How Do You Take Off Your Acrylic Nails

One time upon a time, my friend sheepishly admitted to me that she removes her acrylic nails past biting and pulling them off. Very promptly, I exploded into a ball of light, the Earth cracked beneath our feet, and centuries of ghosts proceeded to haunt her forever more. This is a true story. Considering the number-one dominion before getting your nails done for the first time? Knowing how to remove acrylic nails the right way.

And surprise, surprise: Taking off your acrylic nails shouldn't be done at home. The safest fashion to remove your acrylic nails is by going to a salon and seeing a trained nail tech who tin remove them without damaging your own nails. "Your natural nails grow out regardless of how long your acrylics terminal, and you'll starting time to see growth at your cuticle beds later on two weeks," Rita de Alencar Pinto, founder of Vanity Projects boom salon in NYC, has told Cosmo.

Which means unless yous're ready to go your acrylics filled once more asap, you should be heading back to the salon to go them professional removed—or, I hate to say it, try to remove them yourself at home. Is this the smartest and safest style? Nope! Is information technology what any professional person would recommend? Nope! Merely I too sympathise that our fourth dimension is express, our lives are busy, and the globe is on fire, and sometimes, yous just need to do some sh*t yourself.

Lucky for you, I parsed through the questionable globe of nail advice to detect the best tutorials on how to remove your acrylic nails without the damage—or, well, without as much damage every bit you'd probably inflict on your own. Continue reading and watching, and maaaaybe consider the easier-to-remove gel nails for your next mani?

The nuts yous'll demand to remove acrylic nails

Acetone

Eternal 100% Pure Acetone

Cotton balls

Dealmed Cotton Balls

Reynolds Wrappers Aluminum Foil Pop Up & Sheets

Tin foil

Reynolds Wrappers Aluminum Foil Popular Up & Sheets

Utopia Care Cuticle Pusher and Spoon Nail Cleaner

Blast scraper

Utopia Care Cuticle Pusher and Spoon Blast Cleaner

How do I remove acrylic nails at dwelling house?

Arrive a machine and drive thyself to a nail salon. Sry, but had to remind you one terminal time of the all-time—and honestly, probably fastest—solution. But if you're at home? The easiest way to remove acrylic nails fast is to cover them with a cotton brawl soaked in pure acetone, wrap your fingers in tin foil, and let them sit down for 30 minutes. The acetone will help break down the acrylics, and so you can vitrify or scrape off the residual with an orange stick or cuticle pusher.

Confused? I gotchu. Stock up on the essentials higher up, then go along scrolling for more in-depth tutorials.

How to remove acrylic nails with acetone

Ah, yes, the archetype removal technique for the boilerplate DIYer. As a ~hot~ tip (literally), try warming up your acetone before starting, which will assistance information technology work faster and more than effectively on your nails. (Notation: Acetone is incredibly flammable, and then don't microwave it—just run the bottle under warm water for a few minutes.)

The steps:

Advisedly clip off your backlog acrylics, cutting them as close as possible to your real nails.
Using a nail buffer, rough up the surface of the smoothen until the shine is completely gone. Removing the top layer helps the smoothen soften faster in the acetone.
Pour 100 percent pure acetone into a tray or bowl and soak your nails in it for five minutes.
With a metal cuticle pusher, gently button the polish off your nails, pushing from your cuticles downward.
Redip your nails for five mins, then gently push button over again. Repeat until your acrylics have completely soaked off.
Buff off the rest of the smaller pieces with your nail buffer.
Massage cuticle oil into your nails to rehydrate them, then vitrify it into your nails with the soft side of a buffer. Finish with another layer of cuticle oil.

The simply 4 smash files and buffers yous'll need

Mischo Beauty Glass Smash File

Breukelen Polished Stay Polished Nail Kit

Tweezerman Neon Buff & Shine Block

IFunson 10 Pcs 7 Way Nail File and Buffers

IFunson 10 Pcs 7 Manner Nail File and Buffers

How to remove acrylic nails with an electric file/blast bit

If you're both lazy and an acrylics aficionado, you lot should seriously consider picking up an electric smash file to make the process way easier and safer on your nail beds. Yes, technically, this is the ~professional~ mode to do it and it'southward definitely a skill to learn, merely that doesn't hateful you lot can't try it at habitation (at your own adventure and by watching a ton of tutorials).

The steps:

Gently and carefully sand downwardly the acrylics with a sanding bit, taking off the superlative layer of your acrylics.
Then soak a cotton swab with 100 per centum acetone, wrap information technology around your nails, and cover it with tinfoil, until all your digits are swaddled in foil.
After 10 to xv minutes of soaking, unwrap your fingers, so remove the backlog acrylic with a cuticle pusher.
Rinse your hands and finish with a cuticle oil.

The 4 best cuticle oils to try rn

Pear Nova Growth Greenish Tea Cuticle Oil

Nash + Pine Hydrate Cuticle Oil

C Care Sweet Almond Cuticle Revitalizing Oil

C Intendance Sweet Almond Cuticle Revitalizing Oil

CND Essentials Nail & Cuticle Oil SolarOil

How to soak off acrylic nails

If an eastward-file sounds like way too much piece of work and you don't exactly have a ton of spare blast trays hanging effectually your house, endeavor the ultra-easy—albeit not exactly environmentally friendly—way of removing your acrylics with a plastic handbag.

The steps:

Cut off your acrylic nails (once again, get equally close to your real nails as possible without actually snipping them off).
Pour 100 percent acetone into a large Ziploc baggie, filling it upwards merely enough to be able to fully submerge your nails.
Tilt the bag to the side and then the acetone pools into i corner, and so stick your hand in the purse, letting your nails soak in the acetone.
Let them sit for 15 to twenty minutes (probably a good fourth dimension to start a Netflix series), so gently scrape off the acrylics with a wooden cuticle stick.
If your acrylics don't button off hands, resoak them for some other 5 minutes, and then try over again.
Vitrify off any remaining residue to finish.

The 4 best nail clippers always (really)

Hawatour Boom Clippers Set

Tweezerman Philharmonic Clipper Set

Morgles Acrylic Boom Clipper

Makartt Acrylic Nail Clippers

Chloe Metzger Deputy Beauty Director Chloe Metzger is the deputy dazzler managing director at Cosmopolitan, overseeing the editorial content and growth strategy of the hair, makeup, and skin space on digital, while likewise obsessively writing about the best hair products for every pilus blazon (curly girl hither; whattup), and the skincare routines that really, truly work (follow her on Instagram to see backside-the-scenes pics of that magazine life).