I love getting my nails done as much as the next person—from a structured gel mani to the TikTok-famous Russian manicure, I'm down to try anything. That's the fun part. The not-so-fun part? Depending ...

You need to file off the top layer of your gel polish, but we’re not talking about aggressive sanding here. Use a nail file to gently remove the shine from your polish until it looks matte.

So, if you're often impatient waiting under the fans for your nails or toes to dry ... process a bit more complicated. "Gel polish is more challenging to remove than regular nail polish because ...

whereas regular polish sets under less extreme conditions. Another reality of the gel manicure is that it can weaken your nails. Removing gel polish is not like removing regular polish ...