It happens to everyone at some point I think. You use a cheap polish or a certain color without a good base and you end up with discolored nails. Red, green, and blue are common culprits but it can happen with just about any color. Recently, I swatched some colors and then went to bed before removing them. I didn’t use a base coat. They happened to be blue and green. It didn’t go so well. After removing the polish, some color remained as you can see below. Wasn’t pretty. Please keep in mind my thumb nail is going to look messed up because I used nail glue to repair it awhile ago and its still growing out. I wanted these pictures to be 100% honest so forgive me for how dreadful it looks haha.

 Bleck, aren’t they awful? Blue on my thumb and green on multiple fingers. So how do I go about getting rid of these? Its actually really cheap and super easy!

Vinegar

Olive Oil (or similar)

Cotton Balls/Swabs

A small bottle/dish

Nail File

Clean workspace to place your hands such as on top of a plastic lid, paper towels, etc.

Personally, I like to use a small bottle. I always have it on hand. Take vinegar and fill up your bottle or dish. You don’t need much for one application. Then I add about a tablespoon of olive oil. I don’t know if anyone else does this, but I do! I find it works well to keep the vinegar on my nails while not being harsh. It actually moisturizes your cuticles and nails, just remember to remove all excess before applying nail polish!

Step 1: Soak your cotton balls in the vinegar/oil mixture or if you are using a dish, simply place your fingers in it. Place cotton balls over affected nails and let soak for a while. You can remove it in between to see how its doing. 

Step 2: When you’re nails are good and saturated, start rubbing them with the cotton balls. I also like to use a q-tip for harder to reach areas, like around my cuticles. They also work well for an especially tough area. 

Step 3: By this point, any minor discoloration should be taken care of. If you still have some, break out a very fine nail file. I gently file away any heavy duty staining, taking care not to be too vigorous. In between, I use the q-tip on the spot because you remove the stubborn stuff as you file. I apply more vinegar/oil mixture throughout this process to get deep down. You will not create damage from this light filing. You might panic with the filing when your nail looks a bit scuff, but simply run the saturated cotton ball over it and it will completely vanish. 

You won’t even be able to see staining anymore by the end! Check it out my naked nails below! Remember my thumb has been glued so it is still a bit discolored, but not from nail polish!