Switched from alcohol wipes to acetone for gel removal and wish I'd done it years ago

Used to spend 20 minutes per hand grinding off gel polish with those little alcohol wipes and a metal pusher. Kept getting red irritated cuticles and thin nails from all the scraping. My coworker Sarah finally handed me a bottle of pure acetone with cotton balls and foil wraps last Wednesday and said 'just trust me.' First time I had the whole set off in 8 minutes with zero damage. Has anyone else made the switch and found their clients complaining less about nail thinning?

2 comments

2 Comments

hugo_moore9d agoMost Upvoted

Noticed this same pattern everywhere - people stick with the wrong tool because it's what they're used to, then kick themselves when they finally try the obvious better option. It's like how I spent years using a dull chef's knife until my buddy let me borrow his sharp one and suddenly cooking stopped being a chore (who knew the knife was the problem and not my awful chopping skills). Pure acetone just works better for gel because it chemically breaks down the product instead of forcing it off mechanically, same reason you'd use paint thinner instead of scraping dry paint off a wall.

harris.emma9d ago

I hear you but sometimes the old way works fine if you already know how to use it.