It's 2021 — nobody has a whole hour to soak off gel nails in a bowl of remover or individually wrap fingers in foils with bitty little pieces of cotton balls. (Don't even get me started on removing dip powder from home [1].)
This universal lack of time of patience is what led me to Amazon one day in search of an easier, quicker way to take off the hardened layers of gel polish without leaving my house. I had already tried nail polish remover supposedly meant for gel nails — a bust — and pure acetone, which removed nothing except for layers of moisture from my poor finger tips. Amazon recommended a product called Aliver Magic Nail Polish Remover [2], a small blue bottle that looked like nail polish itself.
I honestly thought it would be one of the "magic" products that didn't actually work, but I'm so glad I was wrong. After a quick buffing session, the gel polish practically leapt off my nails beds. Take a look at the process to see for yourself.
Gel Nails Before Removal
I did my own gel manicure from home [3], and the polish had been on for roughly two weeks.
Gel Nails After Buffing Off the Shiny Topcoat
Buffing is key! Don't skip this step.
Gel Nails With 1 Coat of Aliver Gel Nail Polish Remover
The remover is a goopy, clear liquid, and I piled it on with the little brush. No water is needed.
Gel Nails After 2 Coats of Aliver Gel Nail Polish Remover
After a second coat and five minutes, the gel started crackling like Pop Rocks. No joke, I could feel the seals breaking and the gel peeling away. I was able to simply pick off most of it, then applied at extra coat to the tiny bits that were still stuck on and scraped them off after another two minutes.
When I try to remove gel with regular remover or acetone, I always manage to damage my nails beds in the process. This stuff quickly lifted the gel without any damage to the nail underneath.
Buy Aliver Gel Nail Polish Remover on Amazon
Get a double dose of Aliver Gel Nail Polish Remover [4] ($10) on Amazon, because two bottles is better than one.