Effective tips of removing glitter nail polish

We all have a love/ hate relationship with glitter polish.  The hateful feeling starts to fall upon us when it’s time to remove it.  Grrr!  Yes, shimmer and micro glitter isn’t that much of a pain to remove—but once you get to wearing chunky glitters it’s a whole ‘nother story.  It feels like it’s never going to come off!  Not sure about you, but I love chunky glitters—it’s like the mecca of all glitters (I’m talking to you Deborah Lippmann with your fabulous chunky glitters).  It’s so chic, so full of texture, so eye caching, so….hard to remove.  We’ve all been there before.  Before you know it your fingers are sore and you’re swimming in a sea of acetone drenched cotton balls.  For the past few months I’ve been experimenting with a few techniques to remove glitter nail polish, and have even enlisted the help of fashion manicurist Rashida B. (featured in the December 2010 issue of InStyle magazine) and Jennifer Cherry of Nailphoria Spa in Oakland, California.

·         Apply a second slightly thicker layer of basecoat to create a barrier between your nails and the glitter nail polish, so that it doesn’t attach to your nails.  See the following tip for an alternative to this method.

·         Use 2 coats of a complimentary color to create a barrier such as the one mentioned above.

·         Use pure acetone when removing glitter nail polish.

·         Instead of using cotton balls try a piece of felt that can be purchased at your local craft store.  If you have a hard time finding felt, Hands Down Cosmetic Ultra Pads are great too and can be found online and at Sally’s Beauty Supply.  Be sure to wipe left & right and up & down.

·         Try the foil method:  wrap nail polish remover drenched cotton balls (or felt) with strips of foil on each nail.  This method hasn’t always worked for me because it sensitizes my nail bed ouch I get better luck just holding it 30-45 seconds before getting down to business.

·         The method that’s worked best for me is the “more polish” method.  I get the oldest, most goopy, non-fast-drying-like-they-claim basecoat or topcoat and apply it super thick and wait a few minutes.  If the polish is old enough it’ll rehydrate the glitter nail polish.  Almost to the point where it’s like you did a fresh manicure that hasn’t dried.