Avoiding Toxins – Fingernail Polish
The worst nail polish ingredients are generally agreed to be:
- Toluene
- Xylene
- Formaldehyde (formalin)
- Dibutyl phthalate (DBP)
There are a fairly decent number of nail polish manufacturers who have gotten rid of these ingredients. However, they’ve still got some harsh things in them. Both butyl acetate and ethyl acetate are organic solvents, so it’s possible for manufacturers to include them and still claim to be all natural, or even “vegan”. Here is the MSDS sheet for ethyl acetate – do you really want this soaking through your nails into your bloodstream? How about through your daughter’s nails and into her bloodstream? And that’s not even mentioning the fact that you are breathing it in as it evaporates from your drying nails.
makes a big deal over the fact that they’ve removed dangerous chemicals from their nail polish and that their polishes don’t have dibutyl phthalate (DPB), toluene, or formaldehyde. But they still have things like ethyl acetate, butyl acetate, nitrocellulose, propyl acetate, tosylamide/formaldehyde resin, isopropyl alcohol, trimethyl pentanyl diisobutyrate, triphenyl phosphate, ethyl tosylamide, camphor, stearalkonium bentonite, diacetone alcohol, stearalkonium hectorite, benzophenone-1, citric acid, dimethicone, and alumina.The Nicole by OPI
claims to be an all natural vegan nail polish, but the ingredients list includes ethyl acetate, butyl acetate, nitrocellulose, adipic acid/neopentyl glycol/ trimellitic anhydride copolymer, isopropyl alcohol, propyl acetate, trimethyl pentanyl diisobutyrate, triphenyl phosphate, butyl alcohol, stearalkonium hectorite, stearalkonium bentonite, benzophenone-1, citric acid, dimethicone, ethyl tosylamide, tosylamide/epoxy resin, sucrose acetate copolymer, acetyl tributyl citrate, polyvinyl butyral, trimethylsiloxylsilicate, titanium dioxide, mica, silica, bismuth oxychloride, ferric ammonium forrocyanide, aluminum powder, and tin oxide.Nfu Oh
The cheap Wet n’ Wild
There are water based nail polishes that are supposed to be truly non-toxic. Most people talk about Acquarella
My nail polish bag includes bottles of Nicole by OPI
For my job, I have to look professional. I’m a woman in a man’s profession, and it’s important I look all put together and capable. I wear suits, have the right hair, the right make-up, the right shoes, and my nails are polished. Granted, they are pant suits and not skirts. And I wear functional but attractive shoes that are not high heels. I would probably be fine without my nails being polished, now that I’m pretty well established, but I’m not sure I want to. I talk with my hands, I point at data and equipment and pieces of things with my fingers, and I do a whole lot of typing and clicking when people are around to see what I’m doing.
I’ve done the research, I know what I’m putting on my nails, and I know that some of that is soaking into my bloodstream. I’ve made the informed decision to use it anyway, though I have learned which chemicals I’d like to avoid and I try to do that. I also polish them either on the patio or in the bathroom with the exhaust fan running, though I have no idea how much that helps with the whole breathing it in thing, really.
Previous posts in this series:
- Avoiding Toxins – Flame Resistant Pajamas
- Avoiding Toxins – Petroleum Products in lotions and make-up
- Avoiding Toxins – Non Stick Pans
- High Fructose Corn Syrup – why it is bad
.
February 6th, 2012 at 8:29 am
For my job, I do not have to look professional. Haha. However, I like getting mani/pedi’s for the pure sake of it. This is the one regular luxury I regularly allow myself. There is something about even wearing sweats where, as long as my nails are clean and fresh and polished I feel put together and groomed. It is a mental thing and I know this. I have to bring my Nicole Opi to the nail place though, and I always sit in seats closest to the open doors so that I get the fresh air. There are times – granted only a few a year since I live in Florida – where the weather has been quite cold and the doors close and the heat goes on. I will walk in and turn around and walk out because it is as though I can feel the fumes hit me in the face. Ugh.
February 6th, 2012 at 9:57 am
I use Aquarella nail polish and love it! For me, it is either this or nothing and I’m thrilled to have an option after 30 years of not wearing polish due to the toxins. On my toes, it lasts for weeks and weeks with few touch-ups ever required. On my hands, it requires more maintenance, but is a small price to pay to not harm myself…and that’s something to think about when you are a mom with a family who relies on you. Plus, you don’t have to wait 6 hours for it to dry…more like 2 or 3 MINUTES. I wash my hands right after putting it on all the time. Last night, I was pulling wrangled up wet laundry out of the washing machine within about 10 minutes of doing my nails….no problem! With 6 kids and three dogs, I wash my hands all day long. The coverage and wear varies with the different colors. The stuff doesn’t come off as easily as it would with the very toxic regular acetone removers but, like I said, the trade-off is so worth it to me considering the acetone removers not only get into your bloodstream but the vapors also can cause serious lung damage.
Convenience items are often bad for your health. If you want it all quick and easy, there is a price to be paid. I chose to make the health of my family my first priority…in the personal products we use, the way we furnish and care for our home and our yard, and in the foods we eat. It’s my job :)
Here’s the aquarella website if anyone if interested:
http://store.acquarellapolish.com/
ps…if I might ask, what is a “man’s” profession?
February 6th, 2012 at 10:00 am
I do my own nails, and usually do my own toes. I do get my toes done once or twice a year though, mainly because they do such a good job on my feet. In the spring, when it’s time to begin wearing shoes that show your feet, after they’ve been in boots and warm shoes all winter, the professionals can get rid of all of the dead skin that has accumulated on them over the winter so much better than I can. I lucked into finding a place that does their pedicures in a different room than they do the fingernails, which means you don’t get that horrible acrylic nail smell. Also, they wash their tools between customers — as they use tools on you they are put into a small basket and then taken to the back.
February 6th, 2012 at 10:14 am
willowflower – maybe you can tell me what colors work the best for you. I’ve tried several colors, and those are the ones I let the girls wear when they get to wear polish. But the colors stay on their fingers an even shorter time than they stayed on my fingernails. Within 48 hours there is more gone than remains – and that’s assuming they can keep their hands dry for the five or six hours it takes for it to completely dry.
I’ve done the research on the least-bad nail polishes, and for now I’ve got to stick with those. I can do my nails on the weekend, touch one or two of them up on Wednesday or Thursday, and not have to do anything else to them until the next weekend. I spend less than ten minutes a week on my nails.
With the water based, I’d put it on Sunday night, and some of it would come off the next morning when I washed my face. It would look rough by Monday night, and really bad by Tuesday night. I literally had to work on it every single night in order to keep it looking uniform and polished.
With the girls, I polished GG’s one Sunday afternoon and when she took a bath a few hours later, it all came off.
I see lots of glowing reviews like yours that say it stays on longer than traditional polishes, but I also see a lot of people who have had the same experience as I’ve had.
And a “man’s profession”, in my case, is one where 98% of the people doing that job happen to be men.
February 6th, 2012 at 10:56 am
We’ve used “Piggy Paint” http://www.piggypaint.com/product-info, which has fewer toxic ingredients. It tends to stay on pretty well, too.
February 6th, 2012 at 11:24 am
We are just going at this nail polish thing slow just like we did the ear piercing. I let them get their ears pierced at 13 years and told them they can use polish when they go to dances only. When they grow up they can make the choice for themselves. Hoping that will be good enough for now. We have Hep B in our family and it is tough. One daughter totally understands the whole thing and one does not. I would never forgive myself if they got sick and I had not done everything possible within reason to keep them well. I have watched 6 friends loose children to cancers in the past 2 years. It is a very heartbreaking thing.
February 6th, 2012 at 11:26 am
katienmaggiesmom – a quick look on that site shows the ingredients as having neolone950, also known as methyl-something-or-other, can’t remember the whole thing. It can be a neurotoxin and there are a few countries that have limited its use in cosmetics.
For kids, the Acquarella would probably be a better choice. But honestly, if you were going completely chemical free then there is no nail polish at all that fits that bill. Even Acquarella has Styrene/Acrylates Copolymer, which has some pretty nasty stuff in it. However, it’s mostly larger molecules, which shouldn’t soak through the nailbed and into the blood stream. So, relatively speaking, I think it’s probably the best for kids.
But, if you’re saying the Piggy Paint will stay on for a week at a time, then I’ll be getting some of it to try on my own nails. The reviews of it aren’t that great, so it hasn’t been on my radar.
You really have to read and research ingredients, and not take the claims of the manufacturer at face value. The SpaRituals stuff is the perfect example, where they can claim Vegan and Non-Toxic and be mostly legal with those claims… but in reality there are things in there that I won’t allow on my kids fingers. I use it on mine, because it’s not as bad as some others, but I believe it’s much worse than, for instance, the Nicole by OPI brand.
February 6th, 2012 at 11:35 am
kareninmt – right there with you, though we do it for more than just dances, it’s still not an everyday thing. Maybe five or six times a year for GG. TT has just recently been allowed to have it and so far I think we’ve polished them twice – once for a dress up party she went to and then at Christmas I polished both girls’ nails in Christmas colors and put Christmas decorations on them.
February 6th, 2012 at 12:16 pm
When I have to wear nail polish, I wear Scotch: http://www.scotchnaturals.com/index.php
It does take a few hours to dry, but it dries to the touch in the same time as regular nail polish, and I can type while it dries.
But I also usually eschew nail polish for a non-polish manicure. I get it done professionally, because I have no nail-skillz, but essentially, it is a tech making your fingernails and cuticles look absolutely flawless, and then buffing the nail with oil until it glows a pale pink. one of my coworkers calls it ‘Immaculate Hands’. Lasts a week, looks really professional, and I get asked all the time how I ‘do it’. And as a pedicure, it rocks.
February 6th, 2012 at 3:02 pm
WOW PI…I had never heard of Scotch and it is free of even only the semi bad stuff. Going to order today and give it a shot. (I too can NOT do my own nails. Filing nails is like chalk on a blackboard to me. Not to mention I am NOT steady at all.) But I already bring my Nicole Opi so I may as well try this. Thanks for the potential option!!
February 6th, 2012 at 4:58 pm
Scotch doesn’t list their ingredients. They list what kind of ingredients they use, but they don’t list the actual ingredients. I’m leery of manufacturers who do that, it makes it seem as if they are hiding something. Maybe they aren’t, I don’t know… but I need to know which acrylic polymer emulsion they are using before I can make an informed decision. There are a lot of different chemicals that fall under that description.
Do they list specifics on the bottle?
February 6th, 2012 at 8:59 pm
I just ordered some. Will let you know if PI does not chime back in.
Are you going to have a blog topic listed for all these safety specific posts?? A central space that will tell me what pan to buy and lotion to use in the different posts?? That would be a great resource. I don’t enjoy going to all the different sites and getting the run downs on everything. Simple laziness.
February 7th, 2012 at 10:25 am
I’ve added this series to the Series Listings page – the link to it is also in the Important Posts section in the right hand column.
February 7th, 2012 at 1:38 pm
I just went hunting for my Scotch bottle (ha!) but can’t find it. But I do know they will send you specific ingredients information if you contact them – my manicurist has it on file. She is pretty on top of this stuff, I think because her brother is a chemist back home, and he pushs her to use non-toxic materials at work.
Anecodotally, it is the only nail polish I haven’t had a skin reaction to, so I like it. And nail polish is pretty much a non-necessity, any way.
February 7th, 2012 at 3:38 pm
We use Piggypaint. There’s basically zero odor, it dries in a couple minutes. It lasts really long on my toes and not too shabby on hands if you use more than one coat. I’ll have to check out the ingredient you mention above. I still think its a good option compared to the other cancer cocktails on the market. Oh, and they just came out with a more mature color line for adults.