We all absolutely love the idea of gel nails, they came in all nail polish shades, near-flawless for three weeks, no chipping or gloss fading. Mama-mia! But then again there is no such thing as “perfection” in this life, we suppose. The ugly part about gel manicure is when you need to remove them. The second when one of the edges around the cuticle starts to lift, you will find yourself dying to just rip all the nail off and get done with it. But that’s a big No-No. Ripping of gel nail shells will certainly damage the natural nail bed underneath. Stabbing and scraping the finger nail with any object will cause irreparable scratches on your own nails, plus it will take an immense amount of time.
You could go to the salon of course and let them remove it, but won’t that cost you money and usually a very long period of waiting for a turn as well. Now we don’t want any of the previous scenarios, so we are bringing you the best solutions to try at home for removing those gel nails easily once you want to.
First, here are some tips that will make the process easier. Firstly, try not to exceed the set time of two weeks for the product on your nails. The longer they stay on the harder they become and therefore the more effort they will require to be removed. One other important thing before removal is to shield the skin around the nail. Add a prevention layer of Vaseline or cuticle oil or cream to keep the area moist and limit the damage the acetone will cause to skin. After you are finished, moisturize the area some more using creams or oils to help the skin regenerate quickly. Also. give your nails a few hours to breathe before applying gel manicure again on them, or have a pedicure between the two processes, or just apply normal manicure for a few days before going back to Gel.
When removing gel nails, you will have to use Maximum Acetone. You don’t have to pay extra for a brand labeled “for gel nails” as they all work the same; just make sure it’s a strong type to take less time and effort. Also make sure you have the right tools for the process.
Now let us get to business
1 Use a Kit
Some kits are available in stores containing all the right equipment you will need for gel nail removal, with stuff like “cotton lined nail tapes” that allow you to soak in acetone then tape to your fingers and move freely or text your friends until the gel is dissolved.
2 DIY Foil
If you don’t want to spend your money on a kit, which was the whole point of not going to the salon, there is a super easy DIY method to use at home. First you need to buff your nails using a nail file until you remove the shiny top coat of the manicure, then grab your strong acetone and make ten cotton balls. Bring a roll of tinfoil and cut out ten pieces as well. Soak a cotton ball really well in acetone then place it on your nail surface. When the cotton is on, wrap it with a piece of foil to secure its position on top of your gel nails. Do the same to all the 10 fingers, then leave it for 10 to 15 minutes. When the time is over remove the foil and slide the cotton ball on your nail with a little pressure to remove the remaining manicure with it.
This method should do the trick but the problem with it is that when you are done with one hand, it’s kind of hard to apply the cottons to the other with your fingers all wrapped up like silver pop cakes. Also swiping the cotton ball may not go smoothly; it will require more pressure on your fingers and may hurt.
So what do you do? The coming -and final- method is the most efficient of all.
3 Double Boiler method
You usually use double boiling methods around the kitchen, melting cheese or chocolate perhaps? Well here is one more reason to use it. Bring two bowls, one smaller than the other and place hot water into the bigger one. Then put your small bowl inside the other and add your strong acetone into that one. Leave the liquid heat for around two minutes (use this time to buff your nails with the nail file to remove the shiny layer, like the previous step, then soak your fingers into the warm acetone for around 10 minutes, when the nails start to loosen take a nail wood stick and start gently pushing off the remaining gel manicure. The easiest, most efficient way; and it also doesn’t need the use of any material other than the acetone, so it is also the cheapest.
There you go, no more struggling with manicure removals, and certainly no more waiting for a turn at the salon. Always care for your nails’ protection and miniaturization for young, healthy looking hands.