One product many beautyblogs have been raving about is the express nail polish remover by Sephora. What it is, is a little pot with a sponge inside that should make cleaning up polish from your finger nails a breeze. After reading some reviews about this product online I thought I’d give it a shot and see how I like it. I actually love the product on the one hand, but on the other, I don’t. Here’s why.
Sephora Express Nail Polish Remover
As you can see the express remover comes in a little pot. So far so good and this looks like it could be just your average conventional nail polish remover. Here’s what you see when you unscrew the cap:
Sponge inside the pot
Inside this little jar is a sponge soaked in nail polish remover. What you do is, you simply stick your finger in the hole, you hold it or twist it a few times and tadah: your nail polish is gone. It takes off anything, even tough glitter polishes without leaving a trace. As any nail polish user will know: darker, bolder colors and glitters are a pain to take off as you either get the color or glitter all over your hands. Not with this thing and so I was as happy as a kid at Christmas when I found out it actually does what it’s supposed to do.
Here’s the downside though: the nail polish remover that this thing originally came with weakened my nails to the extend that they all started to break like no tomorrow. At first I noticed some weird sort of chipping. It was as if the top layer of my nails was starting to wear off, which had me kind of worried. Here I was after more than a year of putting in true efforts to get my nails healthy after years of nail biting. Finally they were becoming stronger and I used this for a month and snap! That was the end of long nails for me. My nails still haven’t recovered, only a few of them are now growing out long and strong.
So for me, the idea of the product works, it’s just the remover inside that I find horrible. You can imagine my joy when I found the following video (in Dutch) on how to clean it out and replace the remover with your own (also as a refill so you only have to buy the pot once):
This is NOT my video. Source
After watching this, I tried switching out mine and now it works a charm! I just use this really cheap drugstore brand remover which does the job so much better without damaging my nails. The effect of the jar hasn’t changed: I still don’t get nail polish all over my fingers when taking of polish and glitters all stay put in the jar as well. The only thing I did is use very chunky glitters so the sponge got damaged a bit, but the fluff that comes out at times I can easily wipe away.
Final verdict: without the original nail polish remover I say it’s a must have for anyone digging nail polish!
Have you tried this nail polish remover before? Which brand of nail polish remover do you use?
7 responses to “Review: Sephora Express Nail Polish Remover”
I’m still looking for a remover than really does the trick. I am sick and tired of not being able to wear glitter polishes because I cannot seem to get it off properly. It takes me forever, so maybe I should give this a try once my no-buy has come to an end.
You should! It works miracles! But soaking your nails in remover is the ONLY way to remove glitters to begin with. So you can also try pouring some in a bowl and sticking your fingers in or you can dose some cotton pads with remover and wrap them around your fingers using aluminum foil. I’m too impatient for the latter though.
Ik heb deze nagelremover ook. Ik vind hem super handig werken voor normale nagellak! Alleen voor glitternagellak gebruik andere omdat ik niet al die glitters in die spons wil hebben. Maar je krijgt de glitters er hiermee wel redelijk goed van je nagels af? Toch maar eens proberen dan 🙂
Ja ik vind van wel en je handen zitten naderhand ook niet onder de glitter. Ook handig.
I use Superdrug Nourishing Nail Polish Remover. It’s Acetone Free and has aloe vera and vitamin E in it. For only like £1.39 for 250ml.
I use it with cotton pads – I put a fair amount on it and wet all my nails with the cotton pad quickly and then start removing polish from each nail – this works a treat for me. I don’t have to wait long, no scrubbing – even with glitter! and it just comes off so easy. Plus this remover has things in that are good for my nails.
I should bring a bottle home when I’m in London in two weeks! Sounds like good stuff.
Sure give it a try – let me know what you think if you do get it. I’m definitely starting to get into this buying products with vitamins and things in that actually help – rather than a load of chemical crap.