Please note: There are different types of gel nails available at nail bars and salons. Some are soak-off (e.g. GELeration and BioSculpture) and others are file-off. This post refers to soak-off gel nails only.
To remove gel nails yourself you will need:
To remove gel nails yourself you will need:
- Cotton wool pads cut into small squares
- Tin foil cut into small squares
- Coarse nail file
- Cuticle stick/wooden hoof stick
- Acetone OR gel remover solution OR acetone based nail varnish remover
- Buffer
- Cuticle oil and hand cream
 |
| Tin foil and cotton wool |
What to do:
1. Buff your nails with the rough nail file just enough to take the shine off. Think of this as 'breaking the seal' on the gel so that the remover solution can be more effective. You are not trying to file away the gel.
2. Soak a piece of cotton wool with acetone or remover solution and place on the nail. (I would recommend the remover solution as acetone can be very drying. A 4oz bottle of GELeration Erase Remover will cost around £6-7 and will last a long time) |
| My nail with cotton wool soaked in remover solution |
3. Wrap the nail tightly in tin foil. This traps heat helping the removal gel or acetone work much quicker.
 |
| My nail wrapped in tin foil - Edward Scissorhands style! |
4. Repeat for each nail in turn. I usually do one hand at a time as it's difficult to do the second hand when the first is wrapped in tin foil!
5. Leave the gels wrapped for about ten minutes.
6. Remove the foil and cotton wool. The gel should have lifted from the edges inwards.
7. Use a cuticle stick to coax the rest of the gel gently off the nail. If it doesn't lift easily then soak for longer - don't damage the nail by forcing the gel off!
8. Buff your nails and apply cuticle oil and hand cream to help restore any lost moisture.
Remember, if the gels don't lift easily then you must soak them for longer. Never pull gel off your nails!
I hope this helps : )
xBBx
