How to Safely Remove Acrylic Nails at Home
- Acrylic nails are a fun way to play with different nail looks, but removing them can be difficult.
- Incorrectly taking off acrylic nails can seriously damage the nail bed, so professional removal is always recommended.
- If you don’t have access to a professional, we asked a celebrity manicurist the best tips on how to take off acrylics, ahead.
By day 15 of wearing acrylic nails, your fingertips might start to feel uncomfortable – borderline painful – from having the heavy material sitting on top of them for so long. It’s typically recommended that acrylics are not worn for more than two weeks, but we’d be lying if we said we always strictly adhered to that rule and, even more so, if we said we always went to a professional when the time comes to remove them.
We know that attempting to remove your acrylics at home without the proper tools can weaken and damage the nails, but it can be much more dangerous that we thought. Professional manicurist and Gelish Educator Danielle Candido previously told POPSUGAR, “[Removing acrylic] literally pulls pieces of the nail off with [the polish] if done improperly.” So if you’re anything like us, before you try picking, peeling, or prying off your acrylics, consider the damage that you’ll be causing to your nails.
The best way to remove your acrylics is always to have a licensed technician do it for you, but if that is not an option for you, there are still safer options than removing acrylics with hot water or vinegar. To help guide us, we asked celebrity nail artist Elle Gerstein, who has clients like Blake Lively, Jennifer Lopez, and Jessica Chastain, to give us the best tips to remove acrylic nails at home. From the products needed to ensuring the health of your nails, here’s the easiest way to remove acrylic nails at home.
