Gel Nails Craze - how to remove at home

My friend asked me the other day if I've ever taken gel (or shellac) nail color off at home because she was interested in saving money and doing it herself. 

Now, if you haven't tried shellac color polish yet you have to!  It is a girl's best friend.  Anyone that has ever done dishes, gone in a pool, or simply almost any every day task and ruined a perfectly good manicure can understand the need for a better option to color your nails.  Well recently gel nail color has been getting a lot of attention, and a lot of girls I know are trying it.  This is a picture of a shellac french manicure after 3 weeks.  You heard correctly, that was 3 weeks and not a chip!  You can see it has grown out at the base, but it is barely noticable.  Now if you get a color it will be easier to see it growing out, so you may not want to keep it 3 weeks, but I tend to anyway. 

  

I wrote a post not too long ago endorsing gel nail color (you can read it here).  However I've changed my mind about the best way to remove the color.  The method listed in the original blog post involves wrapping your individual fingers in foil and can be quite cumbersome.

Here are my new tips...

• soak your nails in 100% acetone for 15-20 minutes
• use an orange stick (or your thumb nail if it is strong enough) to scrape the peeling polish off
• put both hands into a shallow bowl that is placed on top of a thick large cutting board (to avoid fumes ruining the surface you are on like wood or granite)
• cover your hands with a hand towel so you don't have to breathe in the acetone fumes
• once the polish is off, I use a square foam file (like this one) to smooth the nail
• slather some lotion or oil on your nails to keep them healthy (I like to prick a Vitamin E capsule with a pin and apply that to my nails)