The UGLY truth about Nail Polish!!

If you like me have been a girly girl since age three, dressing up in mummys jewellery, smothering her lipstick all over your face and painting your incy bitcy nails then you too are in for a shock from my most recent research findings!!!

Heres me, Baby Katrina, looking swish dressed up in my mummies goodies!! Many a time i enjoyed a good dress up and makeup believe play and im sure if your a mummy you would experience similar moments with your cheeky little bub! Thats why I was so alarmed to learn that nail polish (which many young ones play with, not to mention the countless adults who apply this substance everyday around the world!!!) CAN commonly contain toxic chemicals!!

EW! Yuck! And to think as consumers we are so trusting of big corporations to be providing us only with safe and tested products which are NOT going to bring harm to us long term or short term!!

In 2006 a study emerged exposing the ugly truth about nail polish and whats actually in them and the effect in can have on our (and even more so any little ones exposed to the smell of the polishes!) health! THREE toxic compounds were found to be included in almost all of the nail polishes on the market back then and a health law was passed in the states that required those brands to either remove those toxic chemicals (Formaldehyde, toluene and dibutyl phthalate [commonly reffered to as DBP]). The world thought we had the whole toxic nail polish thing under control until in 2011 the California Environmental Protextion Agency conducted random testing on polishes used in Salons and found that 10 out of 12 polishes that claimed to not have any of the "toxic-trio" (As they came to be known) actually did!!! LIES! This makes me so mad! A. There is little to no regulation and enforcement of health laws when it comes to the consumerist market and B. all of those brands prioritised their own stinkin profit above the health and safety of its users!

So as a consumer i URGE you to do the checking and research yourself, because you simply cannot trust the claims that brands make. Very sad. Check the ingredients of your beauty products before you purchase them to ensure they have no dishonest, harmful chemicals in their ingredients list. And make yourself aware as to what these dishonest ingredients are so that you can make informed decisions when shopping!

I will list below the three TOXIC compounds that you need to avoid and WHY it is so important that you do/health risks associated!

Toluene is found in nail polish, nail strengtheners and cuticle treatments. It is used to form a smooth finish and suspend particles throughout your colour. HOWEVER, as your polish dries this substance evaporates and is breathed in by yourself, your manicurist and any children around is toxic to your health. Not only can breathing this chemical in cause irritation of the nose, throat and eyes but also the chemical is toxic to your kidney and liver and poses serious risks to your reproductive health (The issue i am most concerned about being just 20 with a whole life ahead of me!!!!). Pregenant women in particular need to avoid this chemical at ALL COSTS!

Secondly, Formaldehyde has been used in nail polishes to strengthen nails, fight bacteria and give nails that silky finish. BUT IS A HIGHLY TOXIC CHEMICAL THAT YOU NEED TO AVOID! This ingredient can not only trigger irritation and respitory issues but also can cause cancer over long term chronic use!! EW! Need i say more about its dangers!?

 

Lastly, DBP is used as a disinfectant to prevent bacteria growth BUT instead poses a similar threat to the aforementioned chemicals in that it can cause cancer over long term chronic exposure and also poses a risk to a womans reproductive health. Not good.

So i urge you as a consumer to check your nail polishes are Toxic Trio FREE. Most should brand this on themselves somewhere quite clearly. This morning i was painting my nails with Butter London and read that on the back they had reformulated and are now free of those three toxins. Butter London gets a big tick in my books.

And i was reading on the OPI website just this morning, in research for this article, that they too are TOXIC TRIO FREE. Prior to 2006 they do admit to having used torleune and DBP, however never formaldehyde. But have since reformulated to eliminate all three substances from their polishes.

However i could not find a press release (Dont rely on second of third hand reports such as blogs, even please go double check my findings, go straight to the company itself to determine whether they are truly toxic trio free or not) for China Glaze or Revlon Polishes... sketchy.

So at the end of the day i personally am going to stick to Butter London and OPI as a rule of thumb. They have brilliantly diverse colour ranges and the formulations are beautiful... and SAFE!