OPI Glitter Off Base Coat Review

*Sent for review*

Peel-off base coats are not really new in the nail world. People have been making their own for quite some time now, using a mixture of Elmer's Glue and water. I personally had not ever tried a peel-off base coat myself until now, but I was very curious to try OPI Glitter Off. Why had I never tried a peel-off base coat? Well, let's remember that until very recently, I had very poor wear time with normal base coats, so I kind of figured peel-off base coats wouldn't last very long on me. I also heard they were very drying and I already have dry nails. OPI added some ingredients to counteract that drying tendency, so I wasn't worried about trying Glitter Off. Was I right about how peel-off base coats would wear on me personally? Find out below!

Above you can see the mani I did to test this base coat, three coats of SinfulColors Violets Are Blue topped with two coats of Lynnderella Forget You Not. I own chunkier glitters, but I was planning on wearing this combo anyway, so I went with this. I used a thin coat of Glitter Off on clean nails as my base for this mani and finished applying the whole thing at around 9 PM. This picture was taken the following morning at around 10 AM and the mani was still perfect on all 10 nails. I kept admiring it all morning. At 11:30 AM, I was admiring it again when I noticed a very small chip on my right thumb nail. By 11:45, I had a huge chip in my left thumb nail as well. I had washed my hands a few times that morning, but had not taken a shower at this point. At 12:04 PM (still hadn't showered), my whole right pointer had peeled off and my right ring was half peeled off.

 *Sent for review*

By 1:15 PM only four of my nails had polish on them (all four on my left hand- my less used hand). Above you can see how two of the nails peeled off in neat little sheets (I found these two on the floor after noticing the two bare nails). At 2:07 PM, I had two nails that were still perfectly intact, my left ring and left pinky. These are probably my two least used nails on my less used hand. These two nails managed to stay chip-free and beautiful until 11:10 PM, a full 26 hours after I applied them. At that time, I gave up on my experiment and just peeled them off. My nails felt fine and not at all dry after peeling this off. I do believe I was right in thinking that a peel-off base coat wouldn't last on me personally. However, I have read several reviews where the person got great wear out of this base coat, no less than a regular base coat. It all comes down to personal nail chemistry, how much you wash your hands, how you use your hands, etc.

Despite the lack of good wear for me personally, I am still going to use this base coat. I think it's an absolute god-send for swatching glitters. I honestly don't know why I never thought of that before! I used Glitter Off for my OPI Spotlight on Glitters swatches and it made the whole thing go so much faster. I also plan to use this base coat when I wear glitter heavy manis that only need to last me around 16 hours or less. It's amazing for a night out. I do plan to test this further with different polishes for more conclusive results, so I will keep you posted of any changes. Overall, I think it's worth it to get a bottle or two of Glitter Off for swatching and easy removal of special night out manis.

OPI Glitter Off is available now at Professional Salons, including Beauty Brands, Beauty First, Chatters, Dillard’s, jcp Salons, Pure Beauty, Regis, Trade Secret, ULTA and ulta.com for $9.00 ($10.95 CAN) suggested retail.