How to Remove Shellac Nail Polish

Shellac is a hybrid nail polish that lasts typically 2-3 weeks depending on your nail condition and the care you put into it. If you have chosen to use Shellac on your nails and want to remove it with or without acetone there are actually 2-3 ways to do it at home or at a salon. In this article, we are going to show you all the ways you can do it.

How to Remove Shellac Nail Polish at Home With/out Acetone

Removing Shellac nail Polish at home — Shellac Nail Polish-CND

Before getting to hows, there are a few questions that most people ask.

Does nail polish remover take off shellac?

The answer is yes! Most of the removers are either acetone based or acetone free. The specifically designed to get rid of nail varnish. Here is a guide on the best Nail polish removers.

Shellac removal cost?

It depends on where and who is doing it. Of course if it is at home it will be much cheaper but if it at the salon with specialist you will have to pay more.

How to remove with Acetone

If you want to remove your shellac nail polish at home, there are actually 3 ways to do it: using acetone, using a nail polish remover without acetone, and using a wooden or metal nail pushing stick.

If you are going to use Acetone the process is as follows:

Take aluminum foil and trim it to around 1 inch in height and 2 inches in length enough to cover or wrap your nails. Note: the exact dimensions could be bigger or smaller depending on the actual length and width of your nail and finger.
Take some cotton balls and cut into 10 pieces, enough to cover each nail.
Take one cotton ball at a time and dip it into acetone.
Place the cotton ball directly over the nail and take the aluminum foil and wrap it around the nail.
Repeat the same process (cotton ball dipped in Acetone, then aluminum foil wrap) with the rest of the fingers.
Leave the nails wrapped like that for 3-10 minutes.
After the time has passed, twist and pull the foil wraps and clear any remaining residue with a wooden stick and a new cotton pad saturated with Acetone.

How to take off Shellac Nails at home without Acetone

If you want to remove Shellac Nail Polish at home without Acetone, the same process/steps described above apply but instead of using Acetone, you are going to use Nail polish remover to soak and wrap the nails with Aluminum foil. The only difference is that since nail polish remover is weaker than pure Acetone, you may need to wait a few extra minutes for it to work completely. The easiest way to do this is by using ready and saturated nail polish removal pads and then wrap them with aluminum foil as above.

Another way to remove Shellac nail polish at home without Acetone, is to use an orangewood nail stick or a metal pulling stick. It’s best to use a metal nail pulling stick in this case as its more strong and steady and will do the job more easily. To remove the nail polish, you will simply begin to pull and scrub off from the sides of the nail and it should peel off.

Note: If it doesn’t peel off easily, don’t try to pull too hard or you’ll risk cutting or damaging the nail. The only way to loosen it up so that it peels off more easily, is to press a cotton pad dipped in Acetone for a few seconds to a minute and then pull again with the stick.

Removing Shellac Nail Polish from Toes & Fingernails- Salon

Professional manicurists that use the Shellac system are suggested or trained by the manufacturer (CND) to use the following process when removing Shellac Nail Polish. This process is also called S.I.T which is the acronym standing for all the essential steps for completing it like “Saturate”, “In place”, “Tighten” and “Twist”.

The essential tools for performing this nail polish removal are:

CND shellac removal pads (available in shellac kits online directly from the manufacturer’s website or other sites online)
Pure Acetone
Orangewood sticks for pulling the cuticles.
A timer (optional) for counting 10 seconds after wrapping and twisting the wraps with the acetone on the nail.

The steps are as follows:

First you take a pad, and Saturate the pad with the pure acetone.
Next make sure that you wrap the cotton pad directly over the nail/In place for easy removal.
Thirdly, Tighten the cotton wrap and leave on the nail for 10 minutes (you can set a timer to do this exactly)
Next, apply a bit of pressure to the wrap and the nail with your thumb finger and twist/massage to loosen the coating over the nail.
Finally twist and pull the wrap off the nail.
Optionally: If there are still any nail polish remains over the nail, you can gently push them towards the side with an orangewood nail stick and then clean everything with pure Acetone and a simple cotton pad.

how to remove shellac nail polish with acetone nail remover — Removing shellac at salon

How to remove Shellac Nail Polish off Acrylic Nails

Although it’s not so common to have acrylic nails and Shellac on top, the process used by professionals in this case is:

Filing and buffing the Shellac layer back to the Acrylic.
Soaking cotton pads in pure Acetone and wrapping them with Aluminum foil as mentioned in the steps earlier (leaving for 10 minutes)
Sliding off any residue with a buffer and an orangewood stick.

Can vinegar be used to remove shellac?

Tests show it does not work not only for shellac but also regular polish. According to labmuffin, who did the test, ti looks like this method only really works to soften the nail.

Tips & Ideas to get best results

Tip no1: If you are going to use Acetone remover, make sure that you don’t leave your nails soaked and wrapped for more than 10 minutes as this will damage your nail

Tip no 2: Use the special shellac removal pads for best results—the aluminum foil wraps do work fine as well but they may slight off as you move your hands and you’ll need to reapply them.

Tip no 3: If you have large leftovers, it means that the acetone must be left for another 3 minutes extra at least wrapped on your nail. The more time you leave it, the more easily it will peel off but you also want to make sure you don’t go overboard as you don’t want to damage your nail with Acetone or nail polish remover chemicals.

Find out more Shellac nail polish, colors, kit, how to apply, how it is different from gelish

See also

Originally posted 2021-04-01 06:14:00.