Strip Me Off Base Coat

2 Reviews

1. 

   obsessedPear5

   Reply

   I was looking forward to trying this. The idea of fuss-free glitter polish removal really appealed to me. However, in my opinion, this is not fit for purpose. The only positive is that this base coat was relatively cheap.

   Having looked at the previous review, I am starting to think that I might have a dud. When I started to apply this I was amazed to find that there were some strange lumps in the bottle (I did shake it well before applying), which looked like dried bits of polish which were thrown inside. You have to be very careful to apply the same thickness throughout, as the thicker areas will take much longer to dry. In all I had to wait about 20 mins for this base coat to dry, where as normally the whole manicure takes me that long. But, this was a sacrifice I was prepared to make if it worked.

   When the base was completely dry I used 2 coats of glitter polish and 1 coat of top coat. I was half expecting that by the end of the day the edges might start lifting, but the didn’t, so I was quite impressed. The next day I decided to see how easy it would be take it off. I started off at the edges, trying to lift them. Whatever I did, I was unable to peel off any one of ten nails. Yes, it was easier to pick bits of polish off than it would be without this base. But after 2 hours of picking the polish off, I was still left with about 25% of it on and had to go back to using acetone.

   I may try this again in the future, but for now I am too scarred. However, I am planning to try similar product by a different brand, just to compare.

2. 

   finickyAbalone6

   Reply

   This stuff is amazing. Glittery polishes are a huge pain to remove. I’ve tried painting Elmer’s Glue to my nails as a base, and that works pretty well.

   This, in a lot of ways, is better.

   You apply a thick coat (it looks a lot like glue and smells something like it, too) and wait for it to dry, which takes a couple minutes (it’ll be translucent). Then you paint your glitter (or whatever) polish on top and let it dry and you’re good to go.

   It is amazing with a glittery polish. I tried a couple really fussy ones to remove and once they dried they peeled off nice and fairly clean. It was super easy. (If you’re OCD, you may not want this, because you’ll want to peel this off in no time.) But I love the ease of removing normally stubborn polishes. One caveat: It removes so easily that you won’t get a long-wearing manicure out of this, but a top coat does make it last a bit longer, but just a bit. This would be great for a night or weekend of wearing wild polish colors or glitters and easily removing that night or the next morning, however. I’m also finding that a thicker base coat removes more easily than a thinner one. (Neither thickness is impossible to remove, but a really thick coat, I’ve hit my finger on something and it’ll loosen an edge and make the polish all the easier to peel off, so thinking of this as something really short term is best.)

   If you want something a bit longer-lasting, I recommend plain old Elmer’s Glue or some other brand. With the glue you can paint it as-is or mix it half-and-half (ish) with water in a clean nail polish bottle and use that for a base. The polish chips off easier than using remover, especially after a shower or bath. But this NYC product offers a nice, clean quick — and cheap — way to enjoy a glittery manicure without all the aggravation of resorting to acetone removers or doing the cotton ball and polish remover wrapped in foil method. I’m not sure it’d be worth $10 or anything, but for about $2 this is a nice little product.

   Ideally, this is for someone who wants a brief glittery manicure for a few hours or a day, tops. Or for someone who likes to apply nail polish often, in particular if you want to change colors a couple times throughout the day.

   I’ll definitely be buying more.