Hit List: Best Nail Polish Remover for Glitter Nail Polishes

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What’s the Best Nail Polish Remover for Glitter Nail Polishes you’ve tried?

Share your favorite!  And don’t forget to share why 🙂

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50 Comments

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daheep

It’s not a remover brand in particular but I technique I read about on a beauty blog. I wish I could give credit, but I can’t remember who/which it was. 🙁

Basically, you soak your bit of cotton in remover, put in on your nail, & then wrap the tip of your finger securely & completely in a bit of aluminium foil. You go about your business for the next 2-4 minutes & then slide the “foil bandage” off, pressing firmly on the nail area as you slide. Everything comes off & no rubbing needed. You can reuse the bandage a few time (depending on how neat you made it & how many layers of polish you have on)for your other fingers. Or you can make one for each & do all your fingers in one blow!
Wash your hands, apply cuticle oil, & moisture immediately, as soaking your digits in the remover can be very drying.

Thank you forgotten Beauty Blogger, who ever you are!

Marie-Josee

I’ve seen this technique on YouTube and tried it myself often and it does work really really well with any brand of remover, even the ones that don’t contain acetone.

kayposh

Definitely those “scrubby tubby” type products where you can soak the nail for a little bit in acetone and then use the plastic “teeth” to gently scrub the glitter polish off… I no longer dread taking it off 🙂 (I use one from Up & Up which is Target’s house brand)

Anna

The “dip it” nail polish remover tub from Target with the scary looking Sarlacc mouth (a la Star Wars) takes off multiple layers of glitter like a champ! I use it for all nail polish removal and it even removes textured nail art in a few swipes. When it’s empty or running low, you can just refill it with any generic acetone or polish remover.

Also, if anyone loves Zoya Remove, but not the price, you can make an awesome cheap dupe using acetone and glycerin. Google for the recipe!

Sabriel

I don’t think it matters which polish you use as long as you use the foil technique.

There are a ton of great tutorials for the technique online. The only thing I would add is that you don’t need to use aluminium foil. I cut squares of plastic out of a grocery bag and use those. Anything that will prevent the acetone from evaporating will work.

Best polish remover? I like to get acetone with glycerin. I can’t afford Zoya’s Remove+, and I’m too lazy to mix my own, but the purple bottle of Ulta brand is good enough. 🙂

Also on topic: I like to use the exfoliating style of cotton rounds for the foil technique, because they keep their shape better when you cut them into quarters. Traditional cotton rounds get fuzzy and and harder to work with.

Melissa

Target’s Up&Up brand dip it polish remover. It’s inexpensive and it’s the best thing I’ve tried for getting glitter polish off, next to the cotton soaked in remover and foil technique.
Unlike most traditional dip style nail removers, instead of a sponge it has these weird columns of rubber scrubby thingys (seriously, couldn’t think of any other way to describe it!) on the inside along with regular acetone. Overall, I think it’s the best dip style remover out there.

Natalie

I have ALWAYS had a difficult time getting sparkly polish off. And then I sitand chip at it, which I know is awful for my nails. I’m curious to see what other people use. I’ve been trying a bunch of new nail looks from a free app I got called 77Looks, so input on how to wipe clean and start again is appreciated!

Arianna

I don’t think it matters which polish remover you use. I think I’ve probably used all of them from pure acetone to Cutex to Zoya, currently using the Deborah Lippmann one. I don’t think there is a difference between them except for price. The only thing that has ever made a difference to me is wrapping the nail and swab with tin foil.

collier

I use a LOT of glitter polish, and I don’t have any trouble getting them off (usually) with Zoya’s Remove +. Too impatient for the full foil-wrap method, but holding a saturated large-ish cotton pad across all my fingertips with my thumb for about a minute works really well…though sometimes I’ll still have to flick off a couple of really large glitters.

I find the key isn’t necessarily the *type* of remover, but the amount. A sprinkle of remover won’t do it — the cotton pad needs to be WET (but not dripping everywhere).

Ashley

I’m still a huge fan of Zoya’s Remove+. It is a little on the pricey side – but I do like to buy it in bulk. It works great for glitter. A hold the cotton round for a few seconds on the nail, and swipe!

Yellowlantern

In my limited experience with glitter polishes it’s more about what you’re using to remove the glitter rather than the remover. Strongly woven cotton squares or even old rags that you can scrub with work better for me than cotton balls which basically get shredded by the glitter.

Marnie

Hands down, without a doubt, Zoya nail polish remover is the BEST remover for glitter nail polish. I used to not use glitter nail polish because it took forever to remove it, but now that I have the Zoya remover, it’s off in two cotton rounds!

Mariella

Yay….the auto-fill is FIXED!!! Sorry, I was just checking though I am eager to see what brands are suggested in this discussion (I’ve really pulled back on glitter polish because of the issues with removing it)

Miss J

I just use pure acetone and let it soak into the glitter polish for about a minute then it comes right off for me. Really, I’ve found that any acetone based polish remover works about the same. The soaking element seems to be the key.

xamyx

While I don’t have a particular favorite brand, I find those containing acetone just work better. I typically use acetone-free with non-glitter formulas though, but for glitter (since I don’t wear or change it as often), I just stick to regular acetone removers.

I also make sure to use a thick “base” coat, usually Sally Hansen Triple Strong, or something similar, as it removes easily, taking the glitter with it. If I don’t have as much time, or I want or need color underneath, I find simply wearing a “regular” polish as a base makes removal alot easier, as well.

That said, I just pick up whatever polish remover is least expensive as I need it, usually at Target or a drugstore, so the brands always vary, and none seem to be better than another.

LauraR.

This is probably terrible for my nails, but I use the method for removing gel nails. I just soak a small cotton pad in acetone, set it on the nail, wrap it with foil for up to 5 minutes, and then it’s all off when I remove the foil.

Amanda

100% acetone. It’s a myth that acetone is bad for your nails. It’s actually better than non acetone because you are spending A LOT less time exposing your nails to remover. But the key is always hydrating your cuticles. The glue base coat is also a great method (youtube for tutorials!)

Lizzy

Zoya. Why? It takes off everything quickly and completely. The push down top bottle helps too. It puts enough on a cotton pad to work.

But I’m wearing Zoya glitters too; That could skew things. They’re so pretty though!

Kat

Agree with those who say the type of remover doesn’t matter, as long as you wrap a piece of cotton soaked in remover around your nail with some tin foil and let it sit for a few minutes it will all come off!

Kate

I cut cotton rounds into fourths, soak each in Zoya Remove+ and use the foil method. I don’t find using acetone appreciably imrpoves the removal process, and I think Remove+ is more gentle on the cuticles.

Trillium

I’ve had the best luck with pure acetone and the foil method. It takes some set-up time, but no nail scrubbing! I definitely need moisturizing afterwards though.

Mandy

The remover doesn’t matter to me but I cut up small squares of craft felt for removal instead of cotton squares. The roughness and durability of the felt make the glitter come right off. Craft felt sheets are pretty inexpensive too.

Stephanie

Honestly, the Quo (Canadian drugstore brand from Shoppers Drug Mart/Pharmaprix) strengthening nail polish remover is the best remover I’ve ever used. I don’t know if it has more acetone in it or what, but it removes all kinds of polishes really well. For stubborn glitters I just hold a fairly soaked cotton round of it to my nail for 10-45 seconds, then wipe. It’s also super cheap and doesn’t smell harsh – it has a sweet, kind of fruity scent, similar to the Sephora brand remover.

I know ORLY makes Quo’s polishes, but I don’t know about their removers. Maybe someone who’s more familiar with Canadian vs American brands would know how to get this remover formula in the States.

Elizabeth Cunningham

Best method, and also works for something even worse to remove–GLITTER GELS! Use any new, coarse file to take the top shine off the glitter, you want to kick up some dust but don’t chew through the glitter altogether. Pay attention! when the entire surface is ‘exposed’ soak in good professional remover like OPI Expert Touch or Zoya Remove. I find strong pads, like medical 2×2 gauze dressing pads, can be helpful.

Ana

I think the type of pad is important too. I use a round cotton pad with a scrubby side I buy at target. It doesn’t break apart at all!

Mary

I use the Sally Hansen nail polish remover and find it works really well to take off any type of polish. Glitter polishes take longer but they come off easily enough.

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