Dear Answer Angel Ellen: I have recently fallen in love with Sally Hansen Insta-Dri nail polish. It literally dries in a minute as advertised and stays on chip-free for a good week after one coat. However, when the time comes for me to remove it, I have not found a nail polish remover that can penetrate it without putting in lots of time rubbing, and extra applications of remover. I am hoping that you know of a nail polish remover that can do the job with this wonderful polish without requiring an hour of work to get it all off.
— Martha W.
Dear Martha: Nail polish has come a long way since the days when the main complaint was that it chipped in minutes — OK, maybe hours — barely staying intact long enough to even bother with painting our nails. With the introduction of long wear, short dry time, gel polish and such, the opposite is true. How to get the stuff off?
Straight acetone is the most effective way to remove polish. It is particularly effective on salon enhanced (artificial) nails. One hundred percent acetone is what’s used at many salons to remove polish (and the fake nails beneath). However, like many good things, there’s a downside: Straight acetone can dry out your nails and the skin surrounding them.
If that doesn’t scare you off, 100% acetone is available at drugstores, Sally Beauty and big box cosmetics stores like Ulta Beauty and Sephora. And the higher the acetone percentage in nail polish removers, the more effective the removal process. Also, polish remover manufacturers, recognizing the problem of hard-to-remove polish, have introduced products labeled “Ultra-Powerful” (Cutex), “The Stripper” (Deborah Lippmann), “Scrubbers” (Butter London), “Professional Maximum Strength” (Onyx), “Offly Fast” (CND) and “Expert Touch” (OPI). You’ll need to be the judge of whether these are any better than the remover you didn’t like or just a bunch of hype for the same old formulas in new bottles.
Dear Answer Angel Ellen: Your reader, Mike L., complained to you about his pants that won’t say up because he has no butt. Many women have the same problem. Can you offer any help for us?
— Allison J.
Dear Allison: Yes I can! Thanks to reader Celeste L., who had this suggestion: “Buy elastic waist pants in JUNIOR size instead of women’s sizes. Junior sizes are cut straighter, to accommodate small butts for women who no longer (or never) have curvy hips. While pants from the women’s department will fall down due to small derrière and straight hips, the junior pants will look and feel great.”
Angelic Readers 1
From Terri H: “Judy A. wrote you that she wanted to sell some shoes but didn’t want to list them on eBay because she didn’t want to participate in an auction and preferred a set price and she didn’t want to be paid through PayPal: EBay no longer pays sellers through PayPal. EBay now requires bank account information. Plus, you can list an item for a specific price (not an auction). It will stay posted until sold at that price. You can change the price up or down if you’d like at any time before someone buys the item. You can also check a box to take offers from people (you do not have to accept them… heck, you don’t even need to reply back, you can set minimum sale prices and eBay will auto reply based on settings you’ve set). Other alternatives for selling are Facebook Marketplace, the Nextdoor app and all sorts of selling groups on Facebook. All those are free.” Reader Judith M. also pointed out the flat price option: “no bidding required.”
Angelic Readers 2
From Karen K.: “Lately I’ve been using lately CeraVe Eye Repair Cream. Started with morning and night as recommended and have cut back to nighttime only. I also use Bye Bye Under Eye Anti-Aging Concealer “It’s your life-changing concealer!” says the manufacturer (itcosmetics.com, $28; ulta.com, $28 or $12.50 travel size in limited colors). From Ellen: I’ve had good luck with glo minerals Camouflage Oil Free Concealer (gloskinbeauty.com, $30) and makeup maven Bobbi Brown’s new direct-to-consumer makeup line, Jones Road (jonesroadbeauty.com, The Face Pencil, 25 shades, $25 online). I mix two of the Jones Road colors to get a perfect match. But beware, you’ll need to buy a sharpener.
.neFileBlock {
margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
padding-bottom: 5px;
padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
font-size: 85%;
}
