My experiences with PVA glue as a base for nail polish.

Essence's Peel Off Base Coat has stunned glitter lovers everywhere for a number of reasons. Pretty Purple Polish blogged about getting a bottle of PVA glue to test the effectiveness. Why? This base coat is hard to find and Lab Muffin confirmed that the Peel Off Base Coat was simply PVA glue thinned with water and added preservatives to combat the microbal growth that occurs when you add water products. With this news I promptly added a bottle of Sellys PVA to my supermarket trolley.

Not all products behave in the same way with all people. I thought I would share how PVA behaved when I used it on my nails. I commented on Pretty Purple Polish's post that I used Orly's Tough Cookie because it tended to flake off on sheets on my nails. This made for easy glitter removal. Pretty Purple Polish responded that she had a base coat that did the same but not as easily as this.

Still wet PVA glue on the nails.

The first time I used PVA as a base I did a quick swatch and removed it straight away. It removed easily but I suspect that a regular base coat would also remove easily. This is because the middle layers of polish are still tacky. After soaking my hands in the bath I cleaned my nails for completely polish free fingernails.

Now for a recounting of the second time I used PVA glue. I applied the glue and waited for it to dry. It is easy to tell as the PVA goes from opaque to transparent. My polish was worn for two days before I removed it. I found it very difficult to lift and the best leverage I had was from the sides of my nail. Once I got it lifted it removed fairly easily until it got to my free edge. There the polish stuck - like glue. I ended up having shaggy glitter polish tips and bare nails. I did the washing up and soaking my hands in the hot water for an extended period helped lift the "tips" easily.

Getting there, my nails are almost dry but you can see some wet patches.

The third time I used PVA as a base coat, I used two coats. For my nails this allowed me to peel the majority of the polish off very easily and remove the rest with some rubbing when I soaked in a bath. The down side is that the polish had started lifting at the edges overnight.

So, it seems as though if I want the best results for my nails I need to use one coat of PVA glue and have a soak in the bath or do the washing up to remove the polish easily. For extra easy removal and short term wear, I can apply two coats of PVA at the start. This is slightly less work than the foil method but it has four advantages:

1. PVA is not toxic. 
2. Removal does not stink of chemicals.
3. Removal is less messy. No more foil, finger cots or wipes needed. Glitter is still attached to the polish.
4. Cheaper. I bought my bottle for less than $6 for a 250 ml size. Therefore it is cheaper than base coat and you do not need to buy nail polish remover.

I am not sure that I am quite comfortable changing completely over to using glue as a nail polish base just yet.