Sally Hansen Instant Cuticle Remover claims that it removes cuticles (pretty much) instantly. It is easily found at any drugstore/Fred Meyer/Target/Ulta and costs $5-$7. You apply the gel to your cuticles, let sit for no more than 30 seconds, push back cuticles, then wash hands with soap and water to thoroughly wash away the remover. If you Bing (I prefer Bing, you can Google) cuticle removers this is what pops up as the most tried and trusted. People LOVE this stuff and give it pretty raving reviews. Go ahead and check them out… but then come back, I’m not just writin’ this for myself!
Here is what it looks like in the box
In the bottle
Here’s my take on it:
- Claim: instant (or at least less than 30 seconds); The Truth: I left it on for about 1 minute with no ill effects.
- Claim: removes dry, dead cuticles; The Truth: On my hands it didn’t do much for me. It seemed to soften up my cuticles and made them easier to cut (I know, I know… “cardinal sin of nail care”) but it definitely did not dissolve anything off my cuticles. On my feet however, my cuticles are a little more gnarly so the remover did dissolve some nasty, hard dry skin around my nails.
- Claim: just apply, push back cuticles and voila; The Truth: Before application you need to soak your hand in warm water. Also, you need to scrape your cuticles pretty aggressively with your orange wood stick after you push them back. Just pushing them back and rinsing your hands doesn’t do you any good. To get anything to come off at all you need to scrape it off after the remover kinda dissolves it.
Summary:
This product probably works ok for people with majorly dry, hugely overgrown, hard cuticles because it will dissolve some of the horrid skin but if you want your cuticles looking really great and not just not disgusting this doesn’t seem to do much good. On feet, if you don’t get regular pedicures and have somewhat gnarly toe cuticles it is probably worth your money. It worked acceptably well for me. It didn’t cause my nail polish to peel after I used it, it didn’t make my nails break like crazy, it just didn’t really give me miraculously perfect cuticles after use which is honestly what I was looking for.
Yes, Please! or No, Thank You.
I give this a Yes, Please (no exclamation point). I will buy it again for my feet but I don’t see any reason to use it on my fingers. My cuticles aren’t out of control, are never too, TOO, TOO dry, and honestly I like my cuticles pretty much nonexistent and in order to get that, I gotta cut those bad boys. š
Do you use cuticles removing creme/gel/salve? Do you cut your cuticles? Leave a comment and let me know what your cuticle regimen entails. š
**Just to be clear, the photos in this post are not photos I took myself, I got them off the Sally Hansen website. :)**
Polish Me, Please! 
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This is an inferior product. I have tried it quite a few times and followed the instructions meticulously but it does NOT work.
Wish I could find the old Revlon Cuticle Remover that used to work like a charm.
I think it’s mostly good for people who a) have already dealt w (aka cut) they’re cuticles and just need a little fine tuning or b) people who mostly just need a good cuticle softener. It worked for me as far as making my cuticles looks better and sloughed off a little dead skin, but did it look like my cuticles were gone? Unfortunately not.
I tried this stuff and it makes my nails peel off in strips. Like vertical strips. They were deep and it was almost painful to pull the strips off. If I left them, the lifted ends curled up and made my manicures look terrible and it didn’t even help dissolve my thick cuticles. I also commit the sin of cutting because I would rather cut them, then have whole strips of my nails peeling off and weaking my nails even more (they already chip and peel at the tips whenever I polish). They best luck I have had with keeping my nails healthy and long is just not to paint them (It takes my nails about 3 months to fully grow out after painting them) and then they grow long, strong, and beautiful, but then my polish collection of over 250 polishes sits and collects dust.
That sounds awful! Have you tried some nail treatments like OPI Nail Envy or Rejuvacote? Maybe something like that would help.
Whay happens if you dont wash this stuff off?
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Hey Nicole,
I just wanted to let you know that I mentioned this very comprehensive review of yours in my latest post. I notice you haven’t been active for a while, please don’t give up!
What happens if you don’t wash it off?