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This is our new blog page to update all our clients on Beauty news, handy tips and general health, beauty and self care information. We will post regular hints and tips and try to answer some of the most frequently asked questions in the salon. How to soak gel polish off properly without ruining your natural nails. I'm lucky if I can get ordinary polish to last more than a day or two so discovering the magic of gel nails (near-flawless for 10 days - 3 weeks?!) was literally life-changing. The rich colour, long lasting shine and instant drying makes them one of our most popular salon treatments but what happens when it's time to take them off? To protect your natural nails from drying out when wearing gels, apply nail oil to each cuticle and nail twice a day. Also don't be tempted to use your new stronger nails for jobs you wouldn't ordinarily do. Use rubber gloves when cleaning and washing up. Remember they're your jewels not your tools! What to do if you can't make it into the salon for a professional soak off How to tackle your gel nails when you need to take them off and you just can't get into the salon? Suddenly you feel like you're trapped in a gel nail prison. The options are basically stab and scrape and peel your fingernails with various objects( very bad plan) for what feels like hours resulting in dry damaged nails. Step one: Gently buff the top of your gels When we say gently, we mean very gently, and be careful not to scratch the cuticles and surrounding skin. Always use a buffer with a low 'grit', which measures how abrasive the buffer is (go for around the 100 to 300 mark). This breaks the uppermost seal of the gel formula top coat, to allow for the nail polish remover to penetrate more effectively. Step 2: Wrap your nails You'll need to buy nail polish remover with acetone in it, otherwise it won't be able to break down the gel formula. You can buy pure acetone from the chemist. Cut your cotton pads into 10 small squares (one for each nail) and then cut ten strips of tin foil. Soak each cotton pad in the acetone and place on top of your buffed nail. Wrap the strip of tin foil on top and twist to secure. If you find this a bit of a faff, then you can buy special clips, which do the same job as the tin foil, but stay in place properly and can be reused again and again (I have some at home and they are really handy if you don't have anyone who can wrap your second hand for you). Repeat for all ten nails and leave for 10 - 15 minutes. Step three: Remove the foil and cotton pads Don't worry if your gels are still on - that's ok. They will be soft now and able to be oh-so-gently removed off using a wooden Orange Stick or cuticle pusher. Step four: Nourish and replenish Your nails will be feeling a little delicate from the gels and the acetone, so make sure you replenish lost moisture and support healthy growth with a rich oil. Our OPI Pro Spa nail and cuticle oil is ultra rich and hydrating or you can use anything with almond oil in it (nails *love* almond oil). Finish off with a generous amount of hand cream and bask in your nails' natural beauty. Nail strengthener is great to use on your nails straight after gel removal as it will give your nails some protection from the elements when they're feeling exposed and keep them looking groomed and tidy. We recommend either OPI Nail envy, Nail magic or OPI Gel break system which has a serum based base coat which feeds your nails and is really quite hard wearing for a nail hardener.

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