With shellac’s glossy finish and chip-free formula your nails will maintain their fresh and professional finish. Therefore treating yourself to shellac nails is a great way to keep your nails in tip top condition for up to 14 days.
Having said that when they do start to chip and it’s time to take them off it is important that you follow the correct procedure to avoid causing any damage to your nails. Do not peel them off, however tempting that might be. It is best to get your shellac nail varnish taken off professionally at the salon. However, if you are unable to do this here is a DIY step by step guide to removing the shellac paint yourself! Due to the formula of the shellac paint regular nail varnish will not take the paint off. Therefore to take your shellac nails off you will need:
-100% acetone nail varnish, you can purchase this from most stores
-A buffer
-Cuticle stick
-Cotton wool
-Aluminium foil (yes kitchen foil!)
-Moisturiser
Now follow these steps to remove that stubborn shellac polish!
1. Firstly use the buffer on all of your nails, this will start to break down the shellac formula and remove the shine.
2. Next prepare your cotton pieces, you will need at least one for each finger. Soak the cotton wool in the acetone nail varnish. In order for acetone to be most effective you will need to make sure that cotton wool is completely soaked.
3. Break up the foil into ten pieces, be mindful that you will be using this foil to wrap around each finger, therefore you will need to make sure the pieces are big enough to adequately cover the finger and cotton wool that you will be applying.
4. Next you will need to place the cotton wool on top of each nail and secure by wrapping the tin foil around the nail. Do this for all of your nails.
5. You will have to wait for at least 10 minutes in order for the acetone to successfully soak into your nails. If you have enough time leave the cotton wool wrapped in foil around your fingers for 20 minutes.
6. When the time is up, remove all the foils and cotton wool from your fingers. If the acetone was a success the paint on your nails should be starting to crumble and flake.
7. Now it is time to take the cuticle stick and gently scratch and scrape away the paint until it is all successfully removed.
8. After the paint has been removed it is likely that your nails will be looking dry and maybe a little rough. Use the buffer on all of your nails and get them looking as good as new again.
Top tip: once the shellac nail paint is removed, apply a small amount of moisturiser to each nail and massage into the nail and cuticle to add that extra moisture.
