Did you know that many brands of nail polish use harmful chemicals like formaldehyde and phthalates in their formulations? That stuff is nasty, and they can kill you or at least make you feel very sick.

A lot of nail polish makers and removers have back off on the production of these kinds of nail polish and nail polish removers. Speaking of which, natural nail polish and natural nail polish remover have begun to proliferate. Finding a non-toxic nail polish isn’t that hard to do anymore.

Nail polish can come in a lot of different colors and can range from completely matte, to blindingly shimmery, but even though there’s a lot of variety to today’s most common nail care component, finding a totally chemical-free variety of nail polish can be a real test.

Parents with kids who want to play around with nail polish may be dismayed to hear this, especially since the chemicals found in most nail polish can potentially cause some very serious health problems.

The bright spot in this little dilemma can be found in water-based or “peel-off” natural nail polish varieties. Even though these brands of nail polish are almost always phthalate free and use all natural ingredients, it’s still not a good idea at all to maintain a nail-biting habit after getting a manicure.

Something meant to dry out quickly into a hard, tough covering that goes over your nails can’t be completely poison-free, and even if the product claims to be organic or all-natural, it’s never a good idea to tempt fate.

As far as finding a natural nail polish remover is concerned, unless the nail polish you’re using comes out with water, you’ll probably have a really hard time finding nail polish remover that doesn’t have poisonous acetone as its base.

Ethyl acetate is an alternative, and relatively less toxic, nail polish remover solvent to acetone-based ones. This particular compound is pretty much just ordinary alcohol, and small amounts of it can actually be found in wine as well as in perfumes. On the other hand though, this so-called natural nail polish remover has also been used in insect collecting “killing jars”, to choke insects to death without damaging their bodies.

Not very encouraging at all.

Still, if you’re looking for a toxicity-free way to get rid of conventional kinds of nail polish that don’t involve scraping them off or simply waiting around and clipping away at the colored edge of your nail as it grew, something with ethyl acetate is your best bet. This substance occurs naturally, and is about as natural as any natural nail polish remover can get.

Non-toxic nail polish is also still a bit of a while away, but natural nail polish, created with organic ingredients and completely free from poisons offer kinder alternatives to the phthalate and toluene-filled crud often found lining the shelves. They can be a little hard to find offline, but by keying in a few keywords, you will find these product can be ridiculously easy to find.

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