Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Apothecary: Zoya Remove +

Hello ladies,

Today I wanted to share my daily process occurring with my favorite polish remover: Zoya Remove +. My friend Lisa and I found a delightful bottle holder in the garden next to the Mutter Museum. It's a shame I can't transport the Remove + bearer to my apartment. Of course she must remain in the garden so that others can take her picture with their most treasured nail polish remover. It's essential to retain the sense of community, especially in city dwelling.  



Remove + is the first step of the Zoya Colorlock System. As a polish remover and nail prep, Remove + can be utilized as part of your current nail care procedure regardless of which treatment products you use. I believe it's the mark of a quality product when it can be separated from a line and still achieve excellent results. 

I feel choosing a quality polish remover helps maintain nail length and reduces damage that can eventually lead to breakage. Even if I purchase drugstore polish, I will still take it off with Remove +. Using a polish remover that typically requires a scrubbing action to be effective can cause the nail to slightly twist at the sides. This motion ultimately weakens the nail and can form tiny cracks that grow into tears or splits.  

I have to praise Zoya for creating, to my nose,  the best smelling polish remover on the market. I have a finite sense of smell. I love natural perfumery and for me to praise the scent of a polish remover is nothing short of miraculous! Zoya describes the scent as being lavender based. To me, it smells like a light floral expanse distracting from the effective ingredients. The list includes: 2-Propanone, water, glycerine, fragrance and D&C violet #2. The color is light purple and looks like it is a lavender scented product. That information doesn't relate to my olfactory senses. I smell a giant mixed bouquet tossed over 2-Propanone. 

The method I use to remove polish begins with cutting up rectangles of white felt from the craft store. I size the pieces slightly larger than each nail.  I position the piece of felt over the holes under the flip cap and pump once. This should saturate the felt and leave a little extra remover that can be absorbed by the next piece. I gently press the piece of felt to make contact with the entire surface of the nail. I wait for about 20 seconds, then wipe. I use the same method with glitter polishes. Usually glitter will require a second pump of remover. I use one small piece of felt per nail. For regular polish, you can use cotton rounds if you prefer. I have found felt to be so economical I use it to remove every type of polish I wear. As a bonus, less product is required when working with felt.

The Big Flipper bottle seemed a little awkward to me the first couple times I tried it. You'll find the most comfortable pressure to dispense the amount of polish remover you require. A 32 oz. refill bottle is available. There is also a 2 oz. trial size. I would advise skipping that and moving to the 8 oz. Big Flipper. 

Remove + also works beautifully as a nail prep. Directly before I polish, I take a felt square similar in size to a cotton round and go over all ten nails. This will take off any oils that can keep your base coat from throughly adhering to the nail plate. Touching your face, pushing back your hair, or petting your dog or cat can transfer imperceptible oils to the nail that will cause polish to chip. Base coat can't thoroughly adhere to oil. Giving my nails a final swipe with Remove + is the final step before I begin painting. It assures the nail plate is clean and ready for base coat. 

One of the points necessary for maintaining nail length, to whatever degree suits your sense of aesthetics and lifestyle, is consistency. I use Remove + exclusively for nail prep. There are other removers I find work effectively to take off polish and I will be sharing those with you as part of the apothecary series.  

Happy painting, removing, and painting again! 


8 comments:

  1. thanks for the review hun and the tips and i love the pics very cute

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  2. I love how you placed the Remove in the bowl of the statue. Very nice and love to see the statue in the garden. You've given a better explanation of this product and it's uses than Zoya. Thank you.

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  3. Diana, I learn so much in your Apothecary series, I think this is amazing! I never heard of the felt for removing before, I'm DEFINITELY going to use that tip. I know with my next "allowance" I'll be ordering some Remove+, that's the second time I've heard it highly recommended. I have a friend who got a sample size that she's sending on to me, bless her. I can't wait to give it a try. I love how you explain WHY you do things, like prepping your nail bed!
    And that statue? Too cute for a prop, couldn't be more perfect!!

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  4. Thanks for this explanation! I have been wanting to get this polish remover and now I know that it's also a good nail prep. What a thorough review. Kudos!

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  5. hello lovely! I have a question which may or may not be valuable: You specify "white felt". Any reason not to use colored felt? I have never thought to use it, but I do have a HUGE bag full of it! But it isn't all white...

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  6. Skye: Thanks! My friend Lisa had the idea for using the statue for display. I had a great time taking the pictures!

    Lucy: Thanks so much! I'm glad the review was useful for you. You know how much I using props!

    Nicole: I'm so glad the Apothecary series is enjoyable for you. I mainly started it because of all the questions I receive about maintaining my nails. It's really nice to hear that I have something to offer to people in the nail polish blogging community too. I heard about using felt on Make Up Alley. I tried different ways to work with it before settling on a routine. I have to give Lisa credit for the statue idea. She has a great eye.

    beautyjudy: Thanks! I hope you love it as much as I do. :)

    denise: The problem with using a color of felt other than white is the material might not be colorfast once polish remover is added. I would worry about staining skin and nails. I heard some disaster stories about red felt! I really didn't want to experiment after that!

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  7. Were you able to get this somewhere b&m, or was it ordered online? I don't think I've ever seen anything by Zoya in any stores here!

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  8. I ordered it from art of beauty. It's where Zoya and Q-tica products are sold online. I have the link in the sidebar. Zoya is a salon brand. You may want to call their customer service to see if any local salons carry their products. Zoya does some pretty wonderful promotions through twitter and they have specials and free extras in with orders. The shipping is free over $55. I usually wait and do a bigger order to get the free shipping. I hope that helps.

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