Twist and Shout (Pretty Quik Instant Nail Polish Remover)

Member Name: bondgirlk8

Product:	Pretty Quik Instant Nail Polish Remover
Date:	02/11/09 (52 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Portable, fast, effective

Disadvantages: Comparatively expensive

Isn't nail varnish great! I love it! I love it so much I have an entire shelf in my house dedicated to a whole spectrum of them. Never does a day go by when I don't have varnish of some description on my toes, and rarely (although for the sake of the health of my nails, I do try to sometimes leave it of) is it off my finger nails.

Don't get me wrong, I don't have those long scary nails or anything! No, my nails are nice and short (I wear contact lenses and play the guitar so they HAVE to be short), but I do like to keep them looking clean and smart. I can't bear a ragged nail, and don't even get me started on nails that are not all of identical length! Eurgh!

My favourite choice is a classic French manicure on my hands, with a nice vivid colour on my toe nails. This colour changes several times a week in keeping with my mood, and my French manicure needs to be redone weekly in order to stay nice looking (chipped varnish - again YUK!). Obviously I use a lot of nail varnish remover!

Now, I have to be honest with you. I've tried most of them, cheap, pricey, extortionate, and I have to say, there isn't (for me) that much difference. They all seem to work just fine for me. My usual brand is (no surprises!) Superdrug's own make.

I do, however, find they all have one common problem. Transporting them is a bit of a pain. They are bulky, have the potential to leak and require you to also transport cotton wool balls which you will inevitably run out of and have to buy more. This frustrates me, as if there is ever a time I like to let my nail varnish run free, it would be on holiday. My applications to wear ratio is much increased when I am away from home. I clearly needed an alternative.

Now, I've tried the ready-soaked pads before which come in a little tub of about 20 or so to very little success. I always felt they had a grim overly sweet smell and took a lot of vigorous rubbing to achieve removal of the majority of the paint. Anything with glitter is impossible, and it sticks stubbornly no matter how much you scrub. The remaining pads also dried out pretty quick, even though the tub was sealed. The result definitely did not justify a cost easily equivalent to a whole bottle of standard nail varnish remover.

As a result, I can't say I held out a huge amount of hope for this product, but I was in one of my Superdrug trances and something about it just spoke to me. As usual, into the basket it goes.


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Packaging
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This product is packaged in a small white pot with a bright pink lid. It has a blue label with pink and white lettering for the name of the product and a brief description of what it does. "Pretty Quik. Manicure on the go. Instant nail polish remover." It also contains the instructions 'Simply dip and twist'. The label on the back of the pot lets me know what is inside, and also that I should take care to keep the product upright (this obviously can't happen in a suitcase, but I think it actually means whilst the lid is off to prevent spillages).

It is a very appealing little pot which successfully attracted my attention and encouraged me to drop it in my basket and take it home. I had never heard of this brand or particular product before and it wasn't something I was especially looking for at the time of shopping, so really, it did its job very well.

Whilst looking for an image to use for my dooyoo product suggestion, I came across a website which describes this product as follows:

"This handy little screw-top jar contains a sponge impregnated with a conditioning, vitamin E polish remover. Simply dip your finger into the sponge, twist and polish is removed in seconds. No spills in your suitcase and handy for your desk drawer too."

I include it here as it sums this product up very nicely and accurately.


*****
Price
*****
At the time of writing (27th October 2009), one jar of Pretty Quik instant nail polish remover will set you back £2.50. Quite a lot in comparison to what you would pay for a bottle of liquid nail varnish remover, but if it lives up to it's claims, then perhaps justifiably so. Given what I know about it, I think it is well worth it - particularly if you are going away, or as it says, for keeping in your drawer at work for any polish related incidents that need instant rectification.


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Application
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According to the pot, you 'Simply dip and twist'. Yeah right. Yes actually, yes. That is really all that is required. On opening the pot, you will discover a sponge inside which pretty much fills the entire pot. There is a cross cut into the top of this sponge. This is where you insert your finger. Yes I was sceptical as well but one quick twist and my finger emerges entirely devoid of nail varnish, and looking remarkably like it has been in some way conditioned as well. This is a nice varnish remover. I am very impressed. I fly through my removal process effortlessly and mere seconds later I'm ready to apply my new coat of paint.


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Sensations
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I had a really good sniff, right in the jar, just so I could tell you what it smells like. It smelt very nail-varnish-removery. I know, it surprised me too! It didn't really smell any harsher or sweeter or weirder in any way than regular nail varnish remover.

Next is touch. Obviously, as I mentioned above, in order to remove the varnish the whole finger tip is inserted into the sponge-in-pot. This felt, again unsurprisingly, like a damp sponge. How much you like this will depend how fond you are of sponges I guess. I felt like my finger was enclosed in a magic cocoon, but that's just me.

And the final sensation is wonder. Wonder that this little pot has removed my varnish so perfectly, without causing any irritation to my skin (I was just a little concerned at effectively submerging my skin in nail varnish remover) or any stinging to my slightly torn cuticles. Wonder also that my nails looked so nice. Conditioned by the remover, rather than dulled and destroyed as some products can leave them.

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So does it work?
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Yes, yes, yes! It really does. Super fast, super efficient and super effective. This pot will definitely be coming with me on my travels. I'm not sure how long it lasts for, as I have only used it so far on holiday (probably about 6 times) and at home when I've been in a lazy mood (perhaps another 6 or 7 times) and although the sponge is no longer sparkling white (emerald green and dark, dark red seem to have been my favoured colours of the last few months) it is showing no signs of becoming less effective. The sponge is still soaked in solution and the time taken for perfect removal has not yet begun to diminish. I'm sure it will, and when it does I'll be first in the queue for a replacement pot. However, much as I love it, I doubt I'll replace my standard bottle for the sake of everyday use - still have to watch the pennies now don't we. But for any kind of travel, or for lazy days I wouldn't be without this fabulous little product.

So, you may be wondering why it didn't get that elusive fifth star. It's obvious isn't it? I can't get my toes in it! Well, I say "can't", but that isn't strictly true. Perhaps I should say "it is with great difficulty that I use it to remove the nail varnish from my toes". Oh yes, I tried....the night before my wedding. (We got married abroad, my toes were a bright coral colour, and I wanted to put a nice very light bride-friendly shimmering pink on them to match my hands.)

Luckily, I am reasonably flexible, and I have a freakish ability to splay my toes apart really wide. A talent which greatly helped me achieve the mad aim of inserting one toe at a time to a small pot and then attempting to twist it around, all whilst keeping the pot upright to prevent tipping it and causing a nasty spillage. The pot felt at the same time frustratingly small (to insert toe into) and frustrating wide (to rotate pot around said toe, when there are lots of other toes either side preventing this). Anyway, it was an eventual success, but to be honest, if you are going to take nail varnish off your toes, the best plan is to use cotton wool and a traditional bottle of nail varnish remover.

Thanks for reading.

© BondgirlK8 October 2009

Summary: Oh, if only they made one for toes.