Archive for the ‘Cosmetics’ Category
While the glitz and glamour of make-up and cosmetics is a lot of fun, it is not always necessary. Any woman should be able to pack her purse or cosmetic bag with necessary essentials and still look beautiful on a daily basis. It is important to remember that make-up and cosmetics are only meant to enhance your natural beauty and to complement your features. Knowing and possessing the essential cosmetics will help you achieve a great look each and every day.
No matter who you are or where you live, there are a few basic cosmetics that are essential for every woman. It is important to remember that cosmetics are considered all products that help you look and feel your best. Believe it or not, there is no need to buy make-up in bulk or have an elaborate cosmetic kit. As long as you have these important “must-haves” you will be in good shape, and always looking your best. If your budget allows, having a second set of these cosmetic essentials for your purse in addition to your regular make-up bag at home, is a great idea and can be very helpful.
One of the most basic and essential cosmetics a woman should have is the proper skin care products. A good cleanser can make all the difference as it helps keep your skin evenly toned, moisturized, and clean. In addition to a cleanser that will not dry your skin, a good moisturizer with an SPF of at least 30 is essential as well. Keeping your skin clean and healthy is your first step in staying beautiful and looking young.
Once you have locked down a good facial cleanser and moisturizer, think about your eyes. The eyes are often one of the most attractive features of a woman’s face. A good quality eye shadow and mascara are true must-haves for your cosmetic kit. It is in your best interest to stick with a good neutral color shadow that will compliment any eye color. However, for a bit of dramatic pop at night, be sure to have a smokier set of shadows as well. As for the mascara, you can’t go wrong with the basic black.
No woman should be without a good lipstick and lip gloss. However, this also means keeping a good lip moisturizer on hand. Chapped lips are a travesty that many women have to deal with especially with the constantly changing weather. The lip moisturizer that no woman can be without should have an SPF for the days that she chooses to go without lip color. Lip moisturizer will ensure soft, kissable lips anytime. Lip moisturizers can either have a slight natural tint or no color at all.
Lipstick is another essential that no women should go without. A subtle tone that does not wash out and goes well with your hair, skin, and eyes is always your best bet. You can go with a light layer during the day and dress up that same color with a little gloss at night.
Two other basic cosmetic essentials for every woman include a good foundation and translucent powder. Be sure to choose a foundation that matches your skin tone, as its main purpose is to smooth the appearance of fine lines and even out your complexion by blending in with your natural skin hues. The translucent powder will ensure that you avoid shine throughout the day.
If you want a little color blush is a great way to achieve it. Blush, or blusher, is another basic essential cosmetic that every woman should have. There are a variety of blushes out there ranging from moist rouge to powders. As long as the blush coordinates with your foundation and you use a light coat, you will shine your way through the day with just enough color. If you are applying blush on the run, be sure to double check the mirror as it is easy to overdo it.
Every woman should have the basic and essential cosmetics to achieve a fresh and beautiful look. However, if you want to take it a step further and have a little more fun, there is a plethora of cosmetics available today. Perfumes, lotions, nail polishes, and body shimmer are just a few examples. While you do not have to use these extraneous cosmetics everyday, they certainly can liven up your appearance for a night out on the town.
As long as you keep these essential cosmetics on hand, you will be ready for anything. If you are a girl who is constantly on the go, you might also consider buying a few travel-sized versions of these cosmetics to keep in your purse or briefcase. Just remember not to leave your make-up in the hot car!
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The Secret to Health Looking Nails
You’re about to read on how to have best looking nails without manicure or pedicure. You’ll master the secrets of keeping your nails healthy and shiny without spending money at salons or beauty spas.
Women’s desire for healthy-looking nails has led to constant innovation in the treatment segment of the nail care market–a trend that shows no signs of abating.
Tips on keeping your Nails healthy
So let’s get started. I’m about to tell you simple tips on keeping your nails healthy and shiny. A diet to help your nails grow faster and a lot more.
To begin with, I would like to talk about letting nails breathe. I can understand if you’re big on nail polish and love to polish nails all the time. But it is important to let your nails breathe once in a while. This can be done by not polishing them when they don’t need to be polished. Leave your nails polished free on the weekend to help them have some fresh air.
To help your nails to achieve a shiny look I recommend that you massage warm coconut oil or castor oil on the nails for a shiny look.
Get a cotton tipped swab in hydrogen and-peroxide and clean the nails, to whiten them.
Before manicure dip the nails in a cup of warm water with one tbl spoon lemon juice into it.
Clean your cuticles and nails with a lemon.
White bands across the nails are caused by protein deficiency. Eat vit.A, calcium, protein and folic acid enriched food.
Eat plenty of water and liquid in the form of fresh fruits and juices.
If you follow the steps in your regular routine. You can help your nails to grow fast as well as give them a healthy and shiny look. For best nail polish, or recommend that you use Sation nail polish for best results
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Looking after your nails via a manicure is something that will make you look good feel good and something most men love to.
You can be a stunner and be let down by your nails condition so read the enclosed and get nails that will help you look stylish, classy and sexy.
A manicure is simply a beauty treatment for your fingernails and hands.
In its simplest form a manicure involves shaping and filing the nails then an application of a polish is added to the nails.
Manicures can also be done to achieve a softening of the hands and stimulating nail growth.
These are the common treatments lets look quickly at how important your nails are to your overall health
Your nails act as a window and tell you about your overall internal health.
Healthy nails indicate a healthy body.
Ridged; dented, unusually colored or shaped nails indicate the opposite i.e that you may have health or diet problems.
Manicures can make your hands and nails look great and keep them healthy so lets look at the different types and what they can do for you.
Manicures
During a manicure, nails are first shaped, cuticle remover or conditioner applied and then the fingertips and the hands are then placed in warm soapy water and left to soften for around 10minutes.
The hands are then removed, dried before the cuticles are gently pushed back with a stick.
Nails are buffed from cuticle to tip and then a lotion is applied to the entire hand.
Many manicurists will spend time massaging the lotion into the hands as well.
All traces of oils used will then be removed before polish is applied.
Polish includes one base coat followed by two three more coats of a color of your choice. Finally a top coat if polish is applied.
French Manicure
With a French manicure, the tips of nail are painted white and when dry the entire nail is painted with translucent shell pink polish.
A French manicure is elegant, stylish and suitable for everyone. It’s understated and indicates a women
who knows about class and style.
Paraffin Wax Manicure
Paraffin wax is warmed.
The hands are then dipped repeatedly in the warmed liquid until a coating is formed over the nail.
The hands are then wrapped in plastic film and covered with a towel to keep in the heat.
Hands need to remain wrapped for about 15 minutes.
When the towel, plastic and paraffin wax are removed the manicure continues.
A paraffin wax manicure has the advantage of moisturizing and conditioning the skin and is great if your hands are sore, or you just love the feeling of having your hands attended to and made soft and subtle.
Hot Oil Manicure
Hot oil is used to soften the cuticles before being cleaned and neatened.
This treatment is popular is recommended if you have extremely dry hands or nails and is also more popular with men than ever.
Manicure Basics
A manicure should be carried out in an area that is clean and all tools are properly sanitized.
New tools should also be used and these include:
Orange sticks, emery boards and clean fresh towels.
The use of un-sterilized tools can transmit infections and never have a manicure done with someone who does not have high hygienic standards.
Regular Manicure – Keeping Your Nails Healthy
Nails grow at the rate of about 0.05 to 1.1 mm pa week and a regular manicure can keep your nails in great condition.
A high protein diet can help your nails grow stronger and healthier, so get plenty in your diet lack of protein shows up in poor nail condition.
Between manicures do the following:
1. Keep nails clean and dry
This helps to keep bacteria and other infections from accumulating under the nail.
2. Don’t use to much remover
Keep the use of nail polish remover to a minimum so your nails and cuticles do not dry out.
Nails the finally flourish of femininity.
If you have nails make them look their best and you can add the final flourish to your femininity if you want to look classy stylish and individual pay attention to your nails.
One final point – if you do your partner will love them to!
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Imagine you just had your fingernails done or you just applied a fresh brand new trendy nail polish you been dying to wear. Then it happens you hit your freshly polished nails on something and now have a very unsightly smudge. What do you do?
Well the best thing to do is to prevent it from happening in the first place. So what can you do to prevent smudging your nails? Read on
Here are a few tips to help you from smudging your nails again.
If you are paying someone else to do your nails, get out your keys, payment choice and if bought a coat with you, put it on. This way you have no reason to smudge your nails digging in your purse.
Best number one tip is to own the nail polish of your choice so if you do smudge them by accident getting into your car and driving home you can fix the smudge at home.
As hard as it maybe to wait at least 5 minutes with your nails in the nail dryer before leaving the nail salon. That will at least give your nails a chance to set before you go.
Your nails will dry faster if you when you polish your own nails if you wait at least 2 to 3 minutes between coats. That gives the first coat of nail polish applied a chance to set.
After you have applied 2 to 3 coats of your new favorite trendy nail polish apply a fast drying Top Coat. We totally recommend Top Rock by BB Couture and it even smells good! It comes Raspberry scent and in regular style and extreme.
Try to use newer nail polish, base coat and top coat because older nail polish just tends to dry slower.
When you apply your coat of nail polish try to apply even coats not too thick as they will also cause a longer drying time.
If pampering yourself to a pedicure and manicure at the same visit to your favorite nail salon ask to have your pedicure first. That will give your toes a chance to dry while you are getting your nails done.
Not all of us are brave enough to wear flip-flops in the wintertime after getting a pedicure done so look into those really cute open toed boots or shoes.
No matter what sometimes we can but smudge our freshly polish nails. By trying to follow these simple prevented tips you maybe able to have nails next time you do them or have them done without a smudge!
The information in this article is to be used for informational purposes. The information contained herein is not intended to be used in place of, or in conjunction with your nail care professional’s advice.
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While we all may think we know the basics of applying nail polish, there are plenty of tips and tricks on how to apply it in a way to achieve professional looking results in the comfort of your own home. You will no longer have to pay for an expensive manicure. Instead, just use a little time, practice and dedication to get beautiful results every time you apply your own nail polish!
Before you begin applying nail polish, you will need a few basic tools to complete your self-manicure. Make sure that you have in front of you nail polish and nail polish remover, just in case you make a mistake. You will also want to have a cuticle stick, an emery board, a cotton balls, cuticle oil, hand and nail moisturizers, and a cuticle trimmer. These tools will help you apply nail polish beautifully each time.
Set aside some time when you decide to paint your nails. Try not to answer the phone or touch too many things while your nails are drying. If you follow these steps and allow your nail polish to set and dry properly, your manicure will last a lot longer.
Before applying a new coat of nail polish, be sure to remove all old nail polish completely. Even if you cannot see it because it may have worn off, do a quick once over with some nail polish remove to make sure you have removed all remnants. Your manicure will not come out nicely if you are covering old nail polish with new nail polish. The nail polish remover that you choose should ideally be acetone and alcohol free as to not dry out your nails. Dry nails make nail polish chip more easily.
After you have removed all the old nail polish, it is time for cuticle oil. Brush the cuticle oil onto your cuticles and then massage it in. Massaging the cuticle oil in ensures that they receive as much moisture as possible. It also stimulates nail growth by increasing blood flow to the fingertip. If you do not have any cuticle oil, olive oil (or any edible oil) is a good alternative. Leave the oil on as you file the nails, to soften them and make it easier.
Filing your nails is a good way to shape your fingernails. Always be sure to file in one direction to prevent jagged and flaky edges. The shape you should aim for should be your nail’s natural shape. Some have rounded nails naturally while others have squared nails.
After you have applied the cuticle oil and filed your nails, give your hands a wash. This removes any residue from the nail polish remover as well as dust from the filing. Clean hands ensure that your nail polish will come out smooth and beautiful.
Once your hands are washed it is time to clean up your cuticles. Start by soaking your fingertips in warm water for about 10-15 minutes. This will soften the skin of you cuticles. If you do not want to cut your cuticles, you can simply push them back or use chemical cuticle remover. While you are cleaning up your cuticles, take a moment to get rid of any hang nails as well. Carefully trim them off with your cuticle cutter or nail scissors. If there is any oil left on your hands, give your hands another wash and make sure they are completely dry before you apply nail polish.
When you are ready to paint your nails, give the nail polish a good shake and open it up. You should always wipe the brush on the lip of the bottle to make sure that there is not too much. Instead of one single thick layer of nail polish, do several thinner coats. The layers of thin coats will last longer than one thick coat.
As you paint your nails, make sure to leave your hand as flat as possible. You should be able to paint the entire nail in about 3 strokes, starting in the center and completing each side. Be sure not to paint your skin or cuticles. Allow the first layer to dry completely before applying the next layer of nail polish.
After you have applied two or three coats of nail polish you may find that as hard as you tried, you still have a little polish on the skin around your nails. This can be easily removed with a cotton swab or wrap a small piece of cotton wool. Dip into nail polish remover and carefully wipe around your finger nail removing polish from your skin. Just be careful not to bump your freshly painted fingernail!
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Creative Ten supplies professional nail art products to nail technicians all over the UK mainland. As a qualified nail technician you will benefit from wholesale prices, giving you great value products without compromising on quality.
We source the best nail art products from round the world, including China. Creative Ten can supply you and your salon with all the nail art products you need and more. We carry the most up to date products that clients are asking for, enabling you to create your own designs tailored to you clients’ needs.
Creative Ten has the best quality crushed shells in a bigger than usual 4gram pot. We have a range of 10 colours, excellent quality dried flowers in 3 different designs, including regular flowers, tulips and dried flower sprays. All come in a range of colours.
We carry Nubar Striping brushes and Nubar striping pens for achieving dots and stripes easily, and you can choose from over 40 different colours. Brand new items include mille fiore, a range of flowers and complementary designs for embedding into liquid and powder (acrylic) and UV gel. You can create really pretty designs easily.
New to the Creative Ten product range are Skeleton leaves, which are best embedded, and 3D flowers, which are attached to the nail with a dot of adhesive or liquid and powder. Open hearts and stars are best embedded and we also provide you with a step by step guide, showing you exactly how to use them, giving you perfect results.
Other products include Swarovski Rhinestones in small and large sizes and also in a square shape. Regular Rhinestones can be purchased in individual pots or in a rhinestones wheel – a handy wheel that keeps all of your rhinestones secure in one place so you can choose the colour you want easily.
Brushes and tools include 4 nail art brushes and 3 colour shapers. Other tools include the combination drill tool for piercing the nail prior to applying a posted charm or dangle, silver rings, finger rests, display nails, orangewood sticks and empty pots and rhinestone wheels. Nail art paints for use on natural nails or nail extensions include opalescent paints, made for use with nail art brushes and colour shapers. Foils and striping tape, glitters, iridescent flakes, studs and pearls all add accents and add the finishing touch to designs. Nail art sealer is important to seal in your nail art designs and you can buy them here too.
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Online beauty advice boutique Alphs nails are this seasons hottest navey blue with matte finish. The futuristic look glittery red and black glitzy nails Minx ultra thin polymer sheets that stick to the nail with heat. Keeping your hands clean is a must, if you want to have nice hands. but washing your hands regularly can make your skin dry and sore. Make your you use a nail brush to remove any dirt and germs from under the nails. Spend time drying your hands thoroughly. believe it or not drying them right will prevent dryness and cracked skin. Keep a good hand cream next to your bathroom sink and carry one in your bag for when you are out. Keeping your hand well moisturised will keep your hands feeling fabulous.
There is some absolutely gorgous hand creams out there, some you could just eat. I researched the the top ten on the Marie Clarie site. My personal favorite is the body-shops Hemp Hand Protector. Because in my place of work it is vital that i wash my hand so often, especially in the winter months my hands crack, flake and are very sore if i don’t use a heavy duty hand cream the moisturizers just wash off and don’t take much affect on my hands. This is vital as i am a student Nurse and germs and micro-organisms gather in cracked dry skin. Body Shops hemp hand protector won’t break the bank at a reasonable £10. I found that it took immediate effect and soaked right into my dry skin and made my hands really soft.
Problem is i suffer from really dry cuticles and my nails really split, so i can never grow them how i would like. I found up on Marie Clare’s top ten list number eight on there is Liz Earle Hand repair, quite expensive yes at £19 but this is a repairing treatment not a moisturising hand lotion this is specifically for dry cuticles and split nails and also comes with a pump action bottle so it sits nicely on the bathroom sink next to any hand wash pumps. You wont forget this if you don’t forget to wash. I tried this I think its worth it and you don’t use this one all the time just when you want to treat your hands and nails.
If your nails are chipped and look tired and in need of some TLC. I always use Sally Hansen Miracle Cure Splits and breaks have no chance against this nail strengthening miracle worker. Weak, brittle, fragile or dry, it works its magic to seal the nail plate and prevent peeling. Special ‘moisture magnets’ feed thirsty areas whilst the exclusive micro-mineral formula helps strengthen and fill cracks. You can buy Sally Hanson at your local Asda stores for about £5.99.
Now that you have given your hands and nails all that care and attention, all you need now is a hint of color. This years fravorite colors,winter ones and summer splash.
visit me at http://lesasluckylotto.yolasite.com or http://hubpages.com/hub/Online-beauty-advice-boutique
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Are you a spa salon owner or going to start your own spa salon? If yes, then following lines are must read for you. You will get benefits by innovative ideas and suggestion given here. As owner or your own spa salon, you must be looking for new ways of attracting more and more customers so that you can increase your revenues.
Remembers one thing that people come to your salon with anticipation of being more beautiful, and your first impression will be their decision factor in future. Interiors design and beauty of your salon plays an important role in drawing attention of your potential customers. The beautiful ambience creates hypnotizing environment for your customers. It drags them repeatedly to your salon whenever they need treatments of Salon and Spa.
One thing that makes great difference over overall look and feel of your salon spa is the furniture and accessories. You may have best salon equipments to transform the look of your customers, but you also need to provide them a feeling of choosing the best. Equip your spa salon with latest, state of the art salon and spa furniture. Nowadays, specialized salon furniture manufacturers are concentrating over the comfort of end users along with the design and look constraints.
Salon furniture manufacturers are designing and developing excellent furniture for your reception desk to your bathrooms, message rooms, relaxation room and changing rooms. Some most popular piece of designer salon furniture being used by top salons are reception desk, manicure tables, technician chairs, sinks and basins, UV dryers, accessory carts, and color racks.
You can give maximum pleasure and service satisfaction to your clients by using beautifully designed chairs with plush headrests, some with heated seating and equipped with hand held remote controls to allow the client full control over their relaxation experience. Pedicure chairs with modern designs come fitted with all latest massaging features, user friendliness and less indulgence of technicians allowing them more time to serve you in a royal manner.
Furniture customization is also an innovative feature provided by salon furniture manufacturers. They ship custom orders on client’s request. So, what you thinking, consult a salon spa owner and take details. Plan properly to reinvent the beauty of Salon Spa’s giving you a better platform to earn.
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Being wearing acrylic nails for a while and have decided to go back to your natural nails? We all removed our acrylic nails for a variety of reasons, some do it for the cost, others because they want to give their natural nails a breather or just because they want have their own nails again.
After you have decided to get your acrylic nails removed, there are two different techniques that can be used. You nail tech will help you with the removal process. It should take about 30 minutes to do so. The first technique that could be used it soaking off your acrylic nails in an ace-tone based mixture. The second technique would be your nail tech would use a electric drill. This technique your sculptured nail is gradually sanded off down to almost to your natural nail. A fine buffer is used to smooth the surface. The thin layer of remaining acrylic can protect your natural nail as it growing out. Your nail tech may use one or other or a combination of both techniques depending on what she feels is best for your nails.
Here are a few tips on dealing with your weaken nails.
Your nails are going to be really weak and may be hard for you to deal with the first few weeks as they are growing back out. As your nails are growing out they are going to be a bit paper thin they may split or peel as they are growing out. This is natural for your nails to do so, so expect it.
Getting a manicure once a week may help you deal with your weaken nails. You can also rub into the base of your nails at night olive oil, or cuticle oil to help strengthens the base. It also helps simulate growth.
Understand that your nails grow about 1/8 of a inch a month and even though it doesn’t seem like much it really shows after a month or so how your nails are growing back out.Your nails grow faster in the summer time and at different periods in your life so if they seem to be growing faster than 1/8 inch a month be happy for it.
You may want to use a nail strengthener as well. This nail care product helps prevent more splitting by strengthening the base of your nails. There are some products that you apply before you apply your base coat and others that you apply everyday whether or not you are wearing nail polish. Be sure to read the ingredients of your nail strengthener and avoid any that may contain formaldehyde which is very drying and may make your nails even more brittle.
Be careful as formaldehyde may be listed as toluene, toluene sulphonamide or toluene sulphonic acid.
While your nails are growing out, you want to wear light colored nail polish. The reason for this is because your nails are weak, they may chipped at the ends and dark nail polish doesn’t look good chipped. Light nail polish hides any chips you may receive.Also make sure that any nail polish remover you may use when changing your nail polish color is ace-tone free.
Also always carry a emery board with you at all times. Your paper thin nails can still split and tear and get catch on things. It’s best to keep your nails super short but they can still get straggly edges and may cause you to want to bite them and that is not a habit you want to start up now! Having a emery board with you at all times you can smooth out any edges that are rough.
Apply hand cream as often as you can and rub it into the cuticles around your nails to help keep them soften. The hand cream will help boost the moisture levels in your nails and help them from being too dry. Also apply cuticle oil at night and when giving your self a manicure as a way to help condition the cuticle area and keep your cuticles soft. The last thing you want while waiting out your natural nails growing out is hangnails as well. Those tiny tears in your cuticles will drive you nuts, so keep your cuticles soft.
I hope this helps with dealing with your weaken nails after you have removed your acrylics. Taking care of your nails and they will grow back out as beautiful as they were before you had acrylics.
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Nail polish and nail treatments, like many other cosmetics, are made up of dozens of chemicals that work together to make a product that is colourful, shiny, hard, and chip-free. When we paint these chemicals onto our nails, they interact with our bodies. Most chemicals are harmless. Some aren’t. In fact, many brands of nail polish contain chemicals that are known to be harmful—toxic, actually.
But you don’t have to give up having gorgeous nails to avoid being exposed to these toxins. Instead, you can send your nails to rehab and say no, no, no to toxic chemicals.
Pick products like those from Nail-Aid that are specially formulated to be effective without the nasty additives.
Shiny Nails Can Cause Headaches (Literally!)
For years, nail products, including nail strengtheners and other treatments, included chemicals that manufacturers knew were probably not great for us. But it was believed that because nail treatments didn’t expose users to large quantities of these chemicals, the effects would be minimal. Also, manufacturers couldn’t find a way to avoid using those chemicals without negatively impacting the formula (or the price): the harmful chemicals were cheap, and they kept nail polish bright, glossy, and chip-free.
Until recently, many brands of nail polish contained three major chemicals we know to be harmful to humans. These are:
Toluene
Formaldehyde
Dibutyl phthalate
So if you’ve used nail polish at all in the last ten years, you’ve definitely been exposed to these. That’s the bad news. The good news is that your body has probably already processed out most of the toxins, and it’s also much easier nowadays to find nail products that don’t contain these awful chemicals.
Why You Should Avoid Toxic Nail Product Chemicals
Scientists are great—they’ve given us life-saving medicine, the Internet, and air conditioning. They can also warn us about the dangers hidden in our make-up bags. While we don’t know everything about every chemical, studies have shown definite harmful effects from toluene, formaldehyde, and dibutyl phthalate that mean it’s worth your while to find out whether they’re in your favorite shade of polish or that miraculous peeling nail treatment you’re using.
Here are some of the effects we know about:
Toluene
Toluene is a chemical that contributes to that distinctive “nail polish smell”. Toluene mostly affects the central nervous system if inhaled, causing headaches, forgetfulness, and confusion. If you’re exposed to it at low levels every day—if you work in a nail salon, for example—toluene can also cause fatigue and nausea.
While the symptoms of toluene exposure end once you stop breathing the fumes, it stays in your body for a long time. Your body stores it in places where there is a lot of fatty tissue or a lot of blood: your brain, your liver, and in your fatty deposits. There’s also evidence from animals that exposure to toluene can cause birth defects, usually brain damage, in a developing fetus. So pregnant women especially should avoid using nail polish that contains toluene.
In short, avoiding toluene in chemicals is good for your brain and your baby’s brain if you’re pregnant. If everyone who uses nail treatments demands that toluene be stripped out, that’s good for nail salon professionals too, because they won’t be exposed to it all day.
Formaldehyde
Formaldehyde is a chemical you might remember from high school biology—those frogs you had to dissect were floating in it. It’s probably also in your nail polish or your favorite drugstore strengthener, because it’s a preservative. However, it’s also been tagged as a chemical that might cause cancer by the Environmental Protection Agency. Some people also experience irritation of the skin when exposed to products that contain it.
If you’re checking your makeup labels for the word “formaldehyde” you might not see it, but it could still be there. Some other chemicals can release formaldehyde when they break down. These include:
Diasolidinyl urea
DMDM hydantoin
Imidazolidinyl
Quaternium-15
You’re not a pickled frog: be smart and pick nail products and cosmetics without formaldehyde.
Dibutyl Phthlates
Dibutyl phthalate is still being researched, but the evidence points to many disturbing effects. It’s a plasticizing chemical used in nail polishes, topcoats, and strengtheners to make the paint flexible and tough. It’s also been shown to cause birth defects in animals exposed to a lot of it. The concern about dibutyl phthalate is so great that some European countries have completely banned it from cosmetics.
While you aren’t going to get a huge dose of dibutyl phthalate from having your tootsies painted pink, you’re also exposed to it from other sources, such as certain types of plastic packaging. So any time you can eliminate exposure from another source, you’re lowering the overall dose you get hit with. That’s a good thing.
Three Ways To Detox Your Talons
1) Toss Out: Several US manufacturers of nail polish and nail treatments started to eliminate dibutyl phthalate from their formulas in late 2006 (Nail Aid, an industry pioneer devoted to its customers’ health, never used DBP, toluene, or formaldehyde in the first place). So if you’ve got a shoebox somewhere full of old nail polish bottles you still think you might use some day, say goodbye.
2) Read Up: Labeling on nail treatments and nail polish isn’t great. In California, manufacturers have to indicate the presence of DBP, but not necessarily anything else. Use your friendly neighborhood Google to look up the ingredients in products you’re interested in trying—most manufacturers will list them on their websites—and also find out about possible side effects. Try to get your information about health effects from sites that post actual scientific research, such as government agencies. It’s easier than ever to be an informed consumer, but it’s also easier than ever to find a big bad health scare story that doesn’t have a lot of facts.
3) Slap On: Only use nail care products that avoid toxic chemicals, even if the dosage isn’t enough to cause immediate harm. But for many chemicals, we don’t yet know what the long-term health effects for humans will be—little doses over decades could spell trouble. And while you might not be hurt by the occasional mani/pedi, your nail technician has to work with the stuff for hours every day. So show your salon some love: research toxin-free nail treatment products, and spread the word about your favorites.