KOH: Wipe It Away Review



It's about time I wrote a post on this, before the year ends. This really is a long overdue review and it's also something symbolic for me. Wipe it all away and start with a clean slate for the new year.

This is the last of the KOH products in my stash that was sent to me by KOH a few months ago to review. Wipe It Away was actually released early this year.

The premise of KOH Wipe It Away is that it's a handy, very portable nail polish remover that you can conveniently (and stylishly) carry around in your bag. It's not the kind of nail polish remover that we are accustomed to as this one is super concentrated and as you would have noticed, it's in a conventional nail polish bottle with a nail polish brush.

According to KOH (excerpts)
This innovative and revolutionary nail polish remover without acetone removes all coloured polishes very fast and easy.

Because of the special combination of this instant nail polish remover with Vitamin E and Castor Oil, the nails are cleaned and degreased mildly which also makes this extremely suitable for brittle and dry nails.

Instructions for use:
Generously apply Wipe It Away with a brush to the entire (polished) nail and leave it to work for 8-10 seconds. Do not spread the layer like you do with a nail polish, but leave a thickish layer on the nail for the best results. Subsequently, rub your nail clean with a tissue or cotton pad, moving from the cuticle to the top of the nail. This prevents polish running underneath the cuticle.


My Experience
Wipe It Away does take some getting used to. I took these pictures a while back with KOH Neon Roze. That would be two coats of polish with a stamp design. This is how it works.

How To Use
Before


Applied a thick coat of Wipe It Away on nail and waited about five seconds. Then in one movement, I used a cotton pad to rub the nail polish off. There is still nail polish remaining on the nail.



Repeat with a second thick coat. Nail polish is substantially removed but the cuticle and sides of the nail could still do with some extra cleaning up.



Cleaning Power
I experimented with different types of polishes. Averagely, I needed three to four coats of Wipe It Away per nail to get the nail totally clean. The number times would depend on (a) the number of coats of nail polish, (b) the type of nail polish used (glitter would of course take more coats and effort).

The sides and the cuticles are the hardest to clean. The brush does get to these parts, but it's the cotton pad that sometimes fails to reach them. Because the formula is thick and highly concentrated, you can swipe only once with each coat of Wipe It Away.


Sequence
The cleaning should be done nail by nail. One musn't wait too long after applying Wipe It Away. Otherwise, it would dry on the nail, making it impossible to rub off. Apply Wipe It Away on one nail, then rub off. It won't work if you applied it on all nails and then tried to rub off. Wipe It Away would have dried by the time you got back to that first nail.

Other Observations
I once tried applying it on the nail and left it to dry. What it ended up being was a top coat! Interesting.

Nails seem less dry (but only marginally) after using Wipe It Away compared to conventional acetone-free nail polish remover.

The liquid has a mild chemical smell but strangely, after rubbing it off the nails, the nails are left with a pleasant scent, quite like the scent of KOH Body Sensations products - a cherry blossom scent, I believe.

Like all KOH nail polishes, Wipe It Away comes in a lipstick holder-like case. This is definitely a luxury product. Wipe It Away retails for €19.95 (10ml).

13 comments:

Liesewiesje said...

That looks so handy :D Thanks for the review! :)

Milz said...

Happy New Year May God bless you a fabulous 2011

Lolipop said...

Have you ever tried to do the same with a common polish? I usually do that when I am too lazy to get up to take my polish remover xD The thing is, it doesn't clean the cuticles well enough >_< at least it makes it easier to clean afterwards
By the way, Happy New Year!!!

Anonymous said...

It looks interesting for on the go, but especially interesting for use if you have an oops while doing your nails, because it always goes awry if you have to use a cotton pad with remover only on one nail! With this brush, no more cotton fuzzies due to my impatience! But it does seem a bit on the expensive site for a remover, how much is in it?

Witoxicity said...

@Liesewiesje
My pleasure! :)

@alvira
Hi, alvira! Here's wishing you and your family a fantastic New Year too! I hope you'll have a very happy one. :D

@Lolipop
You're right about that. They do say that if you're ever stuck with no polish remover, you can always use the nail polish itself to remove it. Wipe It Away works along the same principle, with a bit more cleaning power (based on my experiments with both methods). Any which way, the problem with getting the sides and cuticles totally clean remains, just like you said. :)

Have a great and happy New Year, my dear! :D

Witoxicity said...

@DalaLuz
The bottle contains 10ml of product and yeah, the price tag is indeed on the high side. So, I think it would be something that one would use ocassionally when one is on the move. At home, I would prefer to use a conventional nail polish remover.

Oh, I know what you mean about the 'single nail' situaion! :P I should point out though that you do still need to use a cotton pad to rub off the polish after applying a layer of Wipe It Away. The hassle with the cotton pad unfortunately remains. :)

Shop N' Chomp said...

Hee hee....interesting how it can double as a top coat! I love this idea. Traditional removers can be plain messy. =\

Witoxicity said...

@Shop N' Chomp
Well, that top coat thing was just an accidental discovery. Haha!

Anonymous said...

It looks very elegant. Definitely for a girl on the move, like you say.
"KTee"

Anonymous said...

Great post. I like the shape and length of your nails, they look very healthy and natural. I am not into artificial nails at all, so I envy yours. Nicole xx

Witoxicity said...

@KTee
Hi, KTee! Yeah, it sure is portable and it's nice that it can be carried around safely in the accompanying case. :)

@Nicole
Thank you, Nicole! Oh, I'm not into artificial nails either (psst, I don't even know how to put them on! Haha!). :D

DinaXYYan said...

This looks interesting! But it looks like taking more works to wipe off the nail polish hehe

Witoxicity said...

@Dina
It's a different way of removing polish, but as I mentioned earlier, I'd still stick to the conventional polish remover if I'm at home. :)