How to Remove Shellac Nail Polish

Shellac nail polish lasts a long time but sometimes you want to change the color. In that case, instead of going to the nail salon, you can try removing the polish yourself at home. This article will show you two ways to remove shellac nail polish.

Table of Contents

Soak your nails

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Apply cuticle oil to the epidermis. Apply cuticle oil to the skin around the nail. Do not wipe off excess oil.

Cuticle oil is a product used to soften and moisturize the epidermis, available at most drugstores. Oiling your cuticles before removing shellac nail polish creates a protective film from the effects of the drying chemicals in the acetone you use in this procedure.

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Pour some acetone into the bowl. Pure acetone is most effective, but nail polish remover acetone will also work if its concentration is around 60% or higher.

Non-acetone or low-acetone nail polish removers are generally not effective when used to remove shellac nail polish. ^{[1] X Research Source}
You can buy pure acetone from most drugstores, but pure acetone will make your nails and skin extremely dry. Therefore, it is best not to use it regularly.
The bowl that you use to store the acetone should have a mouth wide enough for you to put your fist in. You need to pour the amount of acetone about 1.25cm high into the bowl.

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Soak your nails in acetone. Slightly grasp the palm of the hand so that the nails point outward. Hold your hand in that position and dip it in the acetone. Soak nails for about 10 minutes.

It is important that you limit your skin contact with acetone as it will dry out the skin. By holding your hand in this position, you’re dipping only your fingernails and cuticles into the acetone instead of your entire fingertips and hand.
Soak your nails in acetone for a full 10 minutes, even if you see the shellac nail polish come off before the soaking time is up.

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Scrape shellac nail polish. After 10 minutes, remove the nail from the acetone and scrape off the shellac with a wooden stick or nail tool.

To scrape off the shellac, place the flat edge of the wooden stick under the nail and gently push along the length of the nail, underneath the polish. Repeat the process until all the paint has been removed from each nail.
You can also start scraping shellac nail polish in acetone after soaking your nails for 8 minutes. That way, the acetone still has time to continue to clean up stubborn paint stains and you can scrape off the paint that has come off. ^{[2] X Research Source}

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Hand washing. Use warm water and soap to gently remove any acetone and shellac paint from your hands.

After removing the shellac nail polish, you will notice white flakes on your nails and fingers. This is residual acetone and should be washed off with soap and water.

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Apply hand cream and cuticle oil. Rub a generous amount of hand cream on both hands when finished. You should also apply extra cuticle oil around your nails.

No matter how careful you are, acetone will dry out some areas of your skin. Hand cream and cuticle oil will help replace lost moisture and should be applied after hand repair for best results.

Nail wrap

Cut cotton balls and pieces of foil. ^{[3] X Research Source} Cut sterile cotton balls into small squares about the size of a fingernail. Next, cut another piece of foil into squares with sides about 7cm.

You will have 10 square cotton balls and 10 square pieces of foil. You need one piece for each finger.
The square foil should be large enough to wrap tightly around each finger.
You can also use cotton balls in the form of pellets instead of pads. If using the tablet form, there is no need to cut it into small pieces. However, the foil will need to be cut slightly larger to wrap the thick cotton ball.

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Apply cuticle oil to the epidermis. You will apply oil to the skin around the nail.

Cuticle oil is used to protect, soften and hydrate the epidermis. Applying oil before removing nail polish will help prevent cuticles from drying out more than necessary.

Soak cotton wool in acetone. Dip a square cotton ball or cotton ball in nail polish remover acetone until completely wet.

There is some controversy about whether to use pure acetone or diluted acetone to remove nail polish. Pure acetone is most effective but can cause nails and skin to become very dry. In general, you should not use pure acetone very often.
Non-acetone nail polish removers are usually not strong enough to remove shellac polish.

Place the cotton ball on the nail. Cotton wool should be placed directly and covered the entire nail.

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Wrap foil around the nail. ^{[4] X Research Source} Wrap a piece of foil tightly around your finger to hold the acetone-soaked cotton ball in place.

However, you should only wrap the foil tightly enough to hold the cotton ball, don’t pull too tight to tear the paper or have blood circulation problems.
The foil generates heat, which increases the effectiveness of nail polish remover.
Gently press each nail to allow the acetone to adhere to the nail.

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Wait 2 to 10 minutes. The shellac paint comes off after 2 minutes but it will be more effective if you wait the full 10 minutes.

The higher the concentration of acetone, the sooner you can remove the cotton ball.
If you leave it on for longer than 10 minutes, the cotton wool will dry out. When that happens, the cotton ball will stick to the nail and be difficult to clean.

Scrape or wipe off shellac nail polish. Gently scrape off the peeled shellac with a wooden stick or nail tool.

Place the flat edge of the stick under the nail. Gently scrape the length of the nail until all the paint is removed.
You can also wipe the paint off with another cotton ball moistened with nail polish remover acetone.

Advice

If you usually use shellac nail polish, you should remove it properly at the salon. Soaking nails in acetone regularly can cause long-term damage to the skin and nails.
Use a glass or ceramic bowl. Acetone will melt the plastic.
Be gentle when using a wooden stick to scrape off the nail polish so as not to damage the nails.

Things you need

Acetone
Cuticle oil
Small bowl
Wooden sticks or nail tools
Hand cream
Cotton pads or pellets
Silver paper
Soft towel

Steps

Soak your nails

Nail wrap

Advice

Things you need

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