How To Remove A Broken Acrylic Nail

Demand to get your acrylic nails off, but don't have the time or patience to go to the salon? Nosotros've all been there — simply it pays to remove that manicure correctly instead of, say, prying them from your natural nails (ouch!) or mindlessly biting them off while captivated in a TV-watching session. If you're wondering how to accept off your acrylic nails quickly at domicile, we've got you covered — and we've even got an acetone-free option.

Unfortunately, removing acrylics forcefully means removing some of the many layers of your natural nail plate, too, according to Savannah Walker, a professional nail artist and possessor of Manifest Nail in New York City. "Ordinarily this results in thin, flimsy, damaged nails, which last for months until they abound out," she says. And that's the all-time possible scenario! So, if y'all choose to vesture acrylics, we suggest keeping this handy tool kit at home for a damage-complimentary removal:

Tools You'll Need to Safely Remove Acrylic Nails

100% Pure Acetone Nail Polish Remover

EC Labs amazon.com

$thirteen.99

Cotton Balls

Sky Organics amazon.com

$5.99

Wrap Aluminum Foil

Reynolds amazon.com

$17.56

Small Basin

Youngever amazon.com

$xv.99

How to remove acrylic nails at domicile with acetone

Go on in mind, fifty-fifty if yous follow these five steps, you may exist left with somewhat compromised natural nails, depending on how the technician applied them the acrylics in the showtime place and how carefully yous execute the removal. However, "if the acrylic process is done patiently, it can be virtually impairment-free," Walker says. Now, follow these simple steps from nail pros to take acrylics off fast without damage:

1. File off every bit much of the acrylic nail as possible

Instead of filing your nails in the usual way (along the top edge of the blast), you'll need to thin out the entire area the acrylic covers. "Using a coarse grit file , file off equally much of the acrylic product every bit possible," Walker says. "You need a really good file for this; an emery board would be useless." Expect for a 100-grit nail file, which is coarse enough to file down the surface of the acrylics, or a nail drill.

Pro safety tip: "Be careful non to cut the skin around the nails with the edges of the file," she advises. "E'er 'season' a new file by using another file over the edges to soften them."

ii. Soak off any remaining acrylic nail

Close up of woman's hand in bowl of soapy water

altrendo images Getty Images

In one case the acrylic has been filed down much as possible, Walker recommends soaking the nails in 100% acetone nail polish remover for as long as it takes to deliquesce the product.

There are two means to practise this. One method is to place an acet0ne-soaked piece of cotton over each smash, and so wrap each fingertip in foil, Walker advises. "This is the superior technique," she says. Otherwise, you can try soaking fingers in a bowl of acetone. It's simpler, just "the bowl technique is very harsh on your skin and takes longer," Walker notes.

If you do go this route, "only dip your nail tips in the bowl to avoid drying out the skin on your fingers and hands," says Adept Housekeeping Institute Dazzler Lab Manager Birnur Aral, Ph.D. "Be certain to just use acetone in a well-ventilated area, because it is very volatile and can easily irritate your respiratory system."

iii. Gently scrape or vitrify off the last bits of acrylic

After soaking in acetone, check nails "every twenty minutes or and so to scrape off the softened acrylic using an orange stick or cuticle pusher, repeating this process until all the product has been dissolved," Walker says.

There may exist a few modest areas of acrylic that remain, simply don't get rough with them! "If there are any niggling $.25 of acrylic that won't budge, a soft foam nail buffer can exist used to buff those trivial stubborn bits polish," she says.

5. Protect your nails from future acrylic damage

Acrylic isn't necessarily bad for nails, but it tin accept a cost on natural nails. For acrylics devotees, try to have a weeklong break from them every calendar month so your nails' health doesn't completely dwindle. During that time, brush on 1 coat of a strengthening blast treatment every day to prevent breakage, like this moisturizing oil created by nail artist Deborah Lippmann.

To give them an fifty-fifty more intensive treatment, "encompass your nails with cuticle oil and cuticle cream, then wrap each hand in a warm washcloth for five minutes," says manicurist Deborah Lippmann, founder of Deborah Lippmann blast collection. The issue: shinier, stronger nails in no time.

How to remove acrylic nails at home without acetone

You lot can remove acrylic nails without acetone using an acetone-free boom shine remover as a soak-off solution. But know that "if you wish to avoid acetone, it will accept longer to remove acrylics," says Anastasia Totty, a LeChat Nails Educator in Saint Johns, Florida. Here's how:

Commencement by trimming the extra length of the enhancement using nail clippers to cut down on the soaking time, she advises.
Use a 100-grit nail file to remove as much production equally possible without filing into the natural nail. "This will remove any summit coat, gel polish or nail art making information technology easier for the solution to penetrate the enhancement," Totty explains.
Soak a piece of cotton in the remover and wrap your fingertip in a piece of foil near two inches long, with the piece of cotton wool in direct contact with the acrylic, repeating on each finger. Wait 15 to 20 minutes, then remove the foil and cotton and gently push button the soaked product abroad from the cuticle using an orange wood stick or cuticle pusher. "Be patient and don't scrape or peel whatever of it if it's not soaked enough," she says.
If you lot have acrylic left on nails, wrap them again using more than of the remover.
Use the file to shape nails, gently buff if necessary, and wash hands to remove any remaining solution.