Bourjois Magic Nail Polish Remover - Was the Duper Super?

You may remember that several months back I brought you a dupe from Gia of the much lauded Bourjois Magic Nail Polish Remover. A couple of days later, I was gifted a Bourjois pot from a colleague in work, so thought I’d run a little performance comparison between the two. A little while on and a lot of use later, here be my findings.

Both products work on the same premise, a sponge, doused in nail polish remover inside a little plastic tub to negate the use of cotton pads or tissue for polish removal. In principle both products do exactly what they say on the pot but I've experienced a couple of notable differences that you should be made aware of before purchase of either.

First up: Formulation.

While Gia works remarkably well on polishes and glitters alike, it’s very important to note that their remover relies heavily on acetone for speedy removal. Bourjois’ offering on the other hand is acetone and paraben free. Acetone is hugely drying on nails so that’s definitely something to be considered. The Bourjois pot also includes sweet almond oil, which works to moisturise both the nail bed and the cuticles

4 Months on the difference is astounding

Secondly: Sponge.

The sponge in the Gia pot, while great for the first week or two, deteriorates quickly. You can see from the images the comparative grubbiness and, while that doesn’t take from the polish removal powers of the product, it’s certainly not nice to look at nor inviting to stick your digits into.

Bourjois’ sponge is black and more robust with almost a silicone feel. It’s tightly packed into the tub, which means you’re not tying to gain traction to remove your polish. Even after the same amount (if not more) of use, it still looks fresh and clean but it also performs better because the sponge retains its shape.

While I’m all for dupes that do the same job at a cheaper cost, I’m afraid, after consideration, the more expensive product really is the winning option. If you consider that the price difference is only €4, it’s easy to see that, with cost per use, life of product and benefits for your nails, Bourjois is the better bet.

Have you used either of these products before? What do you think?

Gia Paris - A Bourjois Polish Remover Dupe!

When I saw the new Bourjois nail polish remover pot reviewed by Emma over on Beaut.ie, I was instantly reminded of a similar pot my Mam had back in the 80's (that's where I get the addiction to polish y'know). I knew I wanted to give it a try but just hadn't seen it yet.

That was until I saw this little dude sitting on the shelf of McCabes Pharmacy at the weekend. Price tag for Bourjois is €6.99, for this though? €2.99! That's a €4 saving, bargain lovers and considering they had the idea down pat in the 80's, I was pretty confident this would work just as well.

I was right! I chose Revlon's Gold Coin to test it out as it has a dense silver & gold micro shimmer that gives it its gawjus shine. Pics, anyone?

Revlon Gold Coin (two coats with top coat) - Golder than any coin I've ever seen...

One second dip - removed most of the polish - Wowsers!

Second One second dip removes every scrap - shiny, spotless nail in a couple of seconds!

I'm thrilled I picked this up, changing my polish 3 and 4 times a week and setting up pictorials means I go through an awful lot of remover but also that a lot of my time is spent cleaning nails when designs don't turn out quite the way I had planned.

While I've no doubt this will do the trick for glitters, the problem is that your glitter will be left on the sponge, which will then transfer up your fingers and mucky up your sponge. For glitter removal I'll still swear by Cutex.

There's no doubt there'll be many, many more cheap versions of these cleaners. Have you spotted any yet? 

Tried any of 'em?

**Edit Sept 2012** After careful consideration, check out this post to see which product performs better over a period of time.