How to Remove Acrylic Nails, Gel Nails, and Gel Polish

          I have heard an excessive amount of horror stories from ladies who go to certain nail salons for acrylic or gel nail repair or nail removal.   What makes these stories horrific is when I hear how they have had the artificial nail removed!  Ladies, it is UNACCEPTABLE, nor is it protocol, to rip off the acrylic or gel nail.  Fast… Yes.  Painful… Extremely!  Can they be removed easily and without pain?  Absolutely Yes!!!

          What type of nail do you have?  It is very easy to tell.  If a liquid is dipped into a powder then it is an Acrylic product.  If the product comes out of a pot or bottle already mixed and it is very clear and then each layer is cured under a gel lamp, then it is a Gel nail.  Some women are told that they have Gel nails when in fact they have Acrylic nails with a Gel overlay.  If a liquid and powder is mixed, placed on the nail, filed and then a clear product is placed on the nail and cured under a gel lamp, then you have an Acrylic nail with a Gel sealer.  So how are these types of nails supposed to be removed?

           Acrylic nails, with or without a Gel Sealer, are the easiest to remove without damage, provided you are not wearing MMA Acryilc Nails.  This technique can also be used to remove Gel polish and Shellac Polish in only 10 minutes.  For Acrylic or soak off Gel nails, just follow these simple steps:

1.       If the nail is very thick or you have a Gel Sealer on your nails, file down the thickness and/or gloss without filing into the natural nail.

2.       Place a piece of cotton, saturated in pure acetone, on your nail.

3.       Wrap the tip of your finger in aluminum foil, shiny side facing in toward your nail to hold in the heat of your finger.

4.       After approximately 10 – 15 minutes, remove the foil and cotton and GENTLY scrap off the acrylic product with a wooden manicure stick. For Gel polish and Shellac polish, you can just clean the nail with the remaining cotton to remove any additional residue.

5.       Repeat this process until the entire acrylic nail is removed.

          With Gel nails (unless it is a Soak Off Gel), it is a little more precise.  You must simply file it off, being careful not to file too much into the natural nail.  Start from a coarse nail file and work your way to a finer file, the closer you get to your natural nail.

          Once the nail is removed, you can replace the nail or lightly buff the nail and apply a nail strengthener of your choice.  Some of my favorite “after artificial nails” products are Jessica’s Restoration Base Coat and Salon Science’s Starting Over After Artificials.  Plus, there is a host of other great nail strengthening products such as OPI’s Nail Envy, Nailtrition, Nail Magic by Haken, American Classic’s Gelous Nail Gel Polish, CND’s Toughen Up, Essie’s Millionails, and many, many more, too many to mention.

       
          Again, it doesn’t matter if you remove the artificial nail at home or in the salon, it should not be painful. 

Remember… Pain equals more damage to the natural nail.

          Don’t put yourself through the torture of having your nails ripped off!  If you are in the nail salon, and if the technician is about to try to rip your acrylic or gel nail off, tell them NO.  Tell them you want them removed the safe way.  And if they won’t do it, get up and leave. Have your Acrylic or Gel nails removed the safe way only, and know your natural nails will be better for it.

You can recover from artificial nails!
Caring for your nails and skin is easy if you just take a little time and use good products on your skin and your hands.

If you want to learn what to do with your nails after you've removed your acrylic or gel, see the blog post  
"The Secret to Artificial Nail Recovery"

FINDING A “well manicured” NAIL SALON/TECHNICIAN

Part 4 of 4

Congratulations!  You’ve found a great salon and a fantastic nail technician.  Here are just a few added practices that you can do for yourself and for your nail technician.

A Few Added Guidelines

1.      Never shave or wax your legs within 24 hours of a pedicure. Don’t leave yourself open by giving bacteria or infection a way into your skin and body.

2.      Cutting callus (especially with a razor), cutting ingrown toenails or cutting live skin is not permitted in a salon environment.  These types of procedures are for the doctor’s office only. Please do not expect your nail technician to act as a physician.

3.      Do not expect service to be performed on any infected area (skin, nail, foot, etc), please see a physician before attempting any kind of nail service. 

4.      You should not go to a nail salon for a services if you have a contagious or infectious disease (fungus, athlete’s foot , eczema) or any other unhealthy conditions of the skin or feet.

5.      For those who are unaware, nail service prices usually do not usually include a tip for the technician.  Please use the same tipping principles for your technician as you would for a waitress or waiter.

Just a few simple steps to assure your perfect nail experience! Manicures and pedicures are a wonderful way to relax and take care of yourself, just be informed and sit back and let your favorite nail tech lead the way!  And may you both enjoy each other’s friendship for many years to come!

 

Read Part 1 in this series!

The Basics

Read Part 2 in this series!

A Simple Checklist

Read Part 3 in this series!

Five Easy Questions

    

 

FINDING A “well manicured” NAIL SALON/TECHNICIAN

Part 3 of 4

So you are in the salon of your choice and you’ve seen some of what they can do and you’ve determined, on sight, that you may want to utilize them as a service provider.  This is where you really learn if you can trust them.  It doesn’t matter if you are there for a full set of acrylic or gel nails, a shellac or basic manicure or even a pedicure, here is where you ask your technician a few simple questions that you are entitled to ask.  Don’t be afraid to ask these questions, it shows that you are an informed and intelligent consumer. 

What to Ask

1.      Can they show you a current beauty license when asked?

2.      Can they explain their sanitizing/disinfecting process for their files, buffers and implements? 

3.      Does the sanitizing solution look contaminated?  Sometimes it’s hard to tell.  If uncertain, ask!

4.      Can they explain their sanitizing process in between clients for the foot spa?  IF you are concerned ask if they have a sanitizing logbook for daily sanitation processes of their foot spas?  This is not always a nail salon requirement, some states require it, some states do not.  If they have one, they should not mind you asking for it.

5.      What product brand do they use to create their artificial nails?  Can they give you an answer or is it “proprietary”?  Ask to see the original container if it is in an unmarked one. This could be a potential indicator of MMA.

After getting a few satisfying answers from your technician, you are on your way to a perfect nail experience. Now relax and let your new nail technician lead the way to manicure and/or pedicure bliss.

 

Read Part 1 in this series!

The Basics

Read Part 2 in this series!

A Simple Checklist

Read Part 4 in this series!

Added Guidelines

FINDING A “well manicured” NAIL SALON/TECHNICIAN

Part 2 of 4

In part 1, I gave you some of the basic knowledge when trying to find the right nail salon/technician. But how do you know if they are being safe and sanitary.  Here is a great checklist to help make you comfortable about your choice of nail salon/technician.  When you are relaxed about the technician and the salon you are in, your nail experience is better because you have more peace of mind!!! Remember, you are there to relax, and not come home with a toenail fungus.

Simple Observations in the Nail Salon

1.     Does the salon, nail station, and/or pedicure area look clean?  Clean is good.  Dirty stations and floors with nail clippings, etc, should make you wonder how clean is everything else?

2.     Have you observed the technician cleaning their implements and sanitizing their implements in liquid sanitizers?  Does the sanitizing solution look contaminated?  All sanitizing liquids are different, but a clean liquid should usually look free of debris.

3.     Do they consult with you and ask questions before performing a service?  People who are diabetic, have peripheral vascular disease, neuropathies, or who are on blood thinning medications should be especially cautious, especially before pedicure services.

4.     Do the files, buffers and other tools look clean?  Did they come out of a clean drawer/container or directly out of a sanitizing solution? 

5.     Are you provided with clean linens and towels?

6.     Do they wash or sanitize your hands/feet AND their own hands before providing any nail service?

7.     Did you observe them cleaning and sanitizing the foot spa in between every client? This should be done before you put your feet in it.  All implements, basins, and bowls must be clean and disinfected before a pedicure service.

8.      Do they use an implement to forcibly remove or pry off artificial nails?  Is this nail service painful or does it damage your skin and/or nails?  Remember, nail services should never be painful!

9.      Do they use care when using an electric filing machine (drill)? Are the bits clean and sanitized? 

10   Do they use a spatula when retrieving product from jars and containers? They should never use their hands for this process.

11   Is the salon using products from unlabeled or unmarked containers? If so ask them to provide you with the label or ask not to use it. 

12  Concerning acrylic nails: Does the acrylic liquid used in creating acrylic nails have an unusually strong odor?  Is the nail enhancement extremely difficult to file or does it require more than an hour to soak off?  Both are possible indicators of MMA.

13  Does your technician use a coarse nail file when “roughing up” the surface of your own natural nail before applying your acrylic nail? While some “roughing up” is required in preparation of an artificial nail, usually a medium grit file is all that is needed, just to remove the shine. 

 

Read Part 1 in this series!

The Basics

Read Part 3 in this series!

Five Easy Questions 

Read Part 4 in this series!

Added Guidelines

 

 

FINDING A “well manicured” NAIL SALON/TECHNICIAN

Part 1 of 4

          I receive numerous questions about choosing the right nail salon/technician. Most consumers assume that if they are in business, they have customers, then they must be safe and sanitary. Unfortunately this isn’t always true. Rather than bore you with a list of laws and regulations I am going to provide you with a handy checklist and a few insights to make your nail experience even better!!! Remember you are there to relax, coming home with a fungus (or much worse) definitely wouldn’t be an AHHH experience.

The Basics

1.     Nail Technicians need to be licensed within the state that they practice and these licenses should be posted and visible to the public. 

2.     All salons and nail technicians should clean and sanitize stations, implements, and tools between every client.

3.     Nail services shouldn’t be painful nor should they damage the nail or skin.  If there is any pain ask the tech to stop.

4.     The use of MMA (Methyl Methacrylate) is prohibited from use by the FDA on soft tissue like nails and it’s illegal to use on nails in most states. (MMA is the chemical adhesive used to apply acrylic nails and the like)  In an educational update, the Nail Manufacturers Council (NMC) issued this statement:  “Serious adverse skin reactions and permanent nail deformities are only part of the risk of using MMA.--- Some of the primary consumer complaints range from ‘skin allergy, loss of sensation in the fingertips, permanent loss of the nail plate,’ usually the result of repeatedly exposing the client’s soft tissue to the monomer liquid.”

 

Read Part 2 in this series!

A simple checklist

Read Part 3 in this series!

Five easy questions

Read Part 4 in this series!

A few added guidelines to your nail care comfort.