Three Nail Polish Removers #2 // Cutex & Sally Hansen

//Since becoming obsessed with doing my nails I'm reading more and more articles about caring for your nails. In the old days I just used to think polish remover was well polish remover and there wasn't any difference between them. I thought it smelled horrible and left my nails looking white and dry. However, since then I've learnt that removers differ vastly and I'm now on the search for the best remover.// 

Sally Hansen // Moisturising Nail Polish Remover (200ml - £1.98)

You know, I was really shocked to find out they still sold this because I legit bought this almost 10 years ago lol. This was my remover for when I sporadically did my nails. Before summer last year, I was quite the polish hoarder but I never did my nails that much, perhaps once every three months and then I would leave that polish on for a month (or longer) until it was chipped and scratty looking. Then I would use some of this to remove it. At the time, I just thought it was natural for your nails to look dry and streaky after removing polish; now I know differently. I've stopped using this now as it's pretty much useless at removing anything other than creme's and clean-up is a joke. The scent is just standard polish remover but there's nothing special about it.

Cutex // Ultra Powerful (200ml - £2.15)

So in last months Three Nail Polish Removers, I mentioned that I thought I had found the holy grail of removers; this is what I was referring to. However, then, I hadn't tried the moisture rich version, see more on that below. This ultra powerful remover completely blew my expectations away. I bought it on offer for £1 and the watermelon scent was the first thing I noticed. Seriously, this remover actually smells quite nice. It's very cold on the skin and can leave it a little white if you leave it on too long but it removes polish in a breeze. I can't comment on glitter effectiveness because I always wear a peel off base coat when wearing glitter (it's just easier) but clean-up is fantastic. This creates beautiful sharp lines and doesn't leave skin dry at all. It's also fantastic at cleaning up stamping plates and nail mats; this remover is worth every penny.

Cutex // Moisture-Rich (200ml - £2.15)

Ladies and Gentleman, roll up for the winner of nail polish removers; this baby can do it all. At the start of January, Superdrug had all the Cutex polish removers on sale (they have quite a few actually) and so I decided to give another one a go to see if the range was any good. I shouldn't have even worried. I was expecting this to be worse than the ultra-powerful so it was a surprise when it removed polish just as well without any dryness. In fact, if I use this on dry looking nails, they actually look healthier...and smell like Christmas cake.

This remover has a beautiful marzipan/almond scent that really lingers after the acetone dissapates; I can't get enough of it. It performs clean-up relatively well, although the lines aren't quite as sharp but it gets the job done. After the first use I went back out and bought another 5 while they were on sale.

I would say the only downside is that it seems to stain your nails and skin yellow after repeated use; and I use it a lot. It's not highly noticables but I have noticed that my tips are no longer as white as they used to be since I started using it. But other than that, I can't reccommend this remover enough.

//Conclusion

Overall, I'm not sure if I'll be doing another one of these posts now because the Cutex removers (used together) are really all I need. They do exactly what I want them to do and they smell great. I use the Moisture rich to remove any polish and clean my nails and then the ultra powerful to clean plates and do clean-up with. Since I've started using them, I've noticed that Cutex also do polishes and cuticle oils and I can't wait to give everything else a go because their products seem to be amazing quality for a fantastic price.

Mani & Lola December 2018 // Nail Subscription Box

Three months of Mani & Lola already??? Also, I'm super sorry about how late this is!!! They actually dispatched it earlier but when I received it on the 12th, I had a quick look at the contents then set it aside to be photographed and now it's almost January...That said, I like this month but it's not as good as the last two months. I think it was the two tiny travel sizes and sheet mask that did it. I'm already subbed to four beauty boxes; I don't need any face products from my nail box thank you.

Inc.Redible // Be Shore to Shine Mask (20ml Full Size Sheet Mask - No Retail Price)

Mani & Lola have given this an RRP of £10.95 which is ridiculous because these masks are only £5 full price so I have no idea where they got that price from. Also, this mask is not available outside of their Christmas gift sets so, really it has no retail price. I don't mind these masks, I do two sheet masks a week so it will get used but I would've preferred something nail related given than this is a nail box. The beauty boxes I'm subbed to rarely feature nail polish so it's kind of annoying to get skincare in a specialist box.

If you haven't tried these masks before though they have designs printed on them and they make you look like a serial killer. The cat one is particularly terrifying. You'll never need a Halloween costume as long as you have one of these on you.

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Mavala // Pure Diamond Bauble (5ml size - £4.95)

I can no longer find the bauble set for sale however the mini is still being sold. I was a little upset to see a mini size after receiving all full sizes the past couple of months but this is a beautiful shade. It's a linear holo that can achieve full opacity if sponged on or needs 3 coats. The shine is unreal and even though there is silver glitter padding the holo pieces out, they really shine in the light.

Will it Stamp? No.

EDIT 06/01/2018 - This box still hasn't been my favourite however, having done some research I found out that this is a full size polish, so every polish once again is full size. It's actually mental. Apparently Mavala only sell in a 5ml size. I'm sorry but these retail around £5 each. With that I can buy 10-15ml sized polishes. Now I know stamping polishes come in 5mls sizes however they are always much cheaper around the £1-£3 (depending on how much you trust eBay).

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Zoya // Alegra (15ml full size- £9.95)

A third Zoya polish and this one is the weakest out of the bunch. It needs a good 4 coats and the beautiful gold shift you see in the bottle is non-existent on the nails. It's a nice shimmery raspberry shade but not one that I would've picked out myself.

Will it Stamp? Yes, but extremely weak with little colour pay-off.

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China Glaze // Merry Whatever (14ml full size - £5.95)

Now this is more like it! This is a brand new shade from China Glaze's 2018 holiday collection. This is chunky gold glitter with bits of holo scattered around; it's stunning. When I think of Christmas polishes; this type of shade comes to mind. I like how it looks next to the blue Jessica shade and I'm cooking something up with those two.

Will it Stamp? No.

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Essie // Good as Gone Remover (25ml Sample Size - No Retail Price)

Another product which is no longer sold. It makes me wonder how long they've had these samples lying around? Also, mine isn't even filled to the top; it's missing a quarter. I've only used this once to remove a creme polish and it did ok. The scent wasn't overpowering given that it's mainly acetone with only 4 ingredients. My nails didn't look white or dry afterwards and there was no cold sensation. It does say salon performance on the front so I'll be testing it on it's clean-up ability but seeing as how you can't buy it, I don't see why it was included.

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Jessica // Bohemian Rhapsody (14.8ml Full size - £8.95)

This is a true dark denim blue shade and I love it. I don't have many blue shades in my collection (I'm trying to correct that...) and so I was happy to see this. I'd say you need a maximum of two coats. If applied slowly and precisely you can get away with one. I found it easy to remove as well, with minimal staining around the skin.

Will it Stamp? Yes, but only on large designs. Colour pay off is weak and can't handle small intricate designs.

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Price of Box - £22.95

Number of Items - 6 

Estimated Worth - £29.80

For a box that cost me £23, I don't think a £30 estimated worth is great...even Birchbox manages to double how much it costs in value. I could've bought most of these cheaper individually or using sales/discount codes, plus two items aren't even sold. The shades were nice this month but I am a little disappointed in the box. I'm hoping that next months will be much better as this is an expensive subscription but cheaper than the other nail box company; Meebox. 

EDIT: Looks done using these polishes -
- The Royal Splits (NYE 2018)

Three Nail Polish Removers #1 // Beauty Outlet & Wilko

Since becoming obsessed with doing my nails I'm reading more and more articles about caring for your nails. In the old days I just used to think polish remover was well polish remover and there wasn't any difference between them. I thought it smelled horrible and left my nails looking white and dry. However, since then I've learnt that removers differ vastly and I'm now on the search for the best remover. 

Beauty Outlet // Gel Polish Remover (150ml - £1.49)

I bought this after trying to do clean up with standard nail polish remover that I bought around 10 years ago. As you can tell I never used to do my nails that regularly (like once every 3 months) and so remover would last me years. However, since I've started doing nail art, I've gone through a 150ml in just under two months. 

This is blazingly fast as a clean up remover and allows you to create sharp lines. It evaporates almost instantly and leaves the skin feeling ice cold. Because of how powerful it is though I found that it would often mess up the polish (especially since I always wear a peel off base coat) and cause it to bunch up and lift prematurely. I try to avoid using it to remove my polish completely though because it's extremely drying and the skin looks white after using it. The scent is quite strong but not as bad as others. I would probably re-purchase this as back up for when I have nothing else but after trying others it isn't my favourite.

Beauty Outlet // Acetone Free Remover (150ml - £1)

This I want to throw in the bin because it's absolutely useless. It can't remove regular creme polish for shit so forget about glitter, no matter how long you leave it on. I've only used this a couple of times before I realised acetone-free remover is a gimmick and should never be used. Forget about clean up, you'll be there for eternity swiping your nails and afterwards you'll be left with dry skin. In the unlikely event it does manage to remove something, the nails are left dry and flaky. I would pour this down the drain but I'm scared the drains will forever smell of this horrid product.

Wilko // "Lift Off" Nail Polish Remover (250ml - £1)

The last remover did not smell great but winner of the unholy nail polish remover scent goes to this thing. With the gel remover running out quickly and the acetone free being useless, I picked this one up whilst doing a quick shop. I was lured in by the "fast acting formula" claim and the "lift-off" slogan. I thought this would solve my problems as it contains vitamins and glycerine as well as being predominately acetone; boy was I wrong. I hate this stuff; it smells god awful. No amount of ventilation will save you; the scent will follow you to the ends of the earth and after all that it will maybe remove some polish. But your nails will be left white and dry and they'll stink for ages. Clean up is a joke with this stuff so like the acetone free it's now languishing on my shelf as I'm unsure of what to do with them. 

And that's it for this post. Look out for another one next month as I have a few more that I've been trialling; one of which I think is a keeper and only £2.50!