Hiya Beautiful,
You know what I love? Pretty, polished nails. You know what I don’t love? The harmful chemicals found in so many (most!) of the nail polishes in salons and on store shelves.
An at-home mani-pedi or trip to your favorite progressive salon (here’s California’s list) can be so rejuvenating. But when we’re not careful about the products we choose and use, crappy ingredients, chemical-filled workplaces and horribly cruel animal testing can really rain on our beautifying parade.
There’s good news, though: Better-for-all-of-us nail polish brands exist!
And today, I’m highlighting the best of the best in my newest Crazy Sexy product review: nail polish edition. With happier and healthier ingredient lists void of the scary stuff, you can breathe a non-toxic sigh of relief when you use these polishes to glam up your fingers and toes. High-five!
To make all of my product reviews as accurate and useful as possible, I always bring in one of my favorite organizations, the Environmental Working Group (EWG).
EWG is a leader in up-to-the-minute research on toxins and chemicals present in the environment and our personal and home products. Together, we’ve teamed up and created a Healthy Home Checklist and done several beauty reviews like this one, including deodorant, lipstick, mascara, foundation and concealer (stay tuned for more reviews to come!).
EWG did us a huge favor by analyzing the ingredients in these nail polishes and adding the product ratings to their Skin Deep Cosmetics Database, which contains information and online safety assessments for over 60,000 products. Thanks, EWG!
Check out the awesome infographic below for the results. And for those of you who are wellness detectives like I am and want to know more about how we vet the products I recommend, read this.
*Note: I was bummed—but not totally surprised—that many of the polishes in our list landed in EWG’s “Moderate Hazard” category. So we chose to only include polishes rated 5 or lower, 6 being the high end of moderate (no thanks). I imagine creating a polish that looks great, lasts long and is free of weird, potentially toxic ingredients is no easy task, but I’m excited for the day that someone cracks the code on an ultra-clean, ultra-gorgeous polish formula. I know some of you will choose to avoid all polishes and show off your fingers and tootsies in their au naturale beauty, and to that I say, “Heck yeah, girl!” For those wanting to rock a colorful mani-pedi, but use safer, smarter products, these polishes are for you.
My Crazy Sexy Non-Toxic Nail Polish Review
A Note on Nail Polish Removers
We’re still on the hunt for great, effective, non-toxic polish removers! We tried a boat load, and while some looked fab on paper, they were mostly “meh” in use. If you know of a safe, worthy remover, let us all know in the comments!
Your turn: What’s your #1 non-toxic polish pick and why? And if you have a go-to remover, please share that, too!
Gentle Request: If you work for a beauty company, please be cool—we’re trying to keep these comments as unbiased and useful as possible. Sharing your product is welcomed and awesome. Hundreds of comments about your product and/or why you’re cranky that it wasn’t included is NOT awesome. Thank you!
Peace & polished nails,
Wow you want us to be healthy and pretty thank you Kris and Have a Healthy , Happy and Miraculous Holiday !! p.s got your book so pretty and lots of unexpected recipes , Still have all the bonus gifts to listen too – <3
Thanks, Eileen! Enjoy. xo, kc
Hi Kris,
I’m just wondering if you’ve looked into Zoya? I have a bunch of their nail polishes and their remover. I thought it was very non-toxic but after reading this I think I need to research them better. What are your thoughts?
This is a great resource. I have recently come across Sienna Byron Bay nail polish that I am going to purchase and try (bottles are cute too!). They also have a Soy Nail Polish Remover that I’m hoping works well. Would be great if you could try for you any future testing 🙂
I don’t normally wear nail polish, but would like to more often. Where do you find these products? Thanks!
Wouldn’t it be great if EWG had ratings on everything?! I loved the Josie Maran Bear Naked Remover Wipes. Not sure about the ingredients, though and “natural” fragrance seems fishy to me. I will ask them and see what they say!
Ingredients: dimethyl glutarate, cyclopentasiloxane, dimethyl adipate, ethylhexyl palmitate, argania spinosa (argan) kernel oil*, dimethyl succinate, parfum (fragrance)**
*ORGANIC
**NATURAL
What do you think of Zoya? They are 5 free (+ no TPHP & no benzophenone 1 either) & do not test on animals. IMO the only polishes more non toxic than Zoya would be the water based ones
I’ve seen Zoya on may natural websites, am thinking of trying it out 🙂
I was using Zoya for awhile thinking it was a better alternative, but Think Dirty rates it as a 9 for toxicity 🙁 Hope that’s helpful.
Thank you for this!!!! I’m so careful about what I use but getting glammed up for a night out without a manicure is not an option 😉 Since I won’t get toxic gel or acrylics, I’m excited to try the brands you say are long wearing. How many days do they last to get a ‘long wearing’ assessment? I’m curious why Zoya didn’t make the list, does it rate higher than 5?
I love when you do beauty reviews! Thanks Kris Carr! I am surprised Zoya nail polish brand isn’t including in this list. It is one of the “safe” ones as far as I know. Would like to know how it measures up to the others. Also wish you mentioned something about the pigments of the colors. Sometimes I’ve found with natural nail polishes that the colors will fade and won’t be as strongly pigmented.
As always, thank you for everything!
-Mary, Owner CSD and CSK and lover of you and your message for over 5 years!
You may have already researched, but in case you are still wondering, I just double checked Think Dirty and Zoya rates as a 9 for toxicity. I had several as well and was sad to see them go, but ready for some better options! 🙂
Do you know if these polishes are endocrine disrupters?
I would love to hear the toxic rating on Julep polish as well as the Gel lacquer for Jamberry. I have used the Jamberry wraps! easy to apply, and easy to remove. last to 2 weeks no problem! last even longer on the toes!
WooHoo! So happy to see Poofy Organics; Poofy Polish on the list!! We love our Toxic-Free Poofy Polish. Poofy creates products truly safe & healthy for EVERYONE!
So glad to see Poofy Polish on the list! With over 100 colors to choose from, it really rocks! They do make a polish remover that works well with Poofy Polish. Haven’t tried it with other polish but just wondering if it was on your list to try.
Green Spa loves Spa Ritual! Have you tried the Spa Ritual brand yet? It is non toxic, 5 free, vegan and cruelty free of coarse! At The Green Spa & Wellness Center in Brooklyn New York, we have lots of pregnant women that source us out because we use these polishes and the remover – which smells like candy by the way! The color selection is quite extensive that may be rare in the Eco Polish world and polishes are priced well at around $12.50. We use Spa Ritual body products in our body treatments and everyone raves about them- especially the pregnant ladies! We love their hand and foot salve which are both truly amazing. Check out our products and services GreenSpaNY.com
Thanks so much! I was looking for a non-toxic nail polish for my mom who has a lot of health issues. This list is very helpful!
You’re so welcome, Crystal! xo
I hope that someday Kris and her team will post an article like this one about hair dye products. I’d love to know what Kris uses to get her hair so blond. I haven’t found anything yet that isn’t harmful, so I’ve mostly lived with mousy brown hair that is very blah.
Please, Kris, I’ve been asking for a long time?!? Please tell us what you use to get those gorgeous blond locks?
: ) Penelope
I would love to hear from Kris and her team about hair color as well. They do such a wonderful service with spreading great information with their non-toxic product reviews! In the meantime Penelope perhaps you would like to read how I have been handling my drab hair since my own cancer diagnosis. You might get a few ideas about some of the organic and non-toxic choices some salons offer these days. All the best to you and the Kris Carr team on the journey to healthier ways of being! Shine On! http://thequeenstable.blogspot.com/2015/01/dna-lab-organic-hair-chemistry-salon.html
Any advice for a base coat? That’s the one that bothers me the most…prob because it the first thing applied to the nail.
Nail-Aid products are PETA and Leaping Bunny certified! You can order from their website nailaidcares.com or it is actually available at Walmart (don’t shoot the messenger, I am not endorsing Walmart as a retailer!) They are not in the EWG database but they are “5-free” meaning no formaldehyde, toluene, etc. I haven’t researched all the other ingredients but I love the fact that it is cruelty free, vegan, and made in the USA.
Thank you again Kris for providing me with such useful information. I am glad to see that my favorite nail polish, Deborah Lippmann is on the top of the list. I also use their nail polish remover and was wondering then if there is something in it that prevents it from being acceptable? It takes off nail polish so easily. It also comes individually packaged if you are on the go. Thank you again.
Also as mentioned, you can use coconut oil to remove the wraps. The lacquer & gel removers smell great and don’t have too much junk in them for Jamberry 🙂
Jamberry! Vegan, GF, 5 free lacquers and the wraps are the same! And so many fun colors and prints to choose from!
Great article! Surprised Kure Bazaar isn’t mentioned here – it’s based on potatoe starch und contains mostly natural ingredients.
When it comes to natural nail polish removers: Fresh Therapies is my favorite brand. It not only works but also leaves my nails looking healthy and shiny.
Thanks for the remover tip! xo, kc