How do you remove gel nails?

I let my mom guilt me into having "nice"nails. I so I went and got tips with pink and white gel. I've had them a few years ago and was ok with them. They look beautiful, but I hate them. They get in the way of everything and I had the guy keep them short too. So Saturday night I cut the tips off...but I can't get the gel off my nail. I tried acetone nail polish remover sunday and again last night, with last night soaking a cotton ball in it and then placing it on my nails and wrapping with foil. I let it stay on for 20 mins but didn't take much off. Other than repeating this again and again, anyone have any great suggestions? My pride won't let me go back to the salon to have them removed lol