Looking for a natural nail polish is not an easy feat. Chances are you’ve grabbed the polish of your dreams at the salon without realizing it’s filled with harsh chemicals. Natural alternatives do exist. “Safe” polishes are broken down into categories from “three-free” to “ten-free”, referring to the number of chemicals they are free from.
So, which additives should you make sure are not included?
The top three you should steer clear from are formaldehyde, toluene, and dibutyl phthalate.
Formaldehyde: This chemical is commonly used in the embalming process and can cause skin irritation and negatively impact the nervous and immune system.
Ten-Free
Toluene: Extended exposure to the chemical Toluene can lead to headaches, dizziness, and, in severe cases, more serious reproductive damage.
Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP): The chemical works to prevent nail polish from becoming brittle but has been proven to impair the hormonal development of male fetuses and in some cases cause early-onset menopause.
Five-free polishes are created without formaldehyde, toluene, DBP, plus camphor or formaldehyde resin.
Camphor: Recently Camphor has been shown to cause severe skin reactions and when inhaled can cause nausea, dizziness, and headaches.
Formaldehyde resin: Formaldehyde resin is not directly linked to cancer like formaldehyde but it has been noted to cause dermatitis in patients.
Seven-free polishes are created without the five chemicals, plus xylene and triphenyl phosphate.
Xylene: Negative effects can cause dizziness, nausea, and vomiting.
Triphenyl phosphate: The chemical can wreak havoc on your hormones and is potentially toxic to liver cells.
Eight-free formulas are free from the additional chemicals ethyl tosylamide and triphenyl phosphate.
Ethyl tosylamide: This chemical can cause severe allergic reactions and in extreme cases cause liver damage.
Nine-free is free from parabens and/or acetone.
Parabens: Parabens mimics the hormone estrogen and have been associated with breast tumors.
Acetone: The chemical has been ruled safe by the FDA for the most part but if inhaled can cause a sore throat and inflammation.
Ten-free which is free from any harmful additives plus animal byproducts which make the products vegan.
