It might be that time of the month where you make an appointment to the nail parlour to get your gel manicure removed or replaced. However, with the recent decision of the Circuit Breaker, that is rather impossible. But fret not! If your nails are growing and your gel manicure looks displeasing, you can always remove them at home. How you ask? Beauty Insider gives you a step by step guide on how to remove your gel manicure at home!

Step 1: Use protection

Since you will be soaking your nails in an acetone nail polish remover, it is vital that you shield the skin around your nails before you begin. This is because the Acetone dries out your skin. For this, you can either use cuticle oil, or cream. If you don’t have either one, you could also opt for Vaseline.

Step 2: File ’em

What you need to do is get yourself a coarse nail file and buff off the top layer of your gel manicure. Why? Because you have to break the top layer of the gel open to allow the acetone to penetrate in. Start buffing slowly and stop once the shine has gone.

Step 3: Soak cotton with Acetone

Next, soak a piece of cotton ball or pad with acetone and place it on your nails. Do take note that it has to be 100$ pure acetone and not the standard nail polish remover. The regular nail polishes do contain acetone but in smaller and diluted quantities.

You can remove gel manicure with regular nail polish remover but you would need to let it soak into your nails for a longer period of time. On the other hand, acetone effectively breaks down the gel polish.

Step 4: Wrap cotton balls with Aluminium foil

Now, to hold the cotton in place and for your nails to have the maximum benefit of the acetone, hold the cotton ball in place, grab a roll of aluminium foil and cut them into small squares about 3 inches by 3 inches. Then, wrap each finger to secure the cotton ball in place. Start this step with your non-dominant hand to make it easier for you.

Step 5: Wait 10-20 minutes

Now for the part that will test your patience. You will need to allow your fingers to soak in those cotton balls soaked with acetone and wrapped in aluminium foil for about 15 to 20 minutes. This is for the acetone to penetrate the gel nail polish completely. You could watch an episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine to pass your time!

Step 6: Remove Gently

When removing the foil, the gel manicure should slide right off with the cotton ball. If there is some residue still stuck to your nails, use a toothpick or your thumbnail to work it off. If it is still stubborn and refuses to peel right off, repeat the soaking method with the cotton, acetone and aluminium foil. One thing to keep in mind is, never scrape off the polish from your nail until it is fully softened.

Step 7: Hydrate!

Use cuticle oil on your nail beds to rejuvenate and restore moisture to them. This is because of the acetone that dries out your nails. It is said that acetone removes oils from the nails but it does not damage the nail bed. If you do not have cuticle oil, you could also use Vitamin E Oil or some Coconut oil.

Also, if you’re a visual person like me, here’s a video you could watch to actually see how it is done, step-by-step:

Source: POPSUGAR Beauty