Is Nail Polish Eco-Friendly? What You Need to Know

Many women and even men use nail polish. It's becoming more and more popular with people wearing it for many different occasions. Nail polish comes in so many different colors than you can find it to match anything you're wearing. As nail polish has become a beauty staple and it's something I wear all the time, I decided to do some research to see if this product is really as harmless as we think. What I found was a bit shocking and is important for people to know before they buy or use it.

First off, nail polish has a lot of chemical ingredients. After all, it's basically quick drying paint, so that alone should scream chemicals. I looked at some bottles of nail polish I have, specifically a bottle of OPI, and saw that none of the ingredients were listed. I knew I'd have to do some more research to see what the actual components were. I finally found a list of the general ingredients found in most nail polishes. I saw numerous different kinds of solvents, coloring agents, and thickening agents, all of which had hard-to-pronounce names. I even saw that common ingredients were toluene and xylene, both of which are known to cause cancer and are petroleum-based. Over all, it's easy to see that nail polish is a very un-eco-friendly product, even more so because most bottles of nail polish do not even say what kind of ingredients are in them. Since I'm big on going green, I wanted to see what kinds of environmentally-friendly nail polishes are out there.

For a nail polish to be considered environmentally friendly there are some guidelines that must be met. First, it has to be non-toxic and not include any harsh chemicals that regular polishes contain. Second, it has to be vegan. This may seem like an odd criteria, but if you think about it, it does make a lot of sense. Environmentally friendly means it's healthy for us and the planet, animals included. So if a product is vegan it doesn't contain any ingredients tested on animals or any animal products.

The first nail polish I found was from a brand called Acquarella. It's a water-based nail polish that contains no toxic chemicals or chemical solvents. It also doesn't contain any formaldehyde and is virtually odorless. For $18 you can buy a bottle in one of 31 different colors. On top of that, it's great for those who have allergies, chemical sensitivity, or younger children.

Another brand I found was Kaia House, which makes organic and natural nail polishes. Their bottles of nail polish are much cheaper at $8 and have a great variety of chic colors to choose from, including everything from red to blue and pink to purple.

There are more great green nail polish brands out there. If you're looking for an environmentally-friendly nail polish to add to your collection just make sure you research the ingredients. A safe nail polish shouldn't contain any toxic chemicals and should not have a strong odor either.