getting off gel nails

[sorryformyself33]

I just bought a UV lamp and some bluesky gel nail polish. Really pleased with the polish until I tried to take it off!

I tried soaking my nails in acetone gel nail remover but half of it is still on and its all lumpy! One hand I used tissue paper soaked in it and wrapped in tin foil for 25 mins and the other hand I soaked directly in the acetone.

Please tell me there is a secret to this!!

[girlintheriver]

You need to file the top coating off first before using the acetone. This breaks the seal so to speak

[BlairWaldorfLovesShopping]

You also need to use an orange stick to scrape off any residue left behind, but it shouldn't be too much effort. Also I've never done gel nails at home so don't know what gel nail remover is, but I've only ever used pure acetone. Would never soak my skin in it though! Good luck!

[SnowInLove]

Yep, gently file off the varnish to rough it up, then soak in acetone. They should then scrapy away fairly easily.

[ZootSuit]

Did mine last night! File the top layer gently so it's no longer shiny, then soak a piece of cotton wool in acetone (not sure tissue paper is the right thing to use for this). I used cotton wool pads cut into quarters.
Cotton wool on to nail and then wrap finger tip in a piece of tin foil to keep the cotton wool in place. Leave like that for 10-15 minutes and then use an orange stick to gently push/scrape the polish off, it should come off easily.
Then nail oil to condition.
I copied all this from the lady that does my gel nails as she's away on holiday at the moment and I needed to take mine off!

[FrankUnderwoodsWife]

What zootsuit said. Acetone nail polish remove isn't up to the job. You need pure acetone which you buy over the counter at the chemists.

[bonzo77]

Pure acetone. And the more you can get off with a file first the better. I use a little dremmel drill (sound awful but it's fine)!

[orangeistheonlyfruit]

Yes to pure acetone and also the cotton wool pads and foil. Also when removing mine at the salon they use heated acetone and this speeds up the whole process. Not sure how they heat it up though or whether it's something you can pop in the microwave so maybe heat it over a pan of boiling water in a glass bowl to be safe!

[Vajazzler]

Great tips already but I'd like to add that you shouldn't soak for more than 10 mins at a time as the acetone evaporates and the gel will just re harden. File off the top layer, Soak for 10 then scrape off what you can. If necessary add a bit more acetone to the cotton ball and resoak.