I Don't Have to Go to the Salon to Remove Gel Manicures With This $8 Treatment That Works in Just 3 Minutes

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It's saved me so much time and money.

If given the choice between a Brazilian wax and removing a gel polish manicure, I’d choose the former. Heck, I’d take five hot hair-rippers over fumbling with dripping, acetone-soaked cotton balls, fashioning 10 tinfoil thimbles, and waiting — hands entirely encumbered — for half an hour, with my fingertips shriveling all the while.

The problem is that I adore gel manicures and refuse to return to regular air-dry formulas, as easy and breezy as they are to remove. A few months ago, I discovered an alternative to the traditional, painstaking gel removal process and haven’t wrapped my nails in foil since. Specifically, I bought this popular, under-$10 formula at Amazon, which essentially erodes gel polish until it’s easy to flake off with a manicure stick. I’ve repurchased it numerous times, and it’s become an absolute staple in my nail collection: It’s freed up literal hours of my time, and quelled the frustration I’d formerly experienced anytime I removed my gels. It’s currently on sale at Amazon for $8, but even at full price for just $10, it’s an incredible value for anyone who dreads gel removal.

Shop now: $8 (Originally $10); amazon.com

The Aliver Gel Nail Polish Remover is a thick, viscous brush-on liquid that breaks down gel nail polish in as little as three minutes. The product, which resembles your typical nail polish bottle and polish brush head, is intuitive to apply and super-speedy, too, with only two basic additional tools needed to get the job done. Namely, any sort of manicure stick and a regular nail file or emery board.

To use, I’ve found it helpful to gently file the topcoat — enough to get rid of visible shine — prior to brushing on the product. Doing so allows the formula to more easily access the polish you’re trying to remove, as the top coat acts as a barrier. Next, I apply an ultra-thick layer of product over each nail, ensuring I don’t allow excess formula to seep on to the skin (which can feel slightly tingly on skin once the formula begins to work, after about 30 seconds). A gentle tightening feeling on the nail indicates that the product is getting to work, per the brand. After three minutes, gel polish should appear to have shriveled and broken up, and you can simply (and gently!) scrape the polish away from the nail. Voila! You’re done.

I’m not alone in loving the formula, as it boasts more than 4,000 five-star ratings on Amazon from shoppers who say it “exceeded” their expectations. One shopper says they were impressed from the first use: “the gel came off so easily,” they said, sans damage to their natural nails. Another reviewer says they’ll “never use acetone again” after discovering the remover, which nixed their stubborn Gel-X manicure “easily, almost like peeling a sticker.” Customers especially love that it saves them time from another salon trip and love that it removes polish “without any damage” to their nails.

For a frustration-free at-home gel polish manicure removal solution that works in as little as three minutes, shop the Aliver Gel Nail Polish Remover while it’s on a limited-time sale for $8 at Amazon.

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