can Take It Off
This depends on how long you’ve had the gel polish on , but it takes at least 15 to 20 minutes. Speaking from personal experience, we’d recommend closer to 25 or 30 minutes to be safe. Once those tin-foil claws come off, you really don’t want to put them back on.
As you’re taking off each aluminum-foil wrap, apply pressure and rub it back and forth like you would if trying to take off regular polish. If there is still polish left on any nail beds, use a wooden nail stick or a nail file to loosen and remove the remaining gel polish. Soaking should have softened the grip, which means this should not risk stripping your nail bed.
Watch Out For The Poisonous Triad In Gel Manicure Solutions
More than just nail health and wellness, I choose complete body wellness, says Jenna, who advises versus the toxic triad carcinogens that are present in several polishes: Formaldehyde, toluene, as well as dibutyl phthalate . After the clinical screening, in high doses, these ingredients were found to trigger swelling in addition to lots of various other unfavorable negative effects like disturbing liver as well as thyroid function for instance, Rita describes. Thankfully, most specialist grade nail brightens made today do not contain these nasties. Jennas very own brand name of lacquers, together with Jinsoons, RGBs, Zoyas, and Sally Hansens come created without those typical wrongdoers.
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If Residue Remains And Youre Afraid To Over
Apply a clear top coat to your nails and let it dry. Then soak cotton swabs in acetone nail polish remover, place one over each nail, and wrap it tightly with a small square of aluminum foil. Wait 5 to 10 minutes and then remove the foil, one finger at a time, and gently scrape away the softened gel using a wooden stick. Repeat this process until no gel remains. How long this takes will depend on the thickness of the layer and also the product itself as some hybrids dissolve faster than others, says Bryzek.
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Soak Your Nails In Acetone Using Cotton Balls And Aluminum Foil
Acetone is stronger and more effective than non-acetone nail polish remover, making it exactly what you need to remove your gel nail polish. Drench some cotton balls with the stuff, then hold them in place on your nails by wrapping each finger with aluminum foil. According to Yankee, this traps in heat to help the gel break down faster. Gel polish formulas vary in strength, so the wait time can be anywhere between 10 and 20 minutes. If you dont get it exactly right, you can always rewrap and keep on soaking.
Yankee’s expert tip: Sometimes its best to do one hand at a time at home. I like to start with the dominant hand to get the toughest part out of the way. So if youre a lefty, begin soaking the nails on your left hand, and then your right hand will be a breeze. Its a small change, but it makes a huge difference, she says.
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Apply A Top Coat Regularly To Keep Regular Polish Glossy
“Another tip for getting that freshly manicured, always glossy look is to apply a thin coat of top coat every other day. This will protect the color, finish, and extend the life of your manicure, because it acts as a layer of defense against everything your hands come in contact with,” Tuttle concludes.
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 Use Gel Polish Removers
How To Remove Gel Nail Polish Without Destroying Your Nails
All products featured on SELF are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
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.
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