Hello Hello!
So I realized I've never posted an entry about removing acrylics. If you didn't know, I do my own acrylics. Yes, that includes taking them off to put a fresh new set on. I know from personal experience, that yes, taking acrylics can be painful - IF not done properly.
At nail salons, a lot of times, if you're just removing your old acrylics to get new ones, they won't take the time to soak your nails. Instead, they'll simply try prying it off by cutting and sliding the nail tips underneath to pop them suckers off. However, this is both damaging to your nail and very painful.
I've had some nail technicians pull a layer of my natural nail off and cause me to bleed by doing this process.
If you are specifically going to take your nails off, they let you soak your nails. They charge about $10 to do this! Ridiculous! It's so much cheaper to do it yourself.
So here's how I remove my acrylics.
//MATERIALS NEEDED/WHAT I USED//
- aluminum foil - doesn't matter the brand. I picked up a roll at the Dollar Tree
- cotton balls - same as above
- pure acetone - "Beauty Secrets - Pure Acetone" from Sally's Beauty Supply
TIP: It needs to be pure acetone! All nail polishes have acetone, but pure acetone is what you need!
- nail tips - doesn't matter the brand. I purchased the press on nails from the Dollar Tree
- old towel that you don't care about ruining.
TIP: It might be hard doing both hands at once, so I suggest that you do one hand at a time. That's what I do.
STEP 1.
Cut out the aluminum foil from the roll. I'd say cut off about 14 inches to be safe.
STEP 2.
Fold the sheet in half hot dog style. Fold the sheet into 5 rectangles or squares hamburger style. Unfold the foil. In the end you should have 5 rectangles or squares, one for each finger. Since you folded it, you should have 10 total.
TIP: You should be cutting the rectangles or squares to fit your finger. Everyone's finger is different. You just want to make sure that the foil will wrap around your finger and is not too small.
STEP 3.
Cut apart the foil. Cut along the lines where the rectangles or squares should be.
STEP 4.
Take your old towel, place it underneath your hands like at the nail salon. Take a cotton ball, soak it with your acetone.
STEP 5.
Take a piece of the foil, place it underneath your nail, place the soaked cotton ball on top of your nail. Fold the foil over the cotton ball to keep it in place.
TIP: Be careful!
STEP 6.
Repeat steps 4 & 5 till all 5 or 10 fingers are covered.
STEP 7.
Wait 30 minutes for the acetone does it's job. DO NOT EXCEED 30 minutes.
STEP 8.
When removing the foil off your finger, gently twist the cotton ball as it comes off. You're trying to get rid of as much acrylic as possible.
STEP 9.
Repeat STEP 8 for every finger.
STEP 10.
When you first remove the foil and cotton ball, the remaining acrylic on your nail will be a little sticky.
Take your nail tips and GENTLY start pushing the tip underneath your old acrylic.
STEP 11.
After repeating STEP 10 on every finger, use a cotton ball with acetone on it and gently rub it onto every single finger. This helps remove any acrylic that you might have missed.
STEP 12.
Lightly buff your nails, and use a nail strengthening nail polish.
You're done! I know that this is a very tedious job, but it gets it done, and it's relatively cheap! I spent for everything less than $10! The most expensive thing I purchased was the acetone from Sally's.
There's is one other way to remove your acrylics, if you do not want to mess around with the foil and cotton balls is to purchase
Wearable Nail Soakers off of eBay. I purchased them and am waiting for them to arrive. I'll post a review on them later.
Hope this helps!
Stace.
