1) Peeling them off
You would probably think it’s the cheapest and fastest option but it is in fact the most damaging to your nail plate. It gets so tempting when the corner of the gel polish start to lift and it gets you on a mission to peel it off piece by piece (the satisfaction when the whole piece comes off, I get it) especially when you are watching your favourite tv show. BUT you really got to stop because you are actually ripping layers of keratin cells that works as a protective layer over your nail plate. In the end, you will notice white patches on your nails, causing divots and pockets, leaving it thin and weak.
2) Soak them off
File the top coat barrier, soak a cotton pad with acetone and wrap foil/clip around finger, follow by pushing off remaining gel. This is the most common practice in nail salons. What you do not know is Acetone dissolves the gel polish because it works as a paint stripper. This solvent significantly dries out the nail, causing dehydration. Scrapping/sloughing off the remaining gel polish causes extensive harm to the nail plate-leading to brittleness, splitting, peeling and breakage.
3) E-File them off
Using electric drill with ceramic nail dill bit to file off the top coat barrier and gel colour leaving the base gel coat still in tact is proven to be more efficient and less harmful to the nail plate. After removing most of the gel colour, the nail technician will leave the base gel on, to ensure that they will not e-file the natural nail. This makes it less aggressive then the other two removal methods. The last part, which is the base coat will be removed using a medium-fine grit nail buffer.
