We Don't Know What We Don't Know - Nail Polish Toxins

UPDATE SINCE WRITTEN: AILA is a nail lacquer company that says “Gorgeous Color Without Common Ingredients?  #nailedit” I don’t receive kickbacks, although I wish I did!

Halleluiah for winter weather! Not that I love layering clothes upon clothes and bundling myself and my child up before our daily walks, but I do love that no one has seen my hideous toe nails lately.

A few months ago I learned some scary information regarding nail polish and I have been postponing painting them because I don’t know what alternative I have. In researching BeautyCounter to see if it was a venture I wanted to join, I stumbled across one ingredient that hit close to home now that I have a child; Tolene is an ingredient commonly found in nail polish and it can cause birth defects. Since identifying this I have also stumbled across this article from the EWG. It highlighted other ingredients that impact or interfere with hormone functions. I don’t know about you, but I skipped that day of science class where they discussed endocrine systems so I didn’t fully understand the magnitude of this statement. Apparently when something impacts your hormones it can have numerous adverse outcomes “such as sperm quality and fertility, abnormalities in sex organs, endometriosis, early puberty, altered nervous system function, immune function, certain cancers, respiratory problems, metabolic issues, diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular problems, growth, neurological and learning disabilities, and more.” Not only did this realization scare the bejesus out of me, it made me wonder if the increase in fertility issues within the United States is linked to this. As this article states, “People get really upset about phthalates in plastics, but they don’t think about what’s in the cosmetics they’re applying directly to their skin,” study co-author Kate Hoffman, a researcher at Duke University, told Yahoo News . “The skin is an organ that takes it all in.”

Since this new found information I have not even removed the nail polish from my toes, hence the grotesque reference. Because I cannot go much longer with my toes looking like this and because I have a goal to replace one household product once a month during 2020, I’ve decided to dive into nail polish and try to find a better option.

I started my assessment of products by pulling out my selection of nail polish and began reading the labels and looking them up on look on EWG’s Skin Deep website. My findings were unfortunate for my wallet as I will now need to purchase all new polish. L  

So what are my options…? I’m no expert, so you may need to do your own research, but I’ve come to two decisions.

  1. I don’t think there are many nail polishes at this time that are completely “healthy” and it is difficult to know for sure since there is no requirement to label beauty products with ingredients. Attention BeautyCounter please develop nail polish next so I don’t have to worry about the ingredients or the research!

    • Check out EWG’s Skin Deep Recommendations

    • Butter London: On October 20th 2015, Butter London informed EWG that it had removed triphenyl phosphate (TPHP) from its products last year. However, EWG was still able to find nail polish products containing triphenyl phosphate on store shelves in September 2015. If you would like to avoid triphenyl phosphate, please check the label on Butter London products and purchase ones with the newer formulation that do not contain this ingredient

  2. Use in moderation! I’m a firm believer in this philosophy anyway, so it’ll be easier for me to adopt. However those that work in a salon or that regularly use these nail polishes may want to consider changing their approach. A Source

SOURCES:

What are Endocine-Distrupting Chemicals?

Repurpose Your Polish

BeautyCounter’s Never List