Review: OPI Glitter Off!

Heading back to the press release on this new base coat: 

To remove, use a cuticle stick to gently push and peel the glitter lacquer off the nail. No nail polish remover is necessary for this final step. "

Here are some photos along the way. First, I applied a thin coat of OPI Glitter Off to all of my nails and let dry:

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As it was drying, which was about 10-15 minutes until it was clear, it looked like it was "shrinking" away from all of the edges. However, it was just drying from the edges inward to the center. The photo below is about 10-15 mins after application. You can see it's pretty much clear now.

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Next, I applied two coats of each OPI It's Frosty Outsideand Kiss Me At Midnight. I did my normal application of these Liquid Sand shades by painting on the first coat and letting dry before adding a second coat. I took this picture after they had dried.

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Then, I went about my business and did normal things around the house. I typed up some posts, edited pictures, cleaned, played with the kids, washed my hands, made dinner (washed my hands a lot more during the dinner process since I was dealing with raw chicken), and cleaned up the kids after dinner. 

Unfortunately, about an hour after this mani had dried, I washed my hands and dried them and noticed that one of my nails had lost half of it's polish. The rest of the polish on that nail was softly moving around when I pressed on it. 

After the other things I listed above (aka: normal housewife and mom duties), I'd gotten tip wear on almost all of my nails and lost another nail's worth of polish. Apparently any contact with water was alerting the Glitter Off to start peeling off. This was within the first few hours of wearing it.

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So of course at this point, I decided to just remove them all together. I did as the bottle instructed and used a cuticle pusher to gently pry up the polish. It came up very easily in one or two sheets for the entire nails and I didn't see any nail damage at all. (YAY for no nail damage!)

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Here is what my nails looked like after just gently peeling the polish off. Hardly any polish left and I was able to use one OPI Expert Touch remover wipe for all 10 nails to clean up the excess. 

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Well, since this came off too easily to be used as a base coat for me, I thought I should try it for something else! I love gradient nails but HATE the cleanup. So, after applying one coat of polish, I painted OPI Glitter Off directly onto my skin and cuticles around my nails and let dry.

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I waited until it was clear and started sponging on my gradient. It worked pretty well protecting the skin from the polish, aside from some spots that pulled up thanks to the sponge. (I think I'll wait longer before sponging next time to see if they weren't completely dry yet.) Who wants to use Q-tips, remover, and a clean up brush to help this mess? 

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Once I was done with the gradient, I used a toothpick and gently lifted the Glitter Off from my skin. It peeled off easily and I got off the few bits that were left on my skin by rubbing my finger under warm water. I was left with only a few spots of polish to clean up with remover and my trusty clean up brush. That was SO much easier!

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Here is the final look after the tiny bit of cleanup and top coat. That was one of the least painful gradients I've done in a long time!

So there you have it! If you've gotten this far, thanks for sticking around to see my results. I appreciate the fact that OPI Glitter Off removes easily without causing damage to my nails. However, I think it's a bit too gentle and any contact with water sends the polish fleeing from your nails in sheets. It's not a practical solution for me, as a stay at home mom of two small children. I wash my hands countless times a day! I can definitely see myself using it for the gradient clean up more than a base coat.

What are your thoughts? Have you tried it yet? It smells kind of like glue, but with a more watery consistency. I had high hopes but it was a flop in my book.

Thanks so much for reading!