9 Toxic Nail Polish Ingredients You Should Avoid ASAP

Not all nail polishes are made equally. Tons of progress has been made in changing some of the ingredients companies use to create some of the prettiest nail polishes you use, but sometimes, some toxic nail polish ingredients still slip through. Wondering some of the ingredients you need to avoid? Here’s everything you need to know.

Q What exactly is in nail polish?

Your nail polish contains 5 main components. Credit: Pinterest

Nail polish has 5 main components (Glitter’s an extra):

Solvents (liquids that help mix ingredients in nail polish)
Film formers (chemicals that help create polish’s smooth coating surface)
Resins (chemicals that help the film formers stick to your nail)
Plasticisers (chemicals that help polish less prone to chipping)
Pigments (aka the colour of the polish)
Pearls (aka the shiny stuff/glitter in some nail polishes)

How to Read Any Ingredients List

This is a life skill. Credits: Finest Imaginary

Before we get into the juicy bits, answer this Q:

Whether you said yes or no, now let’s really test you:

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Top 9 Nail Polish Ingredients to Ditch ASAP

Credits (from left): OPI, Sundays, Jenna Gang

1 Fragrance

Personally, Daisy by Marc Jacobs wins hands down

What it’s for: Makes polish smell great.

Harmful properties: An allergen for some people; an Endocrine Disrupting Chemical (aka “chemicals that mimic, block, or interfere with hormones in the body’s endocrine system”).

Verdict: Try and avoid this. Unfortunately, a lot of products that contain “Fragrances”, never really say what exact ingredients make up the fragrance.

2 Silicones

A lot of makeup products, especially primers, have Silicone. Credit: Joies de Jennifer

What it’s for: helps dry the polish.

Harmful properties: Not many- Silicones generally are stable chemicals (so the chances of the chemical going “crazy” in your body system is low).

Verdict: Up to you if you want to avoid these. Silicones for most people’s bodies, are fine. For other people, it doesn’t gel well with the gut.

3 Parabens

You can find parabens in cakes too. Credit: Kara’s Party Ideas

What it’s for: a preservative.

Harmful properties: makes nails brittle; are EDCs.

Verdict: Try and avoid these, if possible– I guarantee you even if you try your best to avoid parabens, there is at least 1 thing you are eating, drinking or putting on (think makeup) that probably has at least one paraben ingredient.

4 Glitter

Preset Studios

Pinterest

Angelomae
Ramonga Hang

Adut Akech
Getty Images

What it’s for: extra cuteness and shimmer.

Harmful properties: makes nails brittle; are EDCs.

Verdict: Stay away, resist the cute colour. Glitter is made out of micro plastic and when it’s flushed or washed away down a sink, it eventually ends up in the ocean. Now imagine fish etc eating this plastic, and then humans eating the fish, who’ve eaten the plastic… you get my drift?

5 Butyl Alcohol

glass of cold beverage on white background — Not this kind of alcohol😂. I’m talking chemistry

What it’s for: a solvent.

Harmful properties: in high concentrations, it’s an irritant.

Verdict: up to you if you want to avoid it. Luckily there are laws in the UK, EU and the USA, that limit the concentration of Butyl Alcohol cosmetic companies can use in their products. There are different derivatives (variations) of Butyl Alcohol, but the most common is Butyl Acetate, which is safe to use.

6 Formaldehyde

Plants have very small amounts of this Credits (from left): Bear Amber Art, Paul Coghlin, Pinterest

What it’s for: a plasticiser.

Harmful properties: in high concentrations, can make nails brittle and is a carcinogen; an allergen.

Verdict: Avoid! Luckily, most nail polish products don’t have this nasty ingredient but if you do notice it, or a derivative of it like Formalin, Methylene Glycol or Methyl Aldehyde, avoid ASAP.

Did you know your body naturally makes tiny amounts of Formaldehyde? Even some fruit have it.

7 Toulene

What the chemical structure looks like in 2D. Credit: PubChem

What it’s for: a solvent.

Harmful properties: a skin irritant; carcinogen.

Verdict: Yep, this one you should definitely stay away from. Luckily most nail polishes out there don’t contain this anyway. Win-win.

8 Xylene

What it’s for: another solvent.

Harmful properties: eye and skin irritant; in high concentrations, toxic for the nervous system and lungs.

Verdict: Avoid! Luckily, again, most nail polishes don’t contain this but if you ever notice this chemical, ditch the polish ASAP.

9 Phthalates

Junk food is known to have these chemicals. Credit: Louise Hagger

What it’s for: are plasticisers.

Harmful properties: EDCs; toxic to fish.

Verdict: Definitely avoid.

Conclusion

Well done for making it to the end of the post😄! Or if you skipped eight to the end, here’s a quick summary of the 9 nail polish ingredients to watch out for (and ditch):