The Perfect Hack For Hiding Your Grown-Out Manicure

If you're someone who loves getting your nails done, you may have noticed your confidence instantly goes from zero to 100 the moment you strut out of the salon. Your mood is lifted, your spirits are high, and let's admit it — you're having a moment. While it can be very similar to getting your hair or makeup done, manicured nails can offer a different sense of permanency and stability that no other beauty treatment can provide. For the next few weeks after getting your nails done, they always look attractive, sleek, and sexy — and you feel it! 

Unfortunately, that confidence boost slowly decreases a few weeks later once that manicure grows out. According to Cosmopolitan, those with a gel manicure will need to visit their nail salon every two weeks, and it's about the same timeframe for acrylic nails. Don't have the time to squeeze a salon visit into your busy schedule but need a quick pick-me-up to make your unsightly grown-out nails appear fresh and new? We have good news: There's a hack for that. Hopefully, you like glitter!

As your nails grow with gel polish or acrylic, it leaves an unpleasant space above the cuticle. Instead of stressing out and vigorously attacking your nails with acetone or a nail file to remove the grown-out manicure, grab chunky glitter to hide that space! This hack was initially shared by hairstylist and beauty creator Olivia Thompson, also known as @omgartisty, on Instagram.

In the Instagram video, Thompson uses a nail file to sharpen the edges of the nails since they tend to round out after a few weeks. "I'm still going along the shape she provided for me; I'm not trying to change the shape," she says in the clip. She then grabs a chunky glitter nail polish and applies it to the nail's cuticle where the growth is. You can do what Thompson does and blend the glitter up toward the center for an ombré nail look or leave it in a tight line along the nail bed in a reverse-French manicure shape.

If you're not a fan of glitter, you can even fill that growth in with a different color or make a design to fill that regrowth space (via Allure). Try using a color that compliments the base color of your nail. Or, take some gel nail glue and apply rhinestones on the growth for a sophisticated bejeweled look. Get creative! We bet your manicurist will be very impressed.

Are your nails past the point of no return? Perhaps you tried to cover the growth with glitter or another color and decided the look wasn't for you. Don't worry! You can save money and remove your manicure at home with time (and patience). To remove gel polish and acrylic nails, Sally Beauty recommends filing the top layer with a nail file "so that the acetone you'll apply in the next step will be able to fully soak through."

Then, saturate a cotton ball in acetone (and we mean completely saturate) and place one on each nail and wrap them in aluminum foil. The acetone will quickly get to work, softening the acrylic and gel. Let them sit for about 20 minutes and then remove the aluminum. By that point, the acrylic and gel polish should have lifted or be soft enough to scrape with a cuticle pusher. Take your time! Improver removal of your manicure can damage your nails (via Self). Give those nails a little TLC after this process, as they most likely will be a little dehydrated after all that acetone. And don't forget the cuticle oil!