You may have heard people in the past say that their nail enhancements (whether it be gel or acrylic) ruined their natural nails. I would literally put my life on the fact it wasn’t the nail enhancement itself, but the removal of the nail enhancement that ruined their nails.
Maybe you have a longer gap between your appointments than usual or maybe you need to take your gels off for work – either way, it’s important that you remove your gels properly.
The absolute worst thing you can do for your nails is to pick your gels off, so please (I’m literally begging you) do not pick them!
If you’ve ever had a removal done with myself, you know it’s nothing too strenuous and I promise you, it’s not too difficult to remove gels (especially the ones I apply!) at home.
Don’t worry, I may not be there literally holding your hand like I usually am – but I’ll figuratively hold your hand through these steps!
What You Will Need
In order to safely remove your gels at home, you will need these items:
- A nail file
- Acetone (this is different from normal nail polish remover as these are usually acetone free)
- Cotton pads/balls
- Tin foil (just your kitchen tin foil is fine!)
- A gel removal tool / cuticle pusher / orangewood stick (whatever you have available)
- A nice lil bonus is a cuticle butter / oil to refresh your nails afterwards! (I offer these in a variety of flavours – let me know if you would like to purchase one at your next appointment)
Step 1
First, file the top layers of your mani off, removing all shine.
With every mani, I put down a base layer of BIAB (typically nude), so don’t panic if you remove the colour whilst filing (in fact, this makes for an easier soak off!)
If you’re wanting to take down major length – now is the time to do it! There’s no point removing the gel from a part of the nail you’re wanting to get rid of!
Step 2
Soak a cotton ball (if you’re using a pad, cut the pad into halves and soak this instead) in acetone and wrap around your nail. Grab a little square of tin foil and wrap this tightly around the cotton ball / pad.
Fun lil fact, wrapping tin foil around the acetone soaked ball / pad helps it to heat up and lift the gel easier!
I typically file one finger and then wrap it before moving onto filing the next finger and wrapping it. The way you do it is up to you – but it always makes me feel like it’s happening quicker if I do it one finger at a time (it definitely isn’t haha).
Step 3
Once you’re all wrapped up – just wait!
I like to do one hand at a time as I struggle doing anything with both hands wrapped up.
So sit back and relax for 10 mins!
Step 4
After 10 mins or so, remove the foil from the first nail that you wrapped and gently scrape the lifted gel off with a gel removal rool / cuticle pusher / orangewood stick.
If you feel a lot of resistance – give your nail another quick file and cover your finger with another acetone soaked ball / pad and re-wrap in foil.
PLEASE DO NOT FORCE THE GEL OFF IF IT DOES NOT WANT TO COME OFF.
You’ll notice at your appointments that when I remove the gel, it’s never too difficult – so it shouldn’t ever be too difficult when you’re removing your own!
Step 5
And that’s it!
If you’re removing your gels in order to have more time at your appointment for fun stuff like art – don’t stress about any tiny bits of gel left on the nail – we’ll be going over this anyway!
Once your gel is removed, refresh your lil paws with a cuticle butter or oil (not mandatory but definitely a delicious bonus).
Have any questions? Feel free to drop me a message at any time! You know I’m always happy to help <3
Share
Related posts
