I have been wanting to overhaul my nail polish collection for some time, but it wasn’t something on my top priority list. Now that I have a baby girl, I am excited to build a new non-toxic collection in anticipation of painting her nails. Yeah, I know she’s only a few weeks old, but my excitement has gotten the best of me. I mean, hey it’s something I should be doing for myself anyways. The standard nail polish contains many toxic chemicals including:

  • Triphenyl phosphate or TPHP– a potential endocrine-disrupting chemical
  • Toluene*– a solvent that helps nail polish go on smoothly
  • Formaldehyde*– a cancer causing preservative)
  • Dibutyl phthalate*– a chemical that keeps nail polish flexible and prevents it from becoming brittle, but interferes with reproductive hormones
    *The latter three are known as the “toxic-trio”.IMG_8325

Time for an overhaul! Here is the bag of old toxic polish I am getting rid of. Since it is considered a hazardous material it needs to be disposed of properly so it doesn’t leach back into our soil and water supply. I did an internet search and one local company was willing to properly dispose of my bag of polish for $5. However, I have decided to donate it because there are others that don’t care if it’s toxic and will buy it anyways.

 

For those interested, there are now several non-toxic nail polishes on the market that sell an array of colors. Here are some that I have come across:

  • SpaRitual – vegan product
  • Acquarella -water-based. This one is the priciest option. They have a whole “system” of how to apply for optimal wear.
  • Honeybee Gardens – water-based. The one comes in right behind Acquarella price-wise.
  • Ella + Mila – this one has the cutest branding
  • Piggy Paint – this one is the most reasonably priced, without a coupon. It has pretty cute branding as well and would make a great gift for a little girl.IMG_8318
  • Zoya – this is the first one I tried. I like the way it applies and how long it lasts and have had no problems with it so I have not tried any of the other brands. Why switch when you find something you like, right? Recently I found a coupon code to buy three and get three free with free shipping. This made the price per polish $5, which I feel is a reasonable price for any nail polish let alone a non-toxic one.

I do want to eventually try one of the water based brands to see the difference. Maybe it won’t smell bad like the other polishes; will wait and see…

Have you tried any of these brands or have suggestions of other non-toxic polish?