How do I take off gel nails?

Fingernail polish remover

So they are gel and not acrylic? Be sure which it is. If it is truly gel, then they must be filed off. Gel cannot be soaked off. If the person who did your nails used any liquid & powder in the application of your nails, then you have acrylic nails, and not gel nails… gel is never a powder. That being said, if you have real UV gel nails, then acetone will NOT remove it… acetone only removes acrylic nails.) Also, remember to not force them off in any way, such as tearing them off, or using anything to pry them off! Doing so WILL cause damage to your natural nails by taking a few layers of the nail along with the fake nail. This is true for either acrylic, or gel nails.

The way I taught my students to remove gel from the nail bed is as follows:

1. Cut as much as you can off the length because under the gel overlay will remain a very soft nail bed & will eventually break or crack in due time, so instead of waiting for that brittle nail to break or crack make sure you just trim it & allow it to regrow stronger & healthier. Now, you can file them down but make sure to be using a zebra nail file which is to be used more as a buff rather then a regular rough nail file. As you file down, make sure you keep checking through the dust bu brushing it off. You dont want to be rough on the mails because you cant tell where the last layer of gel is and where the first layer of the natural nail bed is, so please be careful!!!

2. Another way I would teach my students how to remove gels would be as follows: a. remove the sealer first, which is the shiny part of the gel nail. b. use some cotton balls, dissolve them in either acetone or liquid gel remover and place them directly on the nail bed. c. now take a bit of tin foil(that’s right regular tin foil will do) the size of a square and completely wrap the nail with the tin foil (the shiny part inwards the mate part outwards) to keep it activated for no less then 15 mins. d. now using an orange stick, begin to remove any gel. Please be careful, if the gel is still on the nail bed, do not rip, tear pr attempt to pull of the nail bed or it will tear layers of the natural bed causing it massive damage. If there is still more gel left on the nail plate, repeat step 2 and try again.

3. make sure after you have removed all the gel from the nail beds, wash your hands with soap from any acetone left over, and you will want to either place a clear top coat to strengthen the nail bed.

4. once the polish is dry i would brush on cuticle oil to hydrate the cuticles or use a moisturizer and massage it into the nail beds & around the cuticles.

Hope this helps.