Tips, Tricks, and Tutorials Tuesday - The Foil Method

Alrighty....don't forget about my giveaway that ends tomorrow!  And please vote for me here.  AND, check out my giveaway page...there's a new giveaway from Glam Polish for 6 of the polishes from ChG's On Safari collection!  Now...on to today's trick.  This is the foil method for removing glitters.

Last week, I showed you how I remove nail polish in general.  Today, I'll be showing you how I remove those pesky glitters!  This will actually work for any stubborn polish or when you have lots o' layers.  You will need nail polish remover, cotton balls, and aluminum foil.

For the nail polish remover, some people use pure acetone.  It does work faster, but you pay a price.  Pure acetone is very drying.  As this method calls for leaving the remover on your nails for longer than usual, it will really dry out and damage your cuticles.  If you really want to use it, I suggest covering your cuticles with a healthy coating of Vaseline prior to using it.  I use remover with acetone.

For the cotton balls, you will want to have one for each finger.  I actually re-use the cotton balls, so I only need enough for one hand.  In this case, I was swatching a color on only four fingers, so I used four cotton balls.

Next, I cut out squares of aluminum foil.  I cut fairly large squares.  I do this because I re-use the foil, too.  I just keep it in a drawer with my other nail implements.  Over time, little pieces will rip off as I un-wrap my fingers and flatten the foil back out.  So, I like to have a larger square so I can still keep using it despite bits of it ripping off.  It saves me from having to re-cut more foil all the time.

You are going to work on one hand at a time.  Once you're ready, you will take a cotton ball and get a good amount of remover on it.  You don't want it soggy, or the remover will just drip down your fingers.  Place the cotton on the first nail.  Next, wrap the aluminum foil around the tip of your finger and cotton ball.  This will keep the remover from evaporating, and hold the cotton ball in place on your finger.  Repeat this process for all fingers on one hand. 

I will leave them on for about 5 minutes.  If you have lots of layers or a really thick, chunky glitter, you can leave it on for a bit longer.  I would top off at 10 minutes max.  Once the time is up, you will remove the foil and cotton just as you would to remove polish - slightly wiggle the cotton ball side-to-side, and slowly wiggle it off the nail.  All of the glitter polish should come off all at once!  Super easy!

Then, I flip the cotton ball over to the clean side.  Add a bit of remover if necessary, and apply them in the same manner to the other hand.  And there you have the foil method!  Happy removing!