You shop at your local farmers’ market, organic is the only kind of cotton that will touch your skin, and your cleanser boasts only four ingredients, none of which are parabens. You’ve gone to great lengths to live a toxin-free life, but there’s one habit you can’t yet break: your trip to the nail salon. Your desire to put forward a professional front (and to be pampered by a 10 minute foot massage) is at odds with your attempts of keeping toxic materials out of the environment. You don’t live close to an eco salon, so what’s a girl to do?
How: When I was younger, my mother would always take her own polish to the nail salon. At the time, it wasn’t for environmental reasons, but rather because she liked her specific colors and didn’t want to spend 20 minutes looking through what the salon had available. Later in life, I realized this was a great way to indulge in mani/pedi goodness without exposing myself to the toxic chemicals found in many nail polishes and removers. There are several non-toxic lines of polishes currently available, mainly targeted to kids, but there are a few grown up options out there as well.
I recently purchased a few shades from Scotch Naturals as well as their remover. Scotch Naturals offers water-based, non-toxic polish that is free of the harsh chemicals found in most solvent-based polishes. I opted for their cocktail trio, which includes three polishes, remover, and a buffer. You can find tips on how to make the polish last on their site. For example, you really need to wait three minutes before coats. I will admit, sometimes it’s hard to convince the person doing my manicure to wait, but a little extra effort is worth the peace of mind that comes from knowing the polish is non-toxic.
Why: Many conventional nail polishes contain toxic ingredients, such as phthalates, toluene, and formaldehyde. In fact, nail polish is considered a hazardous waste, which means it requires specific disposal methods. Do you really want to put something on your body whose description includes toxic and hazardous?
