Eco-friendly Nail Polish from A Beautiful Life: Colorful, Long Lasting

I hate my toe nails. Some people have nice white toe nails.  Mine?  Not so much. For years, I yearned to paint those piggly wigglies, but sadly, refrained  since nail polish is  full of toxic chemicals.  When  A Beautiful Life asked if I wanted to try their eco-nail polish, I literally jumped at the chance.  (The piggly wigglies said heck yeah.  Give me the bottle, Anna.)

What So Bad About Nail Polish?

Traditional nail polish contains toluene, dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and formaldehyde, which are known as the toxic trio.

“DBP, which reduces polish brittleness and cracking, is associated with the potential for reproduction harm and is especially hazardous for pregnant women (its use in cosmetics is banned by the European Union). The solvent toluene, found in nail glues, can cause headaches, dizziness and nausea, and is linked to short-term memory loss and other neurological issues. Formaldehyde, used as a hardener and preservative, is a known carcinogen and can cause asthma.”  [Source.]

So why would a little polish be a concern? The chemicals in nail polish are so bad that in San Francisco, California, an ordinance was passed that recognizes salons’ voluntary action of using toxic trio-free nail products.  The chemicals in the nail products were impacted the health of the salon workers.

Does the Nail Polish Stay on?

In the past, I tried eco-friendly, water based Honey Bee Nail Polish and found that you can never get this nail polish off.  To be fair to Honey Bee, you are supposed to take the polish off in the week.  If you don’t, then you have a multi-colored toes unless you want to rub and rub (and then rub some more) the toes.  In addition, if you don’t close the Honey Bee container well, then it dries up since it is water based.

A Beautiful Life’s polish was different. They offer 16 different shades to date, and  I tried 80’s Pink.  No,  not because I am stuck in the eighties with the younger version of Madonna, but because I love pink.  Girly Pink (says the mother of all boys.)

The polish went on smoothly, but it did have a strong smell. I was told that the smell is eucalyptus.  Personally, I thought it smelled just like traditional nail polish.  (Note, I have a heightened sense of smell so you may not even notice.)

What’s in it?

According to the Company, the polish may contain the following ingredients:

“LL COLORS HAVE BEEN FDA APPROVED, MAY CONTAIN: D&C Red #6 Barium Lake, D&C Red #7 Calcium Lake, D&C Red #34 Calcium Lake, FD&C Yellow #5 Aluminum Lake, D&C Yellow #10 Aluminum Lake, FD&C Blue #1 Aluminum Lake, Ferric Ammonium Ferrocyanide, Red Iron Oxide, Black Iron Oxide, Guanine, Bismuth Oxychloride, Mica, D&C Violet #2, D&C Red #17, D&C Red #33, D&C Yellow #11, FD&C Blue #1, FD&C Green #3, D&C Green #6,D&C Yellow #10, Polyethylene Terephthalate, Calcium Sodium Borosilicate (and) Tin Oxides, Silica (and) Aluminum Powder (and) Iron Oxides“

I looked up many of the ingredients on the Skin Deep database.  The only ingredients which stood out were Aluminum Powder and Ferric Ammonium Ferrocyanide.   Aluminum Powder has a score of 9, which means it is a hazardous ingredient.   On the other hand, Ferric Ammonium Ferrocyanide has a score of  5 or 6, which means it is a moderately hazard ingredient based upon the use.  Since the product itself is not listed in the database, it is hard to know what its overall score would be since most of the ingredients were low to moderately hazardous ingredients.

How about drying time?

The first coat dried fairly quickly, and the second coat dried about 40 minutes.  I would not recommend putting on toed shoes on right away.

How did it wear?

It wore great too. The first time it didn’t chip and the piggly wigglies were thrilled since for years they wanted a color intervention.  The second time, it chipped because I put on a toed shoes within the first half hour.  You should probably treat this nail polish like regular nail polish and give it at least an hour to dry.

Removing the color

In addition to the nail polish, A Beautiful Life sent me with their soy-based nail polish remover free of the toxic trio.  Again, it didn’t smell any different than regular nail polish remover.  The Company states the product contains

“Cocomide Dea (a biodegradable surfacent), Natural Soybean Esters, Pink Grapefruit Essential Oils”

I wasn’t thrilled when I saw Cocomide Dea in the ingredient list.  It’s score in Skin Deep database is a 6.  Again, I don’t know how this ingredient impacts the overall product.

Concept to note about the remover:   Unlike the nail polish, the remover comes in plastic for those who wish to stay away from plastic.

And a word of caution.  Do not, I repeat, do not, leave cotton balls with this nail polish remover on anything that could lose color.  I set the balls down on my desk which has a nitrocellulose lacquer on it.  And guess what?  It removed the lacquer.

Did it do a good job?

The nail polish remover did a nice job removing the nail polish. (Note, Lindsey at Blue Planet tried using the remover on ordinary polish and concluded that it required too much rubbing.  It seems better suited for the A Beautiful Life products.)

Cost?

I won’t kid you.  The nail polish is pricey at $12.oo a bottle; however it is in the range of many other eco-friendly nail polishes.  The polish remover is $20 for a 4 ounce bottle. You can buy A Beautiful Life polish and remover here.

My Final Thoughts:

I like the nail polish, and it seems harmless enough.    Sure, I wish that all the ingredients were under the 4 scale in the Skin Deep database.  For right now, I am going to stick with this nail polish until I can find one even more eco-friendly and easy to use.  Any other suggestions are welcomed!

Join the Conversation:

• Are you concerned about your nail polish?  It is okay to tell me that I am a worry wart.  I won’t get mad!
• Thoughts about the chemicals in both products?
• Do you use an eco-friendly nail polish?  If so, which ones do you like?
• Have you tried eco-friendly nail polish or removers that have failed?
• Would you try A Beautiful Life nail polish and/or remover?

Disclaimer:  I was given the nail polish and the soy based remover for free to test for my review.

Nail Polish and Remover Photos courtesy of A Beautiful Life.

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