Take off Fake Nails
Fake nails are a great alternative to using nail polish. Instead of going back to the nail salon, why not remove them yourself? This article will show you several methods of doing that.
Contents
10 Second Summary
1. Clip and file the acrylic nails.
2. Place some petroleum jelly onto the cuticle area.
3. Fill a glass bowl with acetone nail polish remover.
4. Dip your nails into the bowl for 15 to 20 minutes.
5. Remove your acrylic nails.
6. Wash your hands thoroughly.
7. Use a nail buffer to remove any extra glue.
8. Dry off your hands and apply some olive oil to your nails and fingers.
Steps
Soaking Your Nails
- Clip your acrylic nails down as far as you can. Use a nail clipper and carefully clip your nails until they are as short as possible. Having shorter acrylic nails will make removing the acrylic nails much easier.
- Use a nail file to file off the topcoat on your nails. The topcoat is the gel layer that makes the acrylic nails shiny. Filing your topcoat down will allow the acetone to work better.
- Place a small dab of petroleum jelly onto the skin near the bottom of your nails. This will moisturize your cuticles.
- Fill a glass bowl with acetone nail polish remover. You will use this bowl to soak your nails in.
- Dip your nails and the tips of your fingers inside the bowl. Leave them there for 15 to 20 minutes. The acetone in the nail polish remover will weaken the glue that binds the acrylic nails to your real nails.
- Remove your acrylic nails. Use your other hand to peel off the acrylic nails. The glue should be very weak or will have been taken off entirely.
- If the glue has not been softened enough, place your nails back in the acetone until the glue has loosened. Alternatively, you can use an orangewood stick to scrape off your acrylics. Orangewood sticks are shaped like a pencil with a rounded end and a sharp, pointed end. They are great for scraping acrylics off and are used in most salons. You can purchase them at most drug stores.
- Wash your hands thoroughly. Washing your hands will remove any excess nail polish remover and will also wash away the petroleum jelly.
- Use a nail buffer to remove any extra glue. Run the nail buffer along your nails until they are smooth and there is no glue left.
- Dry off your hands and rub several drops of olive oil to your nails and fingers. Massage your hands and nails with the olive oil for five minutes. Doing this will bring back the natural moisture that your hands will have lost while they were soaking in the acetone.
- Alternatively, you can simply use moisturizing lotion to massage your hands with.
Removing your Nails with Dental Floss
- Find a friend to help you. This method requires another person because two hands are needed to remove fake nails with dental floss.
- Gently pry off the fake nails. Place an orangewood stick at the bottom of the fake nail and slowly pry up the bottom edge of the nail.
- Have your partner slide the dental floss under the bottom edge of the nail. He or she should sit across from you and face you. Once he or she has slid the dental floss under the bottom part of the nail, he/she should hold each end of the floss in one hand.
- Tell your partner to begin working the floss back and forth under the nail. Use the floss to pull the nail up slowly and gently. Continue this sawing motion until the fake nail can be fully removed from the natural nail. Make sure your partner does not yank at the nail-if he/she were to yank too hard, your natural nail could come off with your fake one.
- Repeat this process for all of your other nails.
- Use a nail buffer to remove any excess glue and to smooth out your nails. Peeling your fake nails off may have left your natural nails a little scratched up, so buffing them will smooth them back out.
- Apply moisturizer to your hands and massage them together. This will also smooth out any scratches on your nails.
Wrapping Your Nails
- Clip your acrylic nails as short as possible. As in the soaking method, the shorter you can cut your acrylic nails, the better. Removing your acrylic nails are much easier when they are shorter.
- File off the topcoat of your acrylic nails. Filing off the topcoat will allow the acetone to work more effectively on your nails.
- Soak your cotton balls in the acetone. You will need one cotton ball for each nail. After they have soaked thoroughly, place a cotton ball on each of your fingernails.
- Wrap your tin foil strips around the cotton ball and your finger. Wrap them tightly so that the cotton ball does not move around at all.
- If you feel like the tin foil will not stay in place, you can put rubber bands around each of your tin foil wrapped fingers.
- Keep the cotton balls and tin foil on your fingers for 30 minutes. During this time, the acetone will set and weaken the glue that holds the acrylic nail to your natural nail. Set a timer so that you do not leave the acetone on for too long.
- Remove the tin foil and cotton balls. Take your orangewood stick and scrape off your acrylic nails. Scrape them off gently so that you do not damage your nails. Wash your hands after your have scraped off the acrylics.
- Use your nail buffer to remove any extra glue. Gently run the nail buffer along your nails until they are smooth and no glue is left.
- Wash your hands again and dry them thoroughly. Place a few drops of olive oil on your hands and massage them thoroughly. The olive oil will replace any moisture lost during the acetone soaking process. Continue to apply oil over the next several days to replenish your hands’ moisture.
- If you do not want to use olive oil, you can also use moisturizing hand lotion.
Warnings
- Be gentle. Your nails have been damaged in the "fake nail process" so don't just pull them off coldly.
- Don't take the cotton balls off too soon otherwise the nails will harden again.
- Acetone is a dangerous and volatile organic compound. It is highly flammable and its vapors can be explosive in concentrations.
Things You'll Need
- A glass bowl
- Petroleum jelly
- Nail Clippers
- Nail File
- Nail buffer
- Acetone
- Cotton Balls
- Tape or foil
- Orangewood Cuticle stick (or any other cuticle stick)
- Olive oil and/or lotion
Related Articles
Sources and Citations
- Videos provided by Andrea Bou Faissal
