It’s summertime and we all are itching to break out our bright nail polishes if you haven’t already! A few years ago I started transitioning my favorite nail polish colors over to non-toxic versions, and slowly but surely this has allowed me to just recently throw out a tub of old nail polish I found in my closet when Mike and I spent the day cleaning our closets a few weeks ago. There are definitely some that are better than others with regards to dry time, and how long-lasting they are. I wanted to document my non-toxic nail polish journey over time for you so you could see how they did. Non-toxic nail polish is what I would consider more safe for everyone, including pregnancy and kids!
So why is non-toxic nail polish safer for you?
- They contain less harmful or less potentially-harmful ingredients than traditional nail polish which can contain phthalates and hormone disruptors among others:
- Toluene rates 10 on EWG – known human respiratory toxicant, skin irritant, human developmental risk, possible reproductive toxicity risk
- Formaldehyde rates 10 on EWG – human carcinogen
- Dibutyl phthalate rates 10 on EWG – hormone disruptor – also see my ingredient spotlight on phthalates here for a deeper dive on this category.
- Alright I’m sold already after going through 3 of these ingredients… I can imagine many of the rest rate in the middle or high end on EWG – if you’re not familiar with EWG it’s a great resource to check ratings on ingredients on products before you buy!
- Also with regards to nail polish remover, many tout “acetone free”
- The EWG rates Acetone as a level 3 risk – which is actually lower than I thought given all the hype about acetone free polish removers.
- I use predominantly the Dazzle Dry one that does have acetone, it just works better and quicker for me, but I do want to experiment with other non-acetone ones and do a little more research on it.
- I’ve heard good things about the Mineral Fusion one with ColorStreet nail strips…. I think a couple of my friends have tried! I also have the Ella + Mila soy based remover which I felt takes a lot of elbow grease to get the polish off, and let’s not even talk about glitters.
What should you look for when choosing a non-toxic nail polish? Some companies will say something like:
“10 FREE” – this means free of ten potentially harmful ingredients
- For example, per Sundays website, their non-toxic nail polish is formulated “without 10 of the potentially harming chemicals commonly found in regular nail polish: dibutyl phthalate, TPHP, toluene, xylene, ethyl tosylamide, camphor, formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin, parabens, and tert-butyl hydroperoxide.”
“7 FREE” – this means free of 7 potentially harmful ingredients
- For example, per Olive & June’s website, their non-toxic nail polish is “formulated without 7 of the potentially harmful chemicals commonly found in regular nail polishes including dibutyl phthalate (DBP), toluene, formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin, camphor, Ethyl Tosylamide or xylene.”
Others like Dazzle Dry claim the following: this is directly from their FAQ page: “Is Dazzle Dry a 4, 6, 8, or 10 free lacquer? Answer: We do not subscribe to these “XX-Free” claims as these are often falsified, fear-based marketing claims that can be misleading to the consumer. Some companies list ingredients in their XX-Free claim that are not and never used in nail polishes just to have a higher number of free from claim. A part of our rigorous manufacturing process is to test raw materials before they are used in production, to ensure that the chemicals we claim Dazzle Dry to be free of are not detectable when we analyze them using our state-of-the-art analytical equipment.”
So I will leave it up to you, but will put their claims below as well! I find as long as they 1) list their ingredients, 2) are trying to keep them cleaner and less toxic 3) transparent with all they do, then I am more likely to trust them! For example, take an ol’ faithful OG polish that used to be my holy grail growing up…OPI – I went to the OPI website to try to get an ingredient list for you, but I couldn’t find one, or an FAQ that included questions about ingredients either. Case and point. If you find it, send it my way. I’m dying to know if it contains what these other brands exclude.
Alright let’s dive into some of the brands I’ve tried!
SOPHI – First brand I tried years ago and did not love
- $6-7
- Contains no formaldehyde, toluene, phthalates, bisphenol A (BPA), or ethyl acetate.
- Vegan/Cruelty Free
- Made in the USA
- They make adult and children’s nail polish and a friend had recommended them to me. They lasted a decent amount of time but I could not handle how hard it was to remove! Even with their remover and wooden tool – it was too much for me so I stopped using it. Let me know if you’ve used them recently. I wonder if it’s been reformulated at all!
Dazzle Dry – next brand I tried and LOVED!
- $18
- Instead of “XX FREE” – They actually had this information in their FAQ but have since updated the website with a much more extensive FAQ since I drafted this post – here is what they said originally – “Is Dazzle Dry a 4, 6, 8, or 10 free lacquer? Answer: We do not subscribe to these “XX-Free” claims as these are often falsified, fear-based marketing claims that can be misleading to the consumer. Some companies list ingredients in their XX-Free claim that are not and never used in nail polishes just to have a higher number of free from claim. A part of our rigorous manufacturing process is to test raw materials before they are used in production, to ensure that the chemicals we claim Dazzle Dry to be free of are not detectable when we analyze them using our state-of-the-art analytical equipment.” They say they are nontoxic, free of harmful, carcinogenic, and endocrine disrupting ingredients including formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin, toluene, DBP, camphor, nitrocellulose, TPHP, phthalates, xylene, MEK, and ethyl tosylamide.
- Vegan/Cruelty Free
- Manufactured in the USA – Arizona to be exact. They have a very extensive FAQ which I love and very transparent – you can find it here.
- Pricey at $18 a bottle, I usually find coupon codes for 20% off on instagram or I wait for a sale which they do often, and I initially bought the whole system and just refill when I need to. I have about 8 colors from here now and the best part is the dry time. As a busy newer mama, you don’t always have time for a 30min mani – plus more dry time. This I can get done in 10min and the dry time is 5min or less I feel like and you can legit run your fingers through your hair – it’s like you got a gel mani at the salon, but you’re home. It’s definitely not as thick or long lasting as gel, but I have gotten a solid week to 2 weeks out of these manis depending on the color – I find in general darker colors wear better in most of the ones I’ve tried versus the lighter shades or milky shades that require a 3rd coat.
**of note** this brand does require the full system pictured above – 2 base coats warmed up in hot water until the cloudy polish turns clear to activate/be ready to use, and does require you to buy their base, color and top coat in order for this system to work well. I also have their remover, prep, and revive drops which all work fabulously and I use them all for all of my polish needs. The ridge filler I find works well but I have deep ridges so I find I still see them – you can probably tell in my photos. Dazzle has a great shade selection and they recently added videos on many colors so you can actually see the shades in action! I also think there are some salons that use Dazzle Dry which would be so amazing if I could find out near me!
Dazzle dry also makes minis which are a great way to try out colors!
Olive & June – a newer brand I do like!
- $8-10
- “7 FREE” as per above definition
- Vegan/Cruelty Free
- Cute lineup of cuticle serum, quick dry drops which I have pictured above and I do enjoy, haven’t tried their hand lotion etc.
- Comes up next with a MUCH better price point at $8 or $9 a bottle, but the bottles are a little smaller I think too. They have adorable systems you can buy and tools and press-ons now too which I haven’t tried, and they have tons of cute tutorials on their insta all the time too. I cannot get this brand to last as long as Dazzle Dry, and the dry time is SOOOO much longer….but I also don’t do what they recommend which is reapply top coat daily for the longest lasting mani – I just 1) don’t remember and 2) don’t want to reapply daily and 3) may not have time for that lol. So given that I am not following the recommendations, I am able to get a decent week or so out of some shades, but the Cock-a-too shade and BP I cannot get to last – these are the more milky colors and I have to do 3 coats not sure if that affects the wear. I also have started mixing the base and ridge filler from Dazzle Dry with O&J color and top coat and this combo worked pretty well for me recently. Anyone tried reapplying the top coat daily? What was your wear time like? Let me know if I should try it out! They say you don’t need primer as it’s built into the polish but they did come out with one recently, as well as a nail strengthener which I’d like to try and a ridge filler. Anyone tried those either? Also sold at Target if your Target carries them! I haven’t seen them at mine yet though!
- $10.50
- Contain NO Acetone, Animal-Derived Ingredients, Bisphenol-A, Camphor, Ethyl Tosylamide, Formaldehyde, Formaldehyde Resin, Gluten, Glycol Ether of Series E (Gycol ethers derived from ethylene oxide), Nonylphenol Ethoxylate, Parabens, Phthalates (including DBP), Styrene, Sulfate, Toluene, Triphenyl Phosphate (TPHP/TPP), Xylene, making it a seventeen chemical-free product.
- Mommy + Me colors for your littles
- Convenient because, well, Target right? They tout it is chip resistant and quick drying, but I really didn’t really love this polish- lots of colors to choose from. I have a red and purple and the top and base coats. I felt the dry time was longer than anticipated for “quick drying,” I got a ding and a smudge shortly after I thought they were “dry.” I felt the wear wasn’t that long either before chipping, the polish felt thinner than others, and the remover takes a little elbow grease because I believe it’s soy based. It’s all great ingredients but I don’t reach for these often, so I may have to revisit them, but I was spoiled by the Dazzle Dry and that 5 min gel like dry time so it’s really frustrating waiting for other polishes to dry!
- $18
- 10 FREE per above definition, but also say they don’t include the following as well: Butyl acetate, ethyl acetate, nitrocellulose, adipic acid/neopentyl, glycol/trimellitic, anhydride, copolymer, acetyl tributyl citrate, isopropyl alcohol, stearalkonium bentonite, acrylates copolymer, styrene/acrylates copolymer, silica, benzophenone-1, and trimethylpentanediyl dibenzoate.
- Vegan/Cruelty Free
- It’s also pricey like Dazzle Dry at $18 a bottle, but the packaging is dreamy. They have salons in the city though which is AWESOME and I am jealous because it’s hard to find salons that use non-toxic polish near me. Gorgeous color selection, timeless rich color, dry time is average. I may need to try another color before I have a final ruling on this one! I want to try their cuticle serum. It’s so pretty too for your bathroom counter!
Color Street nail polish strips
- $12-14 per set
- I ran a search in EWG and they come up 1-3 or 4 rating so these are pretty safe to me!
- These are actually stick on mani strips that require a little patience and practice, but have no dry time and last a decent amount of time.
- Usually you can also buy these through a local brand rep
- I find they end up peeling or like my nail peels more easily with these than regular polish, however in a pinch you can get a great mani! I have a bunch but haven’t mastered the solid color application yet, but glitters and patterns apply so much more easily and have tons of fun patterns! There’s tons of cool tips like using the same strip for both nails on both hands to get 2 manicures out of the pack.
Alright so what others have you tried and loved? Hated? Let me know what I should try next!
Xo – Sarah