Even if you’ve never stopped to think about the ingredients in your nail polishes, chances are you’ve read a handful of scary headlines exposing the potentially harmful chemicals hiding inside your favorite shades.
As a result of the growing concern over health risks in the nail-polish industry, many brands have successfully eliminated many potentially harmful toxins. Additives long used in traditional polishes are slowly but steadily finding their way out of most nail polishes.
Unfortunately, there are so many hard-to-pronounce toxins and so little governmental regulations to warrant a “non-toxic” seal that things are starting to get confusing. There are tons of buzzworthy marketing claims being used by nail polishes companies like “five-free,” “ten-free,” and “seven-free,” that things are getting even more complicated. This is basically just a short way of stating how many hard-to-pronounce toxins you will not find in their polishes.
In the end, it’s up to you to decide which level of the non-toxic nail polish scale you feel comfortable with. As long as your polish is free of the most concerning ones: formaldehyde, DBP, and toluene. To help you find healthier nail polish, we’ve broken down some healthier nail polishes you should try. Scroll through to see the prettiest and healthiest nail polish shades we can’t wait to wear.