Here are the best DIY gel manicure kits: Best overall: Red Carpet Manicure Gel Polish Pro Kit. Best for healthy nails: The Zoya Gelie-Cure Foundation Pro Kit. Best for beginners: Sally Hansen Salon Pro Gel Nail Polish Starter. Best for easy removal: Butter LONDON PureCure Peel-Off Gel Lacquer Lamp. Taking off gel polish requires time, patience, and no picking. Whether you're getting gel taken off at the salon or DIY-ing it at home, here's how to remove a gel manicure: First, cover each nail When removing gel nails, you want to avoid damaging the natural nail underneath by using too coarse a nail file. For removing gel nails, you can use a medium grit file. If you are applying soak off gel polish, use a 180 grit nail file to remove a hardened top coat before removing the soak off gel polish. Nail clippers. Source: Pexels Dm3vyB6.