We hear so much about “safe” foods, free of pesticides, antibiotics, chemicals, etc., but haven’t until recently heard as much about safe products. As I mentioned in my previous Beautycounter post, shouldn’t what we put ON our bodies be equally as important as what we put IN our bodies? I make a conscious effort to buy safe food, safe cleaning products, safe sunscreen, skincare and make-up, but had never really thought about my nail polish. I almost always have polish on and frequent my neighborhood nail salon. As I began doing my research, I realized that maybe it’s not the best place to go weekly!
Most likely, you haven’t paid much attention to what is in (or not in) your nail polish, right? Non-toxic nail polishes are often categorized by what is actually not in them! What I mean is there are 3-Free, 5-Free, 7-Free, 9-Free and water-based polishes that are all free from certain chemicals. Below are the levels listed with the chemicals that they do not contain…
3-Free
Does not contain: formaldehyde, toluene or dibutyl phthalate (DBP)
5-Free
Does not contain: formaldehyde, toluene, DBP, formaldehyde resin or camphor
7-Free
Does not contain: formaldehyde, toluene, DBP, formaldehyde resin, camphor, ethyl tosylamide or xylene.
8-Free
Does not contain: formaldehyde, toluene, DBP, formaldehyde resin, camphor, xylene, ethyl tosylamide or triphenyl phosphate.
9-Free
Does not contain: formaldehyde, toluene, DBP, formaldehyde resin, camphor, xylene, ethyl tosylamide, parabens, or acetone.
Water-Based
Does not contain: formaldehyde, formaldehyde-like derivatives, toluene, ketones, petrochemical solvents, DBP, phthalates, polyurethane, polyurethane film-formers, parabens, camphor, mercury, lead, FD&C, coal tar, gluten, wheat by-products, aromatic hydrocarbons.
I have rounded up my 7-FREE and up #LivLightPicks and hope you will give them a try and let me know what you think.
If you are not sure about the safety of your beauty products, a good place to start is the Environmental Working Group’s (EWG) Skin Deep website https://www.ewg.org/skindeep/browse/nail+polish/. Here you can search products and see how they are rated on their 1-10 scale (1 being best, 10 worst). Keep in mind that not all brands choose to be on the site.
LivLight Top Picks
Deborah Lippman, Smoke Gets in your Eyes, 7-FREE, www.deborahlippman.com
NCLA Los Angeles, Rodeo Drive Royalty, 7-FREE, www.shopncla.com
LVX, Roux, 7-FREE, www.shoplvx.com
Smith & Cult, Psycho Candy, 8-FREE, www.smithandcult.com
Butter London, Teddy Girl, 8-FREE, www.butterlondon.com
Piggy Paint, Periwinkle Little Star, Water Based (safe for ALL ages), www.piggypaint.com