Shellac Removal

So my beautiful Shellac Manicure was two weeks old yesterday. It actually still looked great, but my nails had grown quite a bit over the last two weeks and I am more comfortable with them fairly short and neat because of my job. So, last night it was time to remove the Shellac. You can go to the salon to have them removed, and some specialty beauty supply places carry these little covers that you slip over each finger that then dissolve the polish. I had time for neither of these last night. So, after reading a few sites that discussed removal, I gathered tin foil, acetone based nail polish and cotton balls. I dipped each cotton ball in the remover, placed one on each finger, and then wrapped each finger individually in the foil. I let them sit for ten minutes. When I removed the foil and cotton balls the polish had lifted around the edges and kind of shriveled up. I used and orange stick and just pushed the residue off each nail. After washing my hands I inspected my nails. They were perfectly smooth and seem to have been strengthened by being protected by the Shellac for two weeks. It was so different than when I had gels in the past. Since the nails are not buffed down before the Shellac is applied there are no rough patches or weak tips. It was great. I filed my nails down to where I like them and put some pretty bright pink polish on to celebrate the nice weather (Exotic Liras by Essie). Shellac manicure and removal a huge success :)