Let me tell you a story. Way back in April, I got an Ulta add and it included some new OPI glitter nail polishes and a base coat specifically designed for use with glitter polish, that would allow you to just peel it off. Finally, I thought, the product I’ve been waiting for all my life! Well, maybe not all my life, but ever since the first time I wore glitter nail polish, so since I was 13 or 14. In anticipation of purchasing and testing this product, I ordered some of the Zoya Magical Pixie Dust polish in Cosmo, because it wasn’t like I didn’t already have a ton of glitter nail polish already. I was just waiting for an excuse to buy more!

So I waited for the date the sale would start, figuring it would be on shelves by then, and I went down to my local Ulta, and I scoured the nail polish department and all the end caps and I didn’t find it anywhere. I also never found an employee anywhere near the nail polish who would help me, so I decided not to buy anything at all and left in a huff. Then I figured hey, I’ll just order it on-line, but when I went to the ad and clicked the product, it said they didn’t have it. So I went to OPI’s website to learn more, and the information about it was behind a password for pros. So I figured maybe somebody had jumped the gun and it wasn’t actually out yet and I’d just wait.

I ended up waiting a lot longer than I intended, although I kept checking any time I was any place with nail polish, to see if maybe another brand had released a similar product. No luck. Finally I went back to Ulta last week, and they still didn’t have it, but the employees were actually in the mood to offer to help me and the nice lady at the register told me that they’d gotten in maybe 4 bottles and it had all sold out, and maybe I could check Amazon because she didn’t think they were getting more. Sure enough, when I went home and checked the Ulta website it wasn’t available to order, but I did find several Amazon sellers who had it. I chose the one who offered free shipping and a few days later, finally, I had my Glitter Off!

So what exactly is Glitter Off? In the bottle its white and opaque. It goes on smooth and translucent and dries quickly. One reviewer said they were pretty sure it was just Elmer’s glue, which is apparently what bloggers have been recommending as a base for glitter for a while. It does certainly look and smell kind of like glue. I’d have to see if I could find and compare ingredients lists to see if it is exactly glue or just has some of the same chemicals. Anyway, the idea is that you paint it on your nails, let it dry, then paint on your glitter (no top coat) and then when you’re done with the glitter, you just peel it right off instead of using nail polish remover. No more soaking your nails and still having glitter on days later!

Did it work? Well, it was easy to apply and the glitter went on nicely over it. One coat of Glitter Off and two coats of Cosmo gave me a super sparkly manicure, and since Cosmo has three sizes of glitter in it, I figured that would be a good test of how well it worked. I painted my nails on Thursday night, and despite the fact that I saw some reviewers saying that it was prone to chipping or peeling on its own, I got through my weekend with very little polish loss, pretty much unnoticable unless I looked for it. By Sunday night I could wait no longer, I had to see if I could peel it off!

The answer is yes, but it was tedious. Instead of coming off in one piece or big chunks like I imagined, it mostly came off in small shreds. There were stubborn spots that I had to scrape off with another nail. So while the base coat itself doesn’t damage nails, you can damage your nails in trying to remove it! I managed to clean one hand off Sunday night and did the rest Monday morning. It was time consuming and kind of annoying. On the other hand, I now only have glitter in a couple of tiny spots where it looks like my base coat didn’t quite get to the edge of my nail (or I wasn’t able to peel it out of the corners, either way).

I think maybe this product would work better if I had applied a thicker coat so that it would peel in larger pieces without breaking. Further experimentation is definitely warranted. If any of my readers have already tried it, or had success with using glue or other products to deal with the glitter problem, please let me know in the comments!