How to remove gel polish without damaging your nails

Gel polish is removed by softening it with acetone for ten to fifteen minutes and lifting it off gently, never by peeling. It is the same method we use at the salon, where removal is included in the price of any gel manicure. Here is the step by step for doing it at home, and what to avoid.

What you need to remove gel polish at home

Five things, all from a pharmacy or supermarket: pure acetone, cotton wool, kitchen foil, a medium-grit file and an orange stick. Acetone-free remover will not work: gel polish does not dissolve in it.

• Pure acetone (not regular polish remover).
• Cotton wool pads or balls.
• Kitchen foil cut into ten squares.
• Medium-grit file (180) and a soft buffer.
• Orange stick or cuticle pusher.
• Cuticle oil and hand cream for afterwards.

How to remove gel polish step by step

Six steps and about twenty minutes. The key is in the first, filing off the shine, and in the fourth, waiting long enough: if the polish does not lift on its own, it is not ready.

1. File the top layer. Run the file over the whole nail until the shine is gone. That lets the acetone in. You do not need to reach the colour.
2. Protect the skin. A little oil or petroleum jelly around the nail so the acetone does not dry it out.
3. Soak and wrap. Soak a piece of cotton wool in acetone, place it on the nail and wrap the finger in foil so it does not evaporate.
4. Wait 10 to 15 minutes. Warmth speeds it up: a blanket or hands under a warm cloth help.
5. Lift with the stick. Unwrap one finger and push the polish from the cuticle towards the tip. It should come off in flakes. If it resists, wrap it again for five more minutes.
6. Buff and moisturise. A very light buff to even it out, wash your hands and apply cuticle oil and cream.

How long it takes and what it costs

At home it takes about 25 minutes the first time and 15 with practice. At the salon it takes 15 to 20 minutes and, if you are having a new manicure, it is not charged separately.

Mistakes that damage the nail

Almost all the damage blamed on gel polish comes from removing it badly, not from wearing it. These are the mistakes we see every day.

• Peeling or scraping it off. The worst one: it takes the top layers of the nail with it and leaves it thin, soft and with white patches for months.
• Filing down to the colour. File too much and you reach the nail. You only need to take off the shine.
• Not waiting. If the polish does not lift with the stick, it needs more minutes in acetone, not more force.
• Sharp metal tools. An orange stick is enough and does not scratch.
• Acetone without protecting the skin. It dries the cuticle and encourages hangnails.
• Skipping the moisturiser. The nail comes out of the acetone dehydrated; oil restores its flexibility in a couple of days.

What to do after removing gel polish

The freshly uncovered nail is dehydrated and a little rough. Two or three days of cuticle oil morning and night, a strengthener if it feels soft and, if you want colour again, a base coat first. There is no need to "rest" for weeks if the nail is healthy, but if it looks thin or patchy, give it a week or two with strengthener only.

If the nail looks yellowish once the polish is off, here is why nails turn yellow and how to fix it.

How we remove it at the salon

At nails and the city we remove it by thinning the product with an e-file and acetone, little by little and without peeling, to respect the natural nail as much as possible. Then we work the cuticle dry, as in the Russian manicure, and the nail is ready for the new colour. Removal is included in the price of gel manicures because, for us, looking after the nail matters as much as the result.

If you only want it off so the nail can rest, we do that too: ask for removal without a manicure, on hands or feet, when you book your appointment.