Nail Polish: Toxic Chemical Cocktail?

I love nail polish! It makes me feel happy, sometimes more confident, and yes, pretty! So you can imagine my horror when I learned just how toxic fingernail polish is.

Was I going to give it up? Huh-uh. Was I going to look at alternatives? Absolutely!

First, I decided to face this tragic news head on. So I did some digging. Turns out nail polish companies haven't been very concerned about the chemicals they put into their products.

Formaldehyde and Formalin

Both of these chemicals have gotten bad press because they are known carcinogens. But get this. Nail companies use these chemicals in their nail hardeners.

And yes, they do harden your nails for a time. Then these very same nail hardeners cause nails to become brittle and to lift. Kind of defeats the purpose of putting them into begin with, doesn't it?

A good nail hardener will use proteins that react with the natural proteins in your nails. That's what causes them to strengthen with no nasty side effects.

Look for a chemical called ethyl acetate; it's generally considered safe.

Benzophenone-1

This little jewel is strongly suspected of being an endocrine disruptor. That means if messes with your hormones. Now, if you're a woman, let me ask you this. Do you need any MORE challenges with hormones?

Both the European Union and the Environmental Working Group has flagged benzophenone-1 because of the mounting evidence against it. That's never good.

To my horror, there are nail polishes that are polishes labeled 3-free, 5-free, 7-free, and even 10-free. That means they do not contain 3, 5, 7, or 10 nasty nail polish chemicals! That's a lot!

Are Natural Nail Polishes Worth Trying?

So that got me to thinking. Are natural nail polishes worth a try? The answer was a "yes" with a "watch out."

It seems even the natural nail polish companies sneak in some of these harmful chemicals. By now, I'm a bit frantic.

I'm not giving up my nail polish but I don't want cancer, either. And heaven knows, I don't need any more hormone issues.

That's when I found there were some nail polish companies that value my health as well as my pocketbook.

The first thing I had to own up to was this. Nail polishes are paint. That means they are made of chemicals. Some okay, some downright health-threatening.

How Often To Wear Natural Nail Polish?

That's when I decided to compromise on my nail polish obsession. In the summer, I'm still wearing nail polish on my toes. However, I'll choose nail polish that is more natural.

In the winter, I'm not wearing toenail polish at all. Nobody sees it anyway. As for my fingers, I'll wear polish when I have a nice event to go to.

In other words, I'm scaling back. Since my nails are soft anyway, I need to think about nail hardeners from the inside out.

That means I need to think about what I'm eating. Jewell's Naturals has a good post on nail hardeners, polishes and strengthening nails from the inside out.

Nail Strengtheners--Plan B

Anyway, I decided to take a deeper approach to strengthening my nails. And I decided to take a long view on wearing polish. I made a commitment to include:

• Fish
• Dark green leafy vegetable
• grass fed beef
• B vitamins (broccoli, mustard greens, spinach)

I'm now 6 months into it and my nails are indeed harder. I don't think I'll ever have nails that will act as a can opener, but I'm extremely pleased!

Where To Find Natural Nail Polishes That Work

Believe it or not, finding natural nail polishes that are 3 or 5 free is not that difficult! Here's my list. I hope you decide to take the road less traveled, too.

• Costco--Jenna Hipp
• QVC--Julep
• Wal-Mart--Butter London
• Wal-Mart--Priti NYC Polish
• Ulta Beauty--Zoya
• Birchbox--Rgb Nail Color