ICYMI: I tried the latest manicure trend, Signature Nail Systems, a dipping powder formula that claims to be healthier for your real nails than acrylic or gel systems. You can read about that here.
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The true test of Signature Nail Systems {SNS} is the removal of them and checking the health of the nails underneath. Here’s how I removed them at home. This can also be done at home with gel manicures.
What you’ll need: a strong nail file, acetone nail polish remover, a nail buffer, aluminum foil, scissors and paper towels.
Step 1: Cut aluminum foil into strips or squares.
Step 2: Using a nail file or the “shaping” side of a buffer (like the one below), gently file the top glossy layer off the SNS, gel or acrylic until the nails appear matte.
Step 3: Soak. It is important that you use acetone remover for this step. Non-acetone will not be strong enough to dissolve the formula. Soak a cotton ball in acetone, place on each nail and wrap each one in aluminum foil tightly twisting the end to keep the acetone from leaking . Let soak for 15-20 min then check one nail before removing all aluminum wraps.
The acetone will begin to dissolve the hardened powder. You’ll know they’re ready when you check a nail and it feels gooey.
Step 4: Wipe the nails clean with a paper towel. Here are my real nails that were underneath the SNS formula. This is by far as long as my nails have ever been! While it appears the SNS doesn’t harm your nail as much as gel and acrylic, unfortunately, the formula has to be filed down and soaked off each time the polish is changed. So after several rounds of SNS the nails are much more brittle and damaged anyway.
After shaping and repainting, you can see some of the damage more…
Overall: It seems the claim that it is healthier for your nails is actually too good to be true, but I would still recommend the SNS manicure as the best option for the vibrancy and depth of color and the color options – they seriously have every color under the sun!
