How To Choose A Nail Polish Remover • Tips From a Nail Pro 

Exactly

Yup I do that all the time - great tip

I have a lot more nail polish than gel polish, so I do the same all the time 😅 I want to use up my polish collection before I start a gel polish collection

@@nightvisitor6079 Yeah, I started getting into nail art in middle school so I built up a collection of regular nail polish throughout middle school and high school but then I started getting into doing my own nail extensions in college so now I have both a regular nail polish collection and gel polish collection 😅 I definitely use more gel than regular polish but I exclusively use regular polish on my toes because I don’t want to have to prep them for gel and I feel like removal/refills would be a pain 😂

@@Jiminie53421 yeah, I also prefer regular polish for pedicures :)

I do this same thing too! Protects the acrylic!

Same. The ingredients have definitely changed in non acetone removers

I love those little pads too! I carry them in my purse and just use two to take my polish off and use a third one to run through all nails and then rub it in cause it’s oily and hydrating for my nails

@@PayneWaterStudio no idea what the magic is but they’re great for sticker residue too. Lol. Love having something that gives a little moisture too.

The only difference in it is a brand name shellac is cnd ‘s gel polish range that’s all .. it’s just gel polish there really is no difference..

I think shellac has ordinary polish mixed in so it can be removed with acetone easier instead of soaking it like you would with straight gel products. Don’t know about the prices though.

Nail tech here 🙋🏼‍♀️ So Shellac is a brand name, and gel polish is the type of product (like Kleenex vs tissues). Shellac is one of the *original* gel polish brands therefore it’s the most well known ☺️ Shellac is expensive for techs to buy so generally shellac manicures have that cost passed on to the client. Other great professional gel polish brands often have lower priced products, so you can charge your client less. Shellac - in my humble opinion - isn’t that great lol. It was revolutionary when it came out, but it isn’t now. It’s been surpassed by other products. As someone above said, Shellac smells like nail polish because it isn’t 100% gel. The issue with this is the polish parts start drying as you apply it, so it can often be more difficult to work with - especially when you’re doing nail art on top of it. If you make a mistake when using 100% gel polishes, you can use some alcohol and wipe the art away to start over, and the base colour stays untouched. With Shellac, wiping over it will smear it and remove some of the colour because the nail polish inside it will start to dissolve. It also doesn’t last as long as 100% gel polish. Shellac is only guaranteed for 2 weeks, and this is part of the reason - normal nail polish breaks down. Shellac is still popular, AND it’s overpriced purely because of its name - not because it’s a better product. Gel polish technology has moved on since then and 100% gel polishes perform much better. It’s why most pro brands are now 100% gel. Now, I’ve personally never seen any salon charging two different prices: one for Shellac and one for another brand, but I’m in the U.K. It may be that in that area, clients “know” the shellac brand and don’t want any other one, so the salon buys in some shades. As I mentioned, Shellac is overpriced, so it costs the tech/salon more to purchase it, therefore the client charge is higher. For clients that aren’t looking specifically for Shellac, their service costs less since other professional brands cost less for the salon to purchase ☺️ Hope that helps!

@@chrishall9880 see above ☺️ Shellac isn’t 100% gel. It’s an older “generation” of gel polish, so it still contains nail polish - hence why it smells like a regular nail polish. It has a slightly different application texture and doesn’t last as long as 100% gel polishes.

@@TallulahFoxxx Thank you for the insight. To me, the advantage of gel polish is that it stays on once you cure it and doesn't dry quick like regular polish so you can manipulate it as you like as long as you don't cure it. So there's not really an advantage to buying Shellac if it behaves like regular polish.

Exactly

I get a can of acetone, add some lavender essential oil, lemon essential oil and vegetable glycerin to it in a polish remover pump bottle. Works just as well and saves money.

Acetone evaporates really, really quickly. There won't be any left on your skin by the time you get to the sink to wash it off. It also works a lot faster to remove polish. My reasoning is one would have to be very confident that the non-acetone remover was proportionally safer, to make up for the fact that you are in contact with it for so much longer. Just something to think about! Ps: I'm also not sure where you learned of acetone's adverse effects in pregnancy but... there's no evidence to suggest it's dangerous for anyone except in extremely high concentrations. I understand if that doesn't change your mind, though!

It contains MEK, a chemical compound that is very similar to acetone, which I'm going to guess is why it works so well. Sounds kind of like a '6 of one, half dozen of the other' situation to me. 😂

Yes. My mom used a similar product like this in the 80s

Thanks for that

Agreed! I have very curved nails, so it only got the center part

They just feel kinda forbidden to use… The one I have is just a sponge with a slit cut into it. But it also removes the trickier spots because it‘s a bit denser… but still weird to do.

You can get a range in retailers in the US. There are multiple acetone free removers, and I’ve noticed that some work better then others.

She may know about it. Many of us just don't care for peel-off base coats. I won't use them for hygienic reasons. Glad to hear you've found something that works so well for you, though!

Great tip

How do u remove the gel polish with acetone ?

The longer the acetone sits on the glove it will eat it

You want to use nitrile gloves, they won’t deteriorate with acetone.

The problem with lacquer thinner is that you can only use it a couple of times in the thick polish before it's not effective. Polish gets thick in the bottle because it's being used before the first coat is dry, basically contaminating the polish. Happens with top coat, a lot, because of impatience... (personal experience, there!)

@@bethnadeau6183 I don't necessarily agree. Nail polish naturally wants to dry and if you do not keep the bottle closed tightly and/or keep it open in a place where air conditioning is running or you live in a dry climate, it's going to thicken or dry up a bit. I feel thinner is pretty effective at maintaining the consistency of some of my older polishes and it never lets me down.

Also it is helpful to clean off the screw threads of the polish bottle, with, you guessed, acetone :) I'd suggest using a lint free wipe for this since you wouldn't want to get lint particles in the polish.

Are you using acetone to remove the oils from your nails? Are you using a primer to prep the nail before starting the work to build the enhancement??

🤣

😮😮

Some non-acetone removers use MEK (methyl ethyl ketone), which is a similar chemical compound to acetone. It's a powerful solvent but I haven't personally used it to try to take gel off. Might be worth looking into but of course, no guarantees -- it might turn out that you're sensitive to that as well. Wishing you luck!

@@phantomkate6 thank you so much for the advice!

Acetone will also sanitize

Simply add oil

I still won’t when doing client cause my fingers can add the pressure to remove much faster than swishing

@@NailCareerEducation oh yes, I just use them for myself.

Yes, agree!

Any acrylic powder is beginner friendly- it’s the monomer that you need to at attention too. It’s also the technique

Omg thanks