One Cotton Ball to Remove Them All!

Yes, you read that right! I'm going to share my secret with you of how I remove a full manicure with only one jumbo cotton ball.

The trick is to create more surface area. We're going to do that by unrolling the cottonball so that its a strip and no longer a ball.

You'll notice the rolled up ball looks like a hay bale or roll of toilet paper. So, I kind of pick and pull around the rolled edge (like I would a roll of toilet paper!) until the end starts coming loose. Then gently unroll it the rest of the way.



Next, cut small strips/squares from it to match the size of your nails. We're going to cover each nail with these pieces. If you have small nails and make careful cuts, there may even be a tiny cottonball leftover!

Once the pieces are cut, soak them with 100% acetone one by one and apply on top of the nail.
There are a few ways to soak them with acetone:
1. Put a small amount of acetone in a glass dish and toss the pieces in to soak it up. (watch for drips)
2. Hold five pieces together at the bottle opening and tip it, then separate them to apply to the nail. (spill risk)
3. Using a pump bottle, which is the way I prefer most. It's less risky of spills/drips and can be done with one hand.

Apply the soaked cotton pad to the nail and let sit for a bit. About a minute is a fair time frame for a couple of layers of cream polish. Let it sit longer (and reapply acetone if it dries out) for more layers or polishes with shimmer.



Remove each piece by pressing down near the cuticle and sliding the cotton to the free edge of the nail. This will remove most if not all of the polish. Avoid scrubbing back and forth, as this will just smear the color from the cotton onto the skin. If there's a litlte polish left on the nail grab a clean square and remove it in the same manner, dragging from cuticle to free edge until it's gone.



Above is my result! I had about three layers from my previous mani.
Afterward, I used the tiny cotton ball remnant and removed the little spots of leftover polish.

This method is very similar to the foil method, but without the foil. I've come to love the unrolling technique that I have used since 2008, it is key to making a bag of cotton balls last much longer.

I hope you find this useful and try it out some time!
What are some of your your tips and tricks to remove polish?

Vi-Jon Glitter Nail Polish Remover Gel

Press Sample

You may remember the review I did for the other Remover Gel by nail-aid about a month ago, where I was not impressed. Manna's Manis also did a review right around the same time, with the same result.

We're both reviewing a new product and our posts are both going live at the same time. You can check her review here --> http://www.mannasmanis.com/

Below is a long read, but well worth it for the details - here we go!

Vi-Jon contacted me via email after reading my nail-aid remover gel review and offered to send a sample of their brand of Glitter Nail Polish Remover Gel for me to try. The package arrived super fast and the first difference I noticed is that it comes in a nice box and is in a tall bottle with a flip top cap. Definitely a space saver and I won't have to worry about getting the lid back on with remover gel all over my fingernails or having to leave it sit open until I'm done and risk evaporation. Very clever and convenient packaging!



Ok, I thought. This is different or maybe they're trying to look different? See, I was still skeptical after my first experience. I'll try anything once though, well almost anything!

To prep, I painted my thumb nail with the same exact Sindie Pop polish as used in the other review, two coats w/topcoat. I let it dry for about an hour so it was nice and firm/undentable.
Time to remove!
I squeezed a small amount of the Glitter remover gel onto my nail and then used a clean up brush to even it out across the nail. While I was doing this I smelled a very pleasant aroma and wondered where it was coming from. It was the gel!! It smells like yummy coconuts on a hot summer day!

I had totally expected a chemical smell because it contains acetone, but it also contains coconut oil! Love me some coconut oil, it's such a great moisturizer, hair mask, cleanser, well it's great and will actually be moisturizing while this stuff is on. I'm good with that!
I proceeded to smooth the remover gel over the nail to get a good thick layer of coverage, about the same amount as what I had used in the other review. The gel feels slightly cold on the nail but it's not unbearable and didn't bother me.



The instructions on the bottle say to wait only two minutes and then remove but....I wanted to do it exactly like the other test so I set the timer and waited a full four minutes and then removed it.

And it actually removed it all in one swipe! This thing works!



Will ya look at that? And here I had lost hope of having a viable alternative to foil and cotton/felt method. And look at my skin! Also, if you really wanted to skip the hand washing with this product you could, but I'd advise to always wash after handling chemicals. After removal there is no sticky or gooey feeling. No flaky or dried out skin. This stuff is awesome!

I'm super happy with this product and wanted to really push it to the max to see just what it could do so....

I already had three coats of a cream flakie on with two coats of topcoat. I topped that with Lynnderella's "It" Ghoul which is a very opaque microglitter packed with larger hex glitters. I could have just used one coat but, nope. Let's raise the bar and use two! And we'll top it with Gelous and Seche Vite too, cause we can. So what do we have now...EIGHT layers of polish that this gel will have to get through!

Oh and that's not all - I'm following the instructions this time and going with a two minute timer. -smug head nod-



Not only did the Glitter Remover Gel remove all of my polish but it did so in about three minutes!

If you're not convinced yet - how about price point? I checked at my local Walmart store and it's only $2.97 which is quite a bit less than the other brand at $7.

Vi-Jon is the largest manufacturer of Private Label Personal Care, Health, & Hygiene in the United States. In the category of Nail Polish Remover, Vi-Jon produces over 85% of all polish removers sold in the United States.

They know what they're doing and have impressed me with their product!
Don't forget to check out Manna's review on the Vi-Jon Glitter Nail Polish Remover Gel - she's doing some comparisons as well!