No freaking way. Sounds like it could work. I have memories of coating my hand in Elmer’s then peeling it off and pretending as though I were peeling off my skin. Have you tried this? The nail coat, not pretending you have a skin disorder. How do you stop it from peeling off when you’re, say, washing your hair?
Yeeeah … I still do this any time I come within reach of a bottle of Elmer’s. I’m a grownup. 
I saw this solution somewhere, but I think the original poster had linked to Pinterest, and I never believe anything I see there. I might try it this weekend, though, just for the hell of it. And because it’s fun to peel glue off my hands.
As a guy, I see no downside to this.
For the Elmer’s glue thing, it apparently does work, for certain values of “work.” I’ve never done it myself, but reports range from it working like a dream to it not working at all. Some ladies use it religiously for glitterbombs, some find it pops off in a day (or sooner), some can’t get it to budge off their fingers at all. Rumor has it that you get the best results with mixing the glue with some water to thin it - you can use an empty nail polish bottle (of which I have exactly none, anyway) to store the extra. (Apparently that’s why you buy those cheapie clear nail polishes - not for the polish, for the bottle. Dump it out, swish with acetone, acetone the brush, and Bob’s your uncle.)
Paint it on, let dry completely. Some people use two coats. It’ll go on milky, then dry clearish and matte. Then glitter it up! When you’re done, it should peel off pretty easily. Maybe.
Some enterprising companies out there sell the same thing - I think Essence offers one, or you can by something called “Glitter A Peel” from an indie.
Report back if it works for you! (I love nail polish.)
I have solved this problem by never ever using glitter. Except my niece wanted to paint my nails. And she painted them with glitter. D’oh!
I won’t be trying the Elmer’s glue trick, so I still don’t intend to use glitter, but do tell me if it works if my niece ever corners me again!
Shit, I looked at the FOIL method. I got to like, step 2, and I was like Fuck no. I mean who has that kind of time?
Oooh. Here’s details:
And yeah, it might totally pop off with too much water exposure.
I am late to this, but we use a lot of glitter, especially on toes. Take a cotton ball and pull it apart into smaller pieces, soak a piece and stick it on each of your nails. Leave it there for a few minutes, swipe with a full cotton ball soaked in more remover and it all comes off.
Won’t someone think of the sparkles?
Feh, this glue method leaves much to be desired. Apparently in order for it to work I have to let it dry for 30 minutes (which is silly considering much of glitter’s appeal is I can throw it on 30 seconds) plus after all that hassle it’s just going to come off after my second or third shower. Although I might try it anyway considering I’m not sure how much I trust this woman’s opinion. She did refer to NPR as a “hipster station.”
I’ve tried something similar, and no dice. I soaked a cotton ball, pressed it to my fingernail for about two minutes (maybe that wasn’t long enough), swiped away, repeated 2x with new cotton ball, gave up and painted again with more glitter because screw it. The foil method seems to be a version of that, except with foil involved that somehow magically removes the paint, but the people say it works. Sounds like kind of a pain, but can’t be a bigger hassle than the endless scrubbing.
I’ll try the foil thing first. My nails are actually bare right now because the idea of attempting to remove the glitter filled me with such fear and loathing that I decided to develop an escape plan first, then conduct some tests.
I haven’t used glitter polish in ages. However, I’ve found that with regular polish, if I swipe a saturated cotton pad across each fingernail first, and then start seriously scrubbing at one nail while the polish on the others softens up, it’s easier to remove the polish completely.
I might use the foil method if I ever start wearing really dark polish again, though. Right now I usually just use a clear pink tint.
I don’t have anything but some commiserating; I recently bought a nice glittery nail polish, and discovered that it would SHRED the cotton pad when it came time for removal! I just hunkered down and kept scrubbing away - it finally came off.
I find that dip type nail polish removers work best for glitter polish
http://misskc027.blogspot.ca/2011/03/review-life-essentials-nail-polish.html
You don’'t end up with a huge wad of remover soaked cotton pads or tissue and you can sit there with your finger soaking in it or swirl it around to make it work faster.
oh and because it’s Mean Old Lady asking, it leaves one hand free to hold your drink
roxie’s right - rumor has it that those dip removers can work well for glitter removal. (And bonus - they do really well on regular nail polish too.) However, you’ve got to look for the ones with plastic scrubbies in them; the ones that have just sponges in them don’t do jack against glitter. The Target Up&Up tub has scrubbies; lots of ladies have dubbed it “the angry vaj” due to its resemblance either to the Sarlaac pit or a vagina dentata.
Many years ago I had a product called “Glitter Buster” - it was a nail polish remover specially formulated for glitter polish. I don’t know if it still exists though.
It would be easiest to invent a time machine and prevent your past self from using it in the first place. Since you already didn’t do that, get used to your glitter.
Thanks! Much appreciated.
Doesn’t seem to exist. Fortunately I now have a Plan B, C, and D (and E if you count the grinder wheel on a power drill) to attack the glitter menace. Thanks, all!
The salons around here will do a “polish change” for $7-$10 dollars. It might be worth it if you have a place near you to just go in and have them do the polish removal.