I never bought into the hype of the nail varnish remover pot when Bourjois released their Magic Nail Varnish Remover. I thought the idea of it was pretty good - no cotton wool and liquid remover needed! - but I didn't want to pay £4.99 for it!
However on a beauty browse through my local Poundland I spotted this dupe and thought for £1.00 it was worth a try. It looks very similar with the same bright pink pot, instead called Twist and Out Instant Nail Varnish Remover. According to the label, it's meant to be quick, compact and no fuss. However this contains acetone, whereas the Bourjois is acetone free and contains nourishing sweet almond oil and no parabens.
Inside is a nail varnish remover soaked sponge that you pop your finger into to remove your nail varnish. The sponge isn't fixed to the sides of the pot so I find it moves around quite a bit. This certainly isn't instant, but yes it does remove nail varnish pretty quickly. Although when it came to removing glitter nail varnish I found this not to be so great. As you can see from my photos a lot of the sponge has pulled up and come apart where I was twisting to try and get the glitter off!! Since taking the pictures I've also noticed that the lid doesn't quite close down properly on one side too.
The Verdict
I'm pretty disappointed with this, though I feel like for only £1.00 I can't complain too much! You really do get what you pay for here. I am tempted to buy the Bourjois one now as the Poundland version isn't an exact dupe ingredient wise and I want to see if it really is as good as everyone says! Though at the end of the day I am always going to need cotton wool and a bottle of your standard nail varnish remover - I'm not sure this pot design will be very easy to use on my toes!!
What are your thoughts on these "instant" and "magic" nail varnish remover pots? Is the Bourjois one worth it?
Beauty Bird xx
That is so disappointing! But I think with these sort of things it'll remove basic nail polish but when it comes to glitter it just doesn't match up. I struggle to get glitter nail polish off my nails even with soaked cotton pads so not surprised this one did't work that well!
ReplyDeleteClaire x
www.prettywithapunch.blogspot.co.uk
Yeah this is very true! I think when it says "instant" etc you expect a little more don't you! xx
DeleteI like the bourjois one & I have used it a far bit. But I always go back to regular remover & cotton wool. I dont think I will repurchase it.
ReplyDeleteI have a feeling I'd do that too. Because it's something different I'm just tempted to try it, maybe if it's on offer I will!xx
DeleteI've tried the small pot types that can be found in Home Bargains and they're great. I've even re filled with cheap nail varnish remover once it has gone dry and it works like new. They only issue i had was the foam would break off after some time, but it does that with the Bourjois bottle. At least for £1 it's not too much money wasted. x
ReplyDeleteYeah I agree, my foam is already breaking off but because I only spent £1.00 I'm not really annoyed! Didn't think about the fact you could re-fill it with remover, might as well just use the remover though :s xx
DeleteThat sucks, I reviewed the Pretty Quik remover from Superdrug here http://makeupfortheinept.wordpress.com/2012/06/25/beauty-bargain-pretty-quik-instant-nail-polish-remover/ I really like that one, it's easy and fast to use, does the job! Sounds like you just got a bad dupe :( x
ReplyDeleteYeah might have got a dodgy bottle or just a bad dupe like you said! I'll take a look at the Pretty Quik, thanks lovely!xx
DeleteThis looks great, shame you didn't find it very good though. I've not tried the Bourjois one because I can't justify £4.99 and then to buy polish remover on top. Two birds one stone and all that!
ReplyDeleteBeth @ Beth-Bradley.blogspot.co.uk
X
Haha exactly!xx
DeleteI've tried this and couldn't get it to work for me at all - just wouldn't remove anything! :( x
ReplyDeletehttp://wewereraisedbywolves.blogspot.co.uk/
Aw no! Normal nail varnish is okay, but it doesn't quite remove all the varnish on some the edges I've noticed. Just little flecks, but they're still there!xx
DeleteI agree that for a £1 you can't really complain too much about a product, I wouldn't have thought it would work for glitter polishes - even my best removers have wrestled with mine. Might give this a try for everyday polishes though! xoxo
ReplyDeleteYeah for everyday it's worth a try for the price! xx
DeleteI want to try the bourjois one but don't want to pay that much for it x
ReplyDeleteMaybe one day it'll be on offer - I'd buy it if it was half price for definite!xx
DeleteI am never sure if everyone is raving about the Bourjois one because of the concept or because the nail varnish remover inside is just really good. If it's because of the concept then I'm a little bit confused, as I remember my Nana doing my nails years ago and she always used this type of remover on me (soaked sponge in pot thing), so surely it's nothing new. Confused.com. That said though, I haven't actually seen this sort of thing in a good few years, although I'm not sure if that's just because I haven't been looking. They really are handy, and great for people who can barely bear to touch cotton wool (like me!). Ugh, I hate it, it's just so squeaky! Ha.
ReplyDeleteHope you're well my lovely.
Mel xx
melswallofmirrors.blogspot.co.uk
Yeah it is a little confusing, maybe it's a bit of both! When the Bourjois one came out I remember quite a few bloggers saying the concept wasn't new.
DeleteHope you're well too lovely xx