Acquarella

I haven’t had a professional manicure in forever – I used to get one every two weeks many years ago and loved it, but it became too expensive AND my manicure didn’t last any longer than it did when I did it at home. So I started trying out different polishes to see what I liked the best and did my nails at home. By FAR my favorite nail polish is Chanel – I have 4-5 shades, my favorites are Vamp for Winter color and Ballerina for Summer (I constantly have this on my toes).

But alas, I’m tiring of the strong odor of both the polish and the heavy-duty remover I need to get the Vamp off my nails, and am starting to try and replace my old polish with new, eco-friendlier, non-toxic polish – starting with a water-based polish by Sula. I was especially intrigued by this one because you’re supposed to be able to peel it off, and I was also a sucker for the cute packaging LOL:

httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KEImatUXLA

(sorry that the video is a little blurry when I’m trying to get the close-ups, I was trying to do this by myself!) The only thing I would say about this is that I didn’t use a base coat (supposedly it’s not necessary with a water-based polish) and after peeling the polish off, my nails were extremely dry. I read on another website that if you don’t use a base coat, you should brush your nails with cuticle oil a few minutes before applying the polish. I actually do this every time, but only on my cuticles, using Solar Oil, but I didn’t use the oil on my nails. I would definitely suggest that you do that though…

I also did some research and came up with this list of non-toxic or water-based (or both) nail polish available online – if you know of any I missed, PLEASE let me know in the comments and I’ll add it to the list!

Water-Based Nail Polish

WaterColors nail enamel
Suncoat
Acquarella
Honeybee Gardens
Sula
Toxic Free Boutique

Formaldehyde, Toluene & DBP-free Nail Polish

Orly
Butter London
Lippmann Collection
Rescue Beauty Lounge
NARS
Adoree
nubar
Peacekeeper
Zoya
Chanel, Revlon, OPI, Sally Hanson, Rimmel, Calvin Klein, M.A.C., Avon, and many other of the “big” brand nail polishes are also “three free.” But this is only for relatively recent formulations – some of the older versions probably still have the chemicals in them (my Chanel polishes are probably in the older formulation category…they’re pretty old!)