To think if you've paid £24 to have gel nail varnish, it should not cost an additional £12 to have them soaked off?!

[PenguinBear]

We are all at a wedding tomorrow and as dd1 was given a birthday voucher for a manicure.

She went to have her nails done at a local salon this morning and the girl persuaded her to have gel nails (which apparently last longer and are stronger).

At the end she was then told to book an appointment for 2 weeks time and it would £12 to have them soaked off!!!
Surely this should be free or they should have atleast said there would be a cost from the outset.

AIBU? I am not a nail person so not sure what the 'norm' is.
Could we soak them off at home before school starts back?

That's the norm, maybe a bit pricey. You could do it at home but I find it a faff and ruined my nails last time I did it

Did she have nail polish such as shellac or gel nails as in extensions?

Acetone will remove gel, pita but cheaper.

Every salon that I've ever been to (and they are many) has included the price of removal with the initial manicure.
I would be most put out if I was only told after the fact that removal would be half the price again!

It is the norm. However you can do it yourself if you have the patience. Picking it off - which is the temptation - will ruin your nails.

DD had this. I only paid £5.00 at a different salon for removal. We tried to do it at home, but we couldn't.

Hate Gel Nails - they trash your actual nails and are a faff from start to finish. Expensive too.
My friend did mine with a kit she got for christmas. I didn't realise you had to soak them off either and ended up picking them off over a few weeks. Bleurgh!!

(My nails are fine now, btw, despite the picking of nail varnish. But i would never do it again)

Soak cotton wool in acetone. Wrap over nail. Stick tin foil over it to secure. Leave 15 mins or so. Remove - gel will have lifted . Use one of those wooden nails sticks to gently lift. Replace cotton wool for bit longer if not coming away easily. Then use nail oil.

Do you know which type of gel nails she had applied? £12 is steep for a soak off. You could, depending on gel, soak off at home with little effort, or find a mobile technician if you know the brand of gel used. I used to often get people specifically for removals.

You must use pure acetone, or a nail varnish remover containing acetone, or it won't work. Follow Grange's instructions - lots of tutorials available online if you need something visual.

Just what I was about to recommend Grange. Had gel nails for the first time last month, used this process for removal - all fine and own nails not ruined!!

khaleasy gel nails if applied correctly and with a professional product harm your nails a lot less than other enhancements like acrylics. It's important that they are applied by a trained professional. People put in time and effort to ensure you can be given a professional service with a good quality product, it's always upsetting when you hear people being put off a service because of a bad experience - usually from someone unqualified!

Is this shellac rather than Gel? Usually if you're having a new set put on the soak off is included. The exception is shellac, where I am it's around £34 to have applied and 2 weeks later £8 for soak off and another £34 for another application. However gel nails last around 6 weeks.

Gel nails will ruin the natural nail, however shellac isn't as harsh and my nails are the best they've ever been. It is pricey though!

If not planning on having them redone you can get pure acetone and soak them off. Very easy to do at home.

Is it shellac?

If so its incredibly easy to remove it yourself. I shellac and de-shellac my own nails as its so easy and cheap. However all the salons round here do removal free of charge if you got it done by them. I wouldn't go to a salon that didn't, it just shows they don't give a fig about their customers.

They were "O.P.I Gelcolor".

That's fine, it's a simple removal. You need to buy pure acetone, O.P.I is quite stubborn, some cotton wool and tin foil, as Grange said, soak the cotton in acetone, place onto the nail, wrap foil around finger tips, then wrap hands in a towel for some warmth (it helps speed up the process).

Leave for 10 minutes, wiggle the foil wrapped cotton on the nail, then slide off. Most of the colour should be removed. Use an orange stick to gently remove the rest, use more acetone just to wipe over the nail. It's important you then use a replenishing oil on the nail and cuticle to renourish it.

What ever said.

CND solar oil is a great nail & cuticle oil.

Thank you very much for the advice, it is much appreciated! I am still very a little cross that they let a young teenager have it all done without explaining the cost first! Dd is bsisting she has to go back there to get it taken off properly and i have told her the lovely ladies on MN have said we can remove at home. Are these easier to come off the longer they've been on? I thought I'd let her wear them until just before shool starts back.

Where can I buy the acetone and nail oil?

Suppose it must depend where you are and what type of salons you go to??

It is not the norm around me. My salon does it for free regardless of what type of nail you have done.

I'd question it with the manager first before trying to remove yourself.

eBay or amazon is a good place to start, just buy the smallest amounts.

I don't know about OPI gels but certainly CND shellac is a teensy bit easier to get off the longer it's on. That's mainly due to being able to push it off from the regrowth at the bottom though.

Depending on where you are home bargains & b&m sell pure acetone along side the nail varnish removers.

Don't pick the gel off. Also, the acetone made DD's fingers blister as it took so long to come off. I think you are better to find a cheaper salon and let them do it rather than try yourself for the first time.

Pure acetone is usually about £1 a bottle from bargain type shops. Not sure about oil. Boots probably.

What Grange and others have said, except before soaking, you have to rough up the surface of the gel by lightly rubbing a nail file across it till it has lost all the shine. This allows the acetone to soak through the gel. Then after 10 mins soaking the gel will peel off. Use pure acetone as nail varnish remover which just "contains acetone" takes twice as long IME.