Easy DIY Removing Gel Polish At Home

How to Remove Shellac & Gel Nails

Admittedly, gel polish is one of my favorite beauty products in the world! It doesn’t chip and lasts for weeks, making my manicures look effortless. However, removing gel polish can be difficult, especially without heading back into the salon. With Stay at Home orders in place due to COVID-19, I took matters into my own hands (pun intended) and learned how to remove gel polish at home! Heres how you can DIY gel/shellac polish removal (also be sure to check out this post on DIY matte polish).

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Products Needed to Remove Shellac Nails

• acetone
• tin foil
• cotton pads
• cuticle pusher

Additional (Optional) Products

• cuticle removal cream
• cuticle clipper
• strengthening clear coat polish

Removing Gel Polish: The Process

1. Prepare Foil & Cotton Pads

To prepare the foil, cut it into 2 in by 4 in pieces, just enough to wrap securely around your finger (but don’t do that yet!). Pull apart the cotton pads, creating fluffy balls (you don’t want them condensed or stuck together) about the size of a quarter. Once both of those have been done, place the cotton in the middle of the foil rectangles and soak in acetone. You will need ten of these, or one for each finger. Leave these assembled through the next step.

2. File Gel Polish

In order to access the gel polish, the top coat will need to be broken down. This is done by filing the top layer of the nail polish. You’ll know this has been accomplished when the polish looks dull and matte, but is still intact (do not file down the nail, only the polish).

3. Soak Fingernails

Now that the products and the top layer of polish have been prepared, it’s time to soak! Place the cotton pads directly over the nail and wrap the tin foil around the finger to hold in place. Keep on fingers for 10-15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the polish. Make sure not to over-soak as the acetone is hard on fingernails and skin.

4. Push off Polish

The final step in gel polish removal is pushing the broken down polish off the nail bed. Use a cuticle pusher to gently scrape the polish away from the cuticle. This should easily be removed; if polish is sticking to the nail, soak for longer in order to avoid damaging the nail by scraping too hard.

Healing After Removing Gel Polish

Clean-up Cuticles

One of the best ways to make fingernails appear well-kept is cleaning up cuticle beds! To do so, I like to apply cuticle removal cream, let it sit for a minute, and then use a cuticle clipper to gently remove the excess cuticles. Be careful not to over-do the removal, which leads to sore and cut cuticle beds! Pro Tip: apply the cream and use a cuticle pusher to apply pressure and push back cuticles that have grown onto the nail bed.

Apply Strengthening Coat

In my humble opinion, this is the most important part of the process to keep nails strong and healthy! After I have removed the polish and cleaned up cuticles, I apply a strengthening top coat (this is a clear polish). This gives a finished look while also providing added protection to nails that may be damaged or brittle.

If you’re doing more at-home projects, you’ll love this simple way to clean your makeup brushes! What DIY beauty projects have you been taking on while at home during quarantine?