polish removal Archives » Beauty Skeptic

Deborah Lippmann The Stripper to Go, $12

This is a legacy post that I’ve given a facelift because it’s a neat product. Opinions are the same, but is formatted and edited for easier reading and flow.

I received a single Deborah Lippmann The Stripper to Go sample foil in a cadre of samples . I tend to use pure acetone to remove my nail polish these days – the silly additives don’t actually seem to help, and they just weaken the product. When I wear regular polish, I tend to wear ~~shimmery and glittery colors which pure acetone removes far more efficiently~~ less glitter and shimmer these days, but still. More often, though, I wear gel nail polish – a bottle of Cutex is not going to cut that.

Giving it a Go

I happened to be wearing a fun bright green on my toes that was ready to come off (China Glaze I’m With the Lifeguard, mentioned in my May Favorites, if you’re wondering). Out of acetone, but having just gone though my samples I reached for my sample Deborah Lippmann The Stripper to Go. I glanced at the packet and noticed it was supposed to smell like lavender, and that it was a, “finger mitt.” What? I wasn’t sure what to expect here, but the packaging said that one mitt will remove polish from all ten fingers.

We’ve all dealt with it – a manicure that is stubborn to remove (dark colors, glitter), or is more of a mess during removal than anything. I use pure acetone these days, but when I heard about 1st Acetone Power Gel (from Cutepolish, I think?) I had to try it out.

As far as I know, it is carried at Wal-Mart in two varieties: a regular and a Glitter formula. I went with the glitter formula because I tend to have trouble with glitter removal more than other varieties.

Here’s my nail before. There are two coats of China Glaze Wish Upon a Starfish. It’s one of those glittery, sandy-textured polishes (basically, there’s no smoothing it out without twelve coats of top coat). In short, it’s a pain to remove and an excellent polish upon which to demonstrate this product.

The non-glitter variety is in identical packaging except the pink and yellow parts are switched.

1st Acetone Power Gel

Inside is a thick, viscous, translucent pink gel. Unlike regular liquid acetone-based nail polish removers, 1st Acetone Power Gel does not assault you with a strong, chemical odor. That said, it DOES have one – don’t get curious and sniff the jar; if I had to guess it is because the gel doesn’t throw off fumes quite like liquid does.