How to Safely Remove Acrylic Nails at Home

Follow these expert tips on how to take off acrylic nails at home if you can't make it to the salon. These tips work with acetone or without.

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Acrylic nails are fun, but removing them can be difficult.
Incorrectly taking off acrylic nails can seriously damage the nail bed, so professional removal is recommended.
If you don’t have access to a professional, we asked a celebrity manicurist for the best tips on how to take off acrylics.

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 than 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 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 ensure the health of your nails, here’s the easiest way to remove acrylic nails at home.

How Long Do Acrylic Nails Last?

According to celebrity manicurist Julie Kandalec, acrylic nails can last up to three weeks if applied correctly. However, your natural nails grow out as the acrylics grow out, so your natural nails start to get weighed down. With proper maintenance, you can keep your nails for as long as you want and have them rebalanced as often as you like.

When to Take Off Acrylic Nails

Because of the weight of acrylic nails, experts recommend you take a break from them every few months. Although it’s easier to get another fill-in rather than dealing with your natural nails, it’s crucial to let them regain their strength. Kandalec recommends that you have your nails rebalanced every three weeks.

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Damage Due to Acrylic Nail Removal

Acrylic nails can cause damage if they’re removed improperly by a professional or doing it yourself by picking or peeling them off. If your nail tech mixes products and gets too much monomer on the cuticle area, this can result in contact dermatitis if a person is allergic to the substance. Also, acrylic nails attach to the top layers of the nail plate, so ripping them off or any forceful removal will remove your healthy nail layers with them.

— Additional reporting by Naomi Parris