A Few of My Faves: Peelable Base Coats

Good day, polished people. Everyone has their favorite polish colors and brands, or tools and places to shop for nail supplies. Today, I'll walk you through a few of mine.

Since I change my polish almost daily, I need to be able to remove it quickly and easily.  Glitters can be a nightmare to remove, and you know I love glitter, so a reliable peel off base coat is an essential staple for me.  I have used several of the peelable bases and I've found a few that work pretty well. I'll start with the most recent one I've been using.

When I read the ingredients for UNT peelable base coat, I thought I might have just wasted my money since it seemed like just water and alcohol. But I figured it would be worth a try since I already spent $20 bucks on 2 bottles (free shipping sale). Surprisingly, it worked. Using one coat, I thought it did a good job peeling off, but with two coats, it was a miracle peel-off base. Also, the polish didn't pop off like I've experienced with the others. The only problem I had was that it left my nails very dry looking compared to the other peelable bases. Well, I'm not surprised with all that alcohol! In the end, though, I like it and right now, prefer it over the others. Plus the bottle looks so sophisticated, don't you think? (Not a criteria, just my own taste.)

UNT appears a little cloudy in the bottle, but goes on clear. It applies smoothly, like a quality clear polish. I purchased my bottles from Live Love Polish for $10 a bottle.  But you can also find them on the UNT website for the same price.

The next peelable polish is Glitter Off by OPI. It goes on milky and dries clear. This was my original go-to peelable polish until I realized that other, less expensive ones work just as well. You can find Glitter Off online or in stores for about $7 or $8. I lost interest when I tried the one by NYC, which was considerably cheaper and did as good of a job. I had a lot of trouble getting this one to peel off in large pieces and it was almost impossible to peel off over patches and acrylic or gel nails. Overall, I either had to do a lot of chiseling to get it off, or it popped off  completely before I wanted it to.  I started using two coats and had an easier time peeling polish off, but the chances of it popping off prematurely increased as well. OPI Glitter Off now sits gathering dust with my other just-in-case products.

NYC Strip Me Off Base Coat was what I started using when I didn't want to spend $8 for the OPI. I found it at CVS for about $1.99 and was thrilled to see that it did just as well as OPI's Glitter Off. Again, two coats worked better than one, and it applied the same as OPI, going on white and drying clear. I also had the same difficulty peeling it off over patches and acrylic/gel nails. The biggest difference between this one and OPI was the cost.

When I realized that my OPI Glitter off and NYC Strip Me Off were just "meh", I decided to try concocting my own DIY peelable base using good ole Elmers glue and water. I failed initially, but after a few tries, varying the water to glue ratio and adjusting the water temperature, I ended up with a base that was as good as, if not better than OPI and NYC, and at a fraction of the cost. So I added NYC to my collection of just-in-case products. For a while, I used only my DIY and was very happy with two coats. Not only did it work, but also, it seemed to leave my nail unaffected after peeling it off. There was no dryness or residual damage to the outer layer of the nail.

I heard about UNT on You Tube and thought I'd give it a try.  I fell in like with it right away using a single coat application. But I fell in love when I used two coats. Although UNT is my new go-to peel off polish, I will probably alternate between it and my DIY only because of the wear and tear on my nails. Elmers seems less drying and leaves the top layer of nail undamaged, while UNT appears to leave them dry and unhealthy.

Summary

Since I use the peelable base coats for very temporary applications and swatching, I can't attest to how long they last before signs of wear and peeling. I can only tell you what comes off easily. Using two coats, they all come off well enough, but I like UNT because the polish didn't pop off, and the peel off is cleaner. The only down side was that it left my nails a little drier, and of course the cost. Ten bucks is quite a bit for a peel off base, but if I'm using tough glitters, I want to use what works best rather than wrestle with the sparkly stuff. My DIY worked well and didn't seem to be harsh on my nails although it had a tendency to pop off occasionally.

I purchased Sally Hansen's new Big Peel Off, but haven't tried it yet. I plan to update this review at some point, after I spend a little more time with all these, including the Big Peel Off..

Are there any other peelable base coats that you've tried or that you've heard of?
Ciao for now.