Haha! Okay, I know I said "See you on Monday".. I got caught up with other stuffs so yeah.. Tuesday it is! ;D Hello everyone!
Today's post might be brief is going to be wordy long (hopefully informative too). I thought I'll share more on my experiences with peel-off base coats. Some of you might have known that previously I have been using PVA glue initially, as my base coat for glitters. There are several reasons:
- The infamous hard to remove glitter rants.
- Nail polish removers are not easy on the wallet here.
- I'm too lazy to wrestle with glitters.
The PVA Glue as Base Coat
A long time ago (cause it did felt that longggg), I did talk about PVA peel-off base coat in this post. However, there were pros and cons that weren't known to me at that time when I did that post. After several usage.. I didn't enjoy it.
this is an old photo btw..
I used PVA because that's the only whitish glue I had at home. Cleaned up an empty bottle of base coat and poured the glue in (for easy application). Please note, characteristic of this glue may not apply to Elmer's. Anyway, to put in simple terms:
The pro of PVA glue as base coat:
- easy glitter removal
The con of PVA glue as base coat:
- some thin layers of my nail peeled off too
And that negative point alone was enough to prevent me from using it frequently. Hence, my ever growing stash of glitters with low usage.
So... that got me thinking and wondering whether those peel-off base coats that were manufactured by companies will have similar negative impact. I scout around but at that time, the only brand that offered such base coat that I can find was from Etude House. One bottle priced at MYR 19.90 which I thought was overpriced. I tested it briefly on my nails and it smelled exactly like glue, which caused me to hesitate more. But I know if it was cheaper, somewhere along MYR 8.90 I would consider buying.
Etude House Peel Off Base Coat (Review)
And guess what? Towards the end of last year, Etude House had a massive clearance nail polish sale (which I had suspected was to welcome the new Nail Play range XD). They were letting go of most polishes at MYR 5.00 per bottle! I grabbed 6 bottles of their peel off base coats and several other glitter polishes too. Hahahaha!! Common, that's a good price!
On the left, is the first bottle and is the one I am using now. I have done several manis, including some failed ones. On the right is how the base coat look in a full bottle (new condition).
Now that I have properly used Etude House Peel-Off Base Coat, I must say there are some difference. I don't experience any thin nail layer stripped away. So that's quite good! However, with frequent consecutive usage it will take some toll on your nail causing the familiar layer stripping. So my advise is not to use too excessively and make sure your nails aren't too dry.
For those who are curious with my personal application process with this base coat, I'll give you a step by step walkthrough:
- Start with clean but not too dry nails
- Apply first coat of Etude House Peel Off Base Coat, avoiding the cuticles area. Be sure that you don't blob too much on the first coat. It might dry funky. Haha! Allow first coat to fully dry.
- Proceed with second coat of Etude House Peel Off Base Coat. Again, avoiding cuticle area. Allow it to dry thoroughly as well.
- Apply your normal base coat. And go on with your usual routine. I recommend doing two coats of normal base coat if the base polish colour is pigmented.
Okay, I know it sounds like a lot of layers. Well, as long as each layer you do are not too thick, they will not be bulky. Etude House Peel-Off Base Coat can take awhile to dry. It is faster if you put your hand in front of fan. But please, let each layer dry thoroughly.
No doubt the starting part is tedious, but I think it's worth it as long as the removal process is easier. Bear in mind though, Etude House Peel-Off Base Coat is not for everyone. I used the exact same process when I did my Mother's and Sister's nails and their manicure didn't even last a day for them. Haha, it was hilarious though, it looked like they lost one of their falsies XD. Anyway, as for me it can last 3-4 days. Which is good enough for me.
Here, a glimpse of the removal part:
took them off approximately after three days wear
see what I mean that they look like falsies? Hahaha!
Removal part wasn't hard. I pick them from the cuticle area, slowly and gently. Usually they come off in nice large chunks as image above. As for removing texture polishes, you might want to include a layer of top coat to seal the texture bits together first. Otherwise, they can come off in flakes--which is not too bad, actually. Considering you can use an orange stick to help in the removal. Haha, but I prefer if they come out in large chunks. :)
Conclusion
I definitely choose Etude House Peel-Off base coat over my PVA Glue. Because Etude House Peel-Off base coat doesn't damage my nails as much as PVA glue does. It is easy to remove which makes me want to bust out more glitters. Hahahah! Again, Etude House Peel-Off base coat doesn't work for everyone. So try at your own risk. Haha! The new batch should be in same bottle design as Nail Play range. Though, I'm not sure if they did improve on the formula or not.