What Makes Nail Polish Nontoxic
Following a 2015 study that found chemicals in lacquers can absorb through our nails and into our bodies, brands have begun to weed out ingredients that could negatively affect our health. The most common term you’ll see is three-free, meaning a polish is made without formaldehyde, toluene, and dibutyl phthalate. These are the big three ingredients considered to be the most potentially disruptive. Many nontoxic nail polishes are now going further, though, to eliminate others like formaldehyde resin, camphor, ethyl tosylamide, xylene, and TPHP. When a formula doesn’t contain those additives, that’s when you’ll see 5-, 7-, 9-, or 10-free written on the label.
Of course, while being cognizant of using safer products is important, the trade-off shouldn’t be a disappointing nail polish experience. Happily, it no longer is. Glamour‘s staff got down to testing a spate of chic, thoughtful formulas, and came away impressed with the ones below. Scroll on for the best nontoxic nail polish, according to our editors.
All products featured on Glamour are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
Buying Guide: Best Nontoxic Nail Polish Brands
January 26, 2021
We dove into the world of 10-free, 8-free and 5-free nail polish to determine not only the most nourishing nontoxic nail polish on the market, but where clean meets performance. We looked at more than 25 less-toxic nail polishes and narrowed it down to our top 5 and tested those to see which one came out on top. Here are the best nontoxic nail polishes, with the best performance.
Nail polish can be tricky to navigate for several reasons. First, lets call out the elephant in the room: Nail polish is paint yall. Therefore, theres no way it will ever be all 100% organic jojoba oil and pressed rosespaint needs ingredients like solvents and structure-inducing polymers to make it function. And thats why we dont see organic nail polish lining the shelves at Target.
The other confusing thing with nail polishes is language, labeling and advertising claims, such as 3-free or nontoxic.These claims do not need premarket approval by the FDA or the Federal Trade Commission and there is very limited regulation and enforcement of nail polish products.
That being said, some nail polish brands have tweaked and pushed and pulled formulas so that they still work BUT are formulated with fewer of the harsher chemicals. These are the brands were talking about here.
Sally Hansen Good Kind Pure
vegan
The most shocking discovery of this entire study was realizing Sally Hansen made it to our top 5. I mean, GO SALLY!
Sally Hansens polish touts itself as the first plant-based 16-free vegan nail polish . It comes in 30 shades, is 77% naturally derived and also includes a new plant-based brush. And Ive gotta say, the brush is actually everything here. Its wider than normal but not clunky and it delivers a seamless, dare I say, PRO application.
Sally Hansen GOOD. KIND. PURE is formulated without the aforementioned concerning nail polish ingredients and its also void of benzophenone-1 and benzophenone-3 as well.
In fact, Sally Hansen goes above and beyond adding the following nourishing ingredients into their polish formulas:
- Methylthioppopylamido acetyl methionine: An antioxidant peptide that has DNA protection, cell protection and light protection benefits.
- Persea gratissima fruit extract: An effective skin conditioner.
- Camellia sinensis leaf extract: Contains antioxidants and is effective for protecting skin cells against damage from sun exposure.
- Spinacia oleracea leaf extract: An effective skin conditioner.
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Polish With Special Features
At Walgreens, you can find nail polishes that do more than just add color. Some products contain ingredients that address common nail problems. Hardening polishes strengthen the nails by forming a protective coating. You can also choose a nail polish enriched with moisturizers and nutrients to hydrate and nourish your nails .
A Complete Polish Change
To perform a complete manicure or pedicure at home, you need more than just nail color. After trimming and shaping, a full mani-pedi proceeds with three steps.
- First, apply a base coat to each nail. Base coat nail polish creates a smooth surface that helps the following products in the regimen adhere more fully to the nail. This simplifies application and can help color last longer.
- Once the base coat is dry, you can sweep on your preferred color. Some products may require two or more coats to give you the results you desire.
- Finally, apply a top coat nail polish. By creating a seal over color, these products help to reduce fading, chipping and peeling, giving your color more staying power.
Filter products by type using the left-hand menu to quickly find the essentials you need for a three-step color application.
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Brands With No Response
I’ve also contacted the following companies, but haven’t heard back from them. This doesn’t mean that these companies test on animals. However, it’s often a red flag when a company refuses to share their animal testing policy.
Brands will be moved from this list to the appropriate list once I hear back from them.
Selecting The Right Shade
Nail polish comes in almost every color you can imagine, giving you a rainbow of options. There are no hard and fast rules for what color you should use. Some people prefer lighter colors for everyday looks and darker shades for nighttime and special occasions. However, you can feel free to show off any hue whenever you desire.
Classic nail polish colors include reds, pinks, burgundies, light earth tones, purples and peaches. Blues, greens, yellows, grays and black tend to be more modern. White nail polish can be used to paint the entire nail or just the tip. The latter look is referred to as a French manicure. Use the Color Family tool on the left to focus on the shade you prefer.
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Periwinkle Blue Snowflake Nail Design Tutorial: Perfect For Winter
Although Christmas is over, it’s not too late for some winter-themed nail designs. The weather hasn’t changed yet, and it’s still pretty cold outside, so I figured I’d squeeze in a tutorial for a snowflake winter nail design. I happened to have the perfect periwinkle blue for this design from the Minute Mani collection by p2 nail polish, which you can find at your local Walmart. This design is more on an intermediate level, but nothing too difficult.
Nail Polish Ingredients Today
This also means that mainstream nail polishes are evolving. Mainstream brands hear consumers want safer options and they adjust. When I sat down to start researching this post, I looked at mainstream brands too like Revlon, Chanel and Maybelline and honestly, I couldnt find not even one formula that still included toluene or dibutyl phthalate.
This is important to note because when brands are making claims like 10-free or 8-free or listing all of their NO ingredients, its not really setting them as much apart from the mainstream as these marketing tactics suggest.
Finding a cleaner nail polish really means taking a look at whats in the formula rather than whats not.
In addition to this, more thoughtful brands have not only stripped out the more dangerous ingredients, theyve also started adding in beautiful, nourishing ingredients too. This post is an opportunity to look at and celebrate these decisions as well.
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Nail Polish At Walgreens
Manicured hands and pedicured toes can help you look and feel your best every day, and you don’t need to visit a salon to get the results you desire. By stocking up on nail polish, you can create the effects you love right at home so that you can feel confident waving hello to a friend or slipping your feet into a pair of peep-toe pumps. Walgreens has a wide selection of nail polish available for you to shop online and in stores. With so many options to choose from, you’re sure to find colors that appeal to your sense of style.
The Tog Nontoxic Nail Polish Study
For this study, we worked with cosmetic chemist Esinam Agbley, to comb through over 25 nail polish brands that market themselves as nontoxic or natural or XX-free. You can see all the brands that were included here.
We wanted to identify ingredients to consider in todays XX-free nail polish market .
After looking at everything, we were able to identify 5 brands that stood out from the rest.
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How We Researched
To compile this list, our team of editors and contributors spent hours researching the best products on the market in this category, evaluating their key featureslike ingredients, shade range, or designin addition to reviews from customers and other trusted sources. We then used this research to assign a star rating from one to five to certain products on the list.
Why Trust Byrdie
Theresa Holland has been contributing to Byrdie since 2020 and has several years of experience covering cosmetics. She interviewed two experts for this story, including a nail artist and a cosmetologist specializing in nail care. As a religious nail-painter, she’s tried nearly every brand on this list. Her go-tos include OPI, Essie, Sally Hansen, Nails Inc., and Revlon.
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