Wearing glitter nail polish is sort of like wearing a suit of armor: it looks awesomely fierce when you put it on, but it’s a total pain to take off. Here are three removal hacks we found that make de-glittering as easy as turning a telescope into a canon while dangling from a suspension bridge…you know, if you’re used to that sort of thing.

The rubber-band trick

Genius behind it: Beauty blogger Michelle Phan

Tools needed: 5 cotton balls, 10 small rubber bands, nail-polish remover

First, tear each of the cotton balls in half. One by one, soak the halves in nail-polish remover and use them to cover each nail by wrapping a rubber band around the cotton ball and your fingertip. Leave for five minutes. As you remove each piece of cotton, use it to wipe off any remaining polish.

DIY peel-off base coat

Genius behind it: Beautylish.com

Tools needed: Elmer’s glue, empty nail-polish bottle, water, and a small funnel if you’ve got one

Start by cleaning out the empty nail-polish bottle. Fill it with a little nail-polish remover, close the bottle, and shake. Wash it out with hot water and let dry. Next, fill one-third of the bottle with glue and add water until you get the desired consistency (you can make it as thick or as thin as you like). Close the bottle and shake until the glue and water are thoroughly blended.

Apply the mixture as a base coat, giving it at least five minutes to dry before layering glitter polish on top. You’ll be able to remove the polish by finding a corner and peeling it off in a couple pieces or less. Beautylish notes that you might want to abstain from using a topcoat, as this will make the peeling process a bit harder.

Fight polish with more polish

Geniuses behind it: Lovelyish.com readers

Tools needed: Regular nail polish and/or a base coat

There are two possible methods here. If you haven’t started your manicure yet, try layering a base coat and/or a colored nail polish beneath the glitter polish. It helps prevent the glitter from bonding directly to the nail, which makes it easier to remove the old-fashioned way.

If you already have glitter polish on and there’s nothing beneath it, try this: take a bottle of colored nail polish you don’t mind wasting. Paint it over the the glitter polish, leaving it on for a couple of minutes without letting it dry all the way. It can bond to and loosen the glitter, again, making it easier to remove the old-fashioned way.

Photo by Alli Whitaker and Amy Nohl, Groupon