Friday, July 30, 2010

How do you remove your polish?


So... just a question for anybody/everybody out there!

I don't swatch a lot. I find that polishes (especially highly pigmented polishes) get everywhere when I attempt to remove them, even when I've taken great pains not to get them on my cuticles in the first place. Because of this I am typically turned off of swatching. For those of you who love to swatch, how do you keep your cuticles so clean and your hands from staining as you move between polishes?

Tips, tricks etc. welcome!

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20 comments:

Ruthlessrocks said...

The tinfoil trick is the bomb. The one where you soak your felt/ball in remover, place on the nail and wrap in tinfoil? I find because there is no rub or drag it really lessens the amount of staining on the skin because it all comes off in one fell swoop.

Crystal Polish said...

I use one of those sponge soaked in polish remover tubs, and then clean up any remainder with acetone and a brush.

Unknown said...

When I swatch I keep a gap (of nail) between my cuticle and the color.

I do not let the polish dry before I take a pic and take it off. I put cuticle oil on my cuticle for the pic and to make sure that the polish does not adhere to it while I remove it.

I remove it with a cotton ball and a remover with acetone in it, holding it on the polish and dragging it away from my cuticle as I remove it.

But if its a glitter or a dark color, then I use the "foil method". :) Hope this helps :)

Lucy said...

I've started using nail remover wipes and sweeping up from my cuticle to stop the colours going everywhere, it seems to work :-)

www.beautyandtheblogger.co.uk

mKat said...

This is very helpful. I may be inspired to start swatching! Thanks you guys. :)

Unknown said...

if you are swatching... don't let the polish dry, butI have also heard that non-acetone remover keeps the colors from bleeding too much (as you won't end up with smurf fingers!) I ahven't swatched too many blues so can't really attest to that. I also put lotion on my cuticles between colors, so they don't look all ragedy.
Just have fun with it, and enjoy it! It is great to find out if/when a color actually looks great on your skin tone =P

Aurora's Nails said...

Normally I hold the cotton ball soaked in remover over my nail firmly for a few seconds (longer if it's a dark polish or a glitter) and then wipe away. Then I clean up afterwards. I haven't really explored any other options, but after reading these, I will!

flinty said...

When I sit down to swatch more than ten polishes at a time, I do these things:

- Arrange the nail polishes from least likely to stain to most likely to stain, least glittery to most glittery. Start with the less stain-y and less glittery colors first; work your way to the ones that will become harder to remove fully. I always do major glitters and dark reds, purples, blues and blacks last. Pastels are always first.

- Only paint as many nails as you plan to show. :)

- Have the following handy: paper towel, clean felt, acetone (with glycerin, so it's not drying), some sort of heavy moisturizer or oil for my cuticles.

- Avoid painting cuticles and try to leave a tiny bit of space on each side of the nail (which I do for normal manis anyway, since I think they look cleaner that way).

- Before the polish starts to dry, wipe off the polish with the paper towel first, finger by finger, swiping the nail polish off the nail in a single direction (i.e. from the cuticle to the tip). Then use a liberal amount of acetone on felt to wipe away the remainder of the polish, again, wiping in one direction. Press down on your nail with the felt but don't hold it in the same place (which allows the color to bleed): just swipe the polish off. I use the paper towel to get most of the polish off first because then there's less polish soaking the felt later when I use the felt and I can use the same piece for more swatch removals.

- Use a clean space on the piece of felt for each finger. (Do not be sparing in your use of acetone or clean felt; removal will be much easier!) You can reuse felt sometimes with lighter colors but never do it with darker colors and reds.

- Between each swatch, rub some moisturizer or oil on your cuticles to keep them looking fresh.

- Swatch close to the place you're going to be taking the photo. It just cuts down on time and hassle.

Ummm.... I think that's it. :)

Unknown said...

I soak my nails with a large cotton pad, makes it easier for the varnish to come off.
When removing, I always do it from the root to the tip of the nail. If you go back and forth with your cotton pad sometimes varnish leaks under the nail and it's harder to remove, especially with dark colours.
Great tips above, I definitely will take them on board :) x

Doo ♥ said...

Great tips, some new ones to me too so thanks!

I use acetone-free removal wipes when wearing darker colors or glitters. It takes a bit more time but is more gentle to the cuticles (than rubbing w/ or soaking on acetone).

Remember, you don't have to do multi-swatch-posts if that's not your thing, though many nail bloggers do so. NOTD's are fine too :)

mKat said...

Wow! You guys are all very resourceful. Hopefully this post benefits more than swatch-phobic (phobic is likely too strong a word) me. :P

I will likely stick mainly to NOTD (KOTD) posts since everyone here is much better at and much more dedicated to swatch posts.. but every so often I realize I have similar looking polishes that I can probably (at very least) do a comparison post with to the benefit of the polish community. For this reason, tips on how to remove polish without making a terrible mess of things are extremely helpful. :)

Thanks again everyone!

kittytokaren said...

Felt and pure acetone, baby!!

If I have a particularly stubborn polish, I don't use the tin foil method. I just soak a cotton ball in acetone, squish it on my nail and leave it there for a couple minutes. Then I can wipe it off. I find it has the same effectiveness with and without foil....

I'm not a big swatcher either though love! I am usually just a NOTD kind of poster :)

terrenity said...

The one time I swatched (for personal records, I don't have a blog), I used a method very similar to the one flinty described above. I also only used base coat with colors that I thought might stain, and avoided topcoat unless I really needed it. That cuts down on two steps and also gives you fewer layers to remove.

But I thought I'd mention that when I do regular manicures I remove with a scrubby remover tub (found it at Target, it says "nail polish remover" on it and recommends it for removing acrylics on the side) filled with 100% acetone mixed with a bit of glycerin. I used to use the foil method, which is great, but this has seriously cut my removal time from 10-15 minutes to three. I also like not having to deal with fiddly bits of foil and cotton anymore. I wouldn't substitute a sponge tub for the scrubby tub either, because I think it's much more effective and easier to clean.

Pretty said...

I'm waaaaay too messy to do swatches.. I think I drink too much coffee...

I like to wear my nail polish anyway.. I get sad when I have to take it off..

I might try a swatch one day.. so this thread is very informative.. :-D.

... one day...

Ms Meghan said...

I really recommend putting cuticle oil around your nails (and under the tip as well!), not only does it keep your cuticles from getting ragged but it definitely helps with staining.

~Lisa said...

So many tips here! I had a great time learning. Though I still don't really get the foil method.......

http://xmaterialgirlsx.blogspot.com/

mKat said...

This scrubby remover tub.. is it like the "Vagina Dentata" that daydream mentioned a while back?
http://polishorperish.blogspot.com/2009/09/china-glaze-atantis-and-vagina-dentata.html

Lou said...

I use Sally Hansen Nail Polish Remover, which makes my skin is not so dry as another removers. And for cuticles Magnetic Cuticle Apricot Oil. ;)

Grace said...

Well, I don't do swatches, but I had to do a super quick mani the other day with OPI JITNB, and I knew I would not have time for clean up if it got all over my cuticles. I took my Sally Hansen cuticle oil pen and just put the tiniest amount of oil only right on my cuticles, which wasn't too hard because the brush/pen makes it really easy to control. I know putting cuticle oil on before polish is a big no-no if you're trying to make your mani last, but I was just going for a super quick application. It worked like a charm. Any little bits of polish that got on my cuticles came right off with an orange wood stick, no remover necessary. It was the quickest mani I've ever done, and it's still wearing just fine, actually.

I also always douse my cuticles with oil right before I remove my polish. It helps keep the polish from clinging to them and protects them from getting dried out.

Arrianne said...

Yes mKat, the Vagina Dentata is the scrubby tub. =) I love that name she came up with.

I don't really have any tips that haven't already been said. You probably already found out since it's been like 5 days since you posted, haha.

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