Acetone vs. Non-Acetone

For the most part, I use an acetone remover, which is not as harsh as pure acetone, but far more effective than a non-acetone remover. It basically contains both non-acetone remover and some acetone, and sometimes water or other ingredients like fragrance, and proteins, vitamins, gelatin, etc  that claim to strengthen your nails. (in my opinion, they do not strengthen your nails, just dilute the strength of the acetone, making it less harsh)

Of course non-acetone is the most gentle of all, but it takes forever and a day to remove most polishes. The only time you really need non acetone remover is if you have acrylics, or soak off gels.

Sometimes I add some pure acetone to my acetone remover to bump up the effectiveness a bit. I do this especially in the winter, when I am using darker polishes more often.

You can get pure acetone at a hardware store, or a home improvement store, and it is usually a lot less expensive there, than at a beauty supply. It is the same thing.  

If you have used pure acetone, you will have noticed that it turns the skin around the nail white. This is essentially moisture being sucked out of the skin.

Yes acetone is harsh, and drying. But it has it's place; like in glitter removal.

To combat the white skin, and make it a little more gentle without sacrificing it's strength, you can add a MOISTURIZING ACETONE ADDITIVE to your bottle of acetone. This is a affordable way to make your acetone less harsh and smell SUPER YUMMY!!

If you enhance your pure acetone with an additive, you need to remember that if you are wiping your stamping plates with that acetone, it will leave a little residue of oils and glycerine that will sometimes affect how well the stamper picks up the image. I suggest wiping the plates with pure acetone, or  rubbing alcohol after cleaning the polish off with enhanced acetone.

Same thing applies for your nails. You will want to wipe your nail bed with some rubbing alcohol before polishing to remove all traces of oils, and additives. (this should be done after using any remover except pure, un-enhanced acetone.)

I do use pure acetone when cleaning up after polishing, and for cleaning out empty polish bottles, for frankening, or testing new Girly Bits creations.