How To Remove Acrylic Nails

First, walk to the nearest door. Then, carefully place your fingernails in the doorframe. Ready? Great, now slam the door.  There you go...your acrylic nails are gone!

OK, just kidding, but in all seriousness, removing your artificial acrylic nails can be every bit that painful if you don't take proper measures to ensure that the procedure is as easy and non-damaging as possible. In order to achieve naked nails the easy way, you're going to need a few tools:

1. Nail clippers or scissors
2. Nail file
3. Pure acetone (you can find this at any beauty supply store)
4. Large cotton balls
5. Aluminum foil, cut into long strips
6. Orangewood cuticle sticks
7. Nail buffer
8. Olive oil or heavy hand cream
9. Patience--remember how long it took to put them on? Well, it usually takes at least that long to get them off.

Once you have everything assembled, I suggest you pop in a Will and Grace DVD and get comfortable, as removing your acrylic nails may take awhile. Here's what you do:

1. Grab those nail clippers and cut your nail tips down as far as you can--the shorter you can get them, the less acrylic nail you'll ultimately have to pry off.

2. Using your nail file, file off any gel or topcoat on your acrylic nails so that they are more susceptible to the acidic qualities of the acetone.
3. Soak ten of your cotton balls in acetone until they are completely saturated.
4. Lay one soaked cotton ball over each of your acrylic fingernails.
5. Use the foil strips to wrap each cotton-topped fingernail as tightly as possible.
6. Enjoy Will, Grace, Jack and Karen's antics for at least 20 minutes while you sit still and let the acetone work its magic.  NO CHEATING!!!  If you remove the foil prematurely, the acrylic will immediately start to harden again, so just hold your horses.
7. After watching at least a full episode, peel back the foils from your acrylic nails one at a time.
8. Using a clean orangewood stick, scrape the acrylic right off! It should come off easily, but if you find some stubborn residue, gently buff it off with your nail buffer.
9. Finally, massage olive oil or heavy hand cream into your nails and nail beds, as acetone is extremely drying. Continue to apply oil or lotion at least three times every day for the first few weeks your acrylic nails are off--don't forget to do it right before bed! You can certainly keep up this ritual for life if you're craving super-silky, healthy nails!