What’s Your Favorite 3-Free Polish?
A perfectly clean nail polish is a very hard thing to find. Especially if you don’t want it washing off in the shower! But there’s good news today from our friends at Well+GOOD: More mainstream lines are ditching the big bad three, meaning flexible clean girls can now enjoy awesome shades without the full toxic load. Here’s their post—but first(!) tell us about your favorite cleaner polish in the comments, please.
It used to be that less-toxic nail polishes were made by just a handful of natural-leaning brands.
Now, brands like Chanel and Nars have gone three-free—meaning no formaldehyde, dibutyl phthalate, and toluene—and more choices.
Non-toxic polishes are the new gold standard for nails, says Adair Ilyinksy, co-owner of the chic TenOverTen nail salon in Tribeca. “There’s an understanding now that modern formulations don’t require formaldehyde.”
What colors are hot with New Yorkers this fall? “Metallics have been really big,” says Ilyinsky. “There’s also been a move away from puttys and grays towards blues and greens.”
Here are the popular nail polish shades you’ll want to get your hands on now.
I’ve been going back and forth about trying Zoya, so I’d love to hear if anyone has an opinion on it. Right now I’m sticking to no polish (completely non-tox) as opposed to the lower tox 3-free options – but it’s so tempting!
Butter nail polish is pretty good. Any nail polish remover recommendations?
I really love “Tea With the Queen” by Butter London.. it’s a very beautiful nude, pinky-brown color, and it’s appropriate for whatever occasion. :)
I love the brand Surf and City Nails, though I was told it is locally made, and so it is hard to find (OB People’s Co-op for San Diegans). It dries fast and stays on really well. Great colors too.
OPI is the best! I love their wide brush and all the colors they have. They also hold much better than other luxury brands (Chanel is known to hold less than 2 days…)
In response to Rebecca, I have a number of Zoya polishes at home and they all seem to peel/chip off my nails within 24 hours. I’d like to take it to the salon with me to see if a professional application would work better, but from my experience so far it has been a bust.
I love Karma Organic. They are local to New Jersey, but there is a Web site. My nail color lasted almost two weeks after I had them done at the KO Spa. When I do them myself, it’s about the same. Whole Foods in Ridgewood (across from the Spa) carries the polish and the remover. Oh yeah, the remover is soy based, does NOT smell like you’re losing brain cells, and comes in unscented, tea tree oil, and lavender. Finally, Karma Organic made Oprah’s “Favorites” list :o)
I’m using Priti Nail Polish which has a good staying power. It definitely does not wash away in the shower:) In my limited experience, a single coat works better than two.
Have used Priti Soy Polish Remover and I’m now using Suncoat… Would give Priti slightly higher marks over Suncoat.
@ Rebecca, I tried Zoya once at a nail salon and it seemed just fine. I may try the brand next time I’m shopping for nail polishes..
I’ve used Acquarella, which is water based. I believe it’s the “cleanest” nail polish on the market. It was rather streaky, but since I was using a very pale color, the streaks sort of faded away. The Acquarella nail polish remover was awful. It took forever to remove the polish, and didn’t do a very good job of it. The live chat person at Spirit Beauty Lounge told me that Priti brand soy based nail polish remover would work on Acquarella, but I haven’t tried it yet.
I looove the entire Zoya line! I used to use OPI until I discovered Zoya. It lasts sooo long, like a week at least (and I work at a liquor store where my nails are constantly abused), the key is to used their basecoat in conjunction with the laquer. That way it stays and the texture is smooth. Their nail polish remover rocks too.
I love the BUTTER London line for the colors — but the lacquer only lasts if you use the base/top coat along with the color. I like the idea of Zoya but most of their colors fall a little flat for me, and seem a little “muddy.”
I’m a devoted fan of Butter London, and dabble in NARS. Both lines have such funky shades!
For the nailpolish variety it is a real plus to live in Germany. Nearly every drugstore brand polish is big 3 free. :) So if you ever come to Germany -feel free to buy any nail polish you like! I’d actually say that nailpolish is the one topic that drugstore brands are as good (or better) than high-end polishes.
Do you have a PO box? I would love to send you some goodies. :)
I love Aquarella nail conditioner which stays on quite long and looks very natural!I’m also a fan of HIPPxRGB nude nail colors!Wonderful!:)
I’ve been using Piggy Paint. There are some pretty fun colors and it doesn’t come off in the shower. :)
I love Zoya! Have been a convert for nearly 3 years now. Great color selection (over 400 shades to choose from) and they last!! I am a hiker, kayaker, yogi, runner, cyclist, etc. and my feet take a beating…but my toe polish always looks pristine. My secret is to always use the four layer method: 1 coat of anchor, 2 coats of color, 1 coat of armor (armor really makes the colors pop). And their remove plus is amazing!!
I LOVE ZOYA! My nails look like a professional manicure. Also free of camphor. I get headaches VERY easily from most nail products and I am fine with this brand. They have really amazing colors, too. I use BodiPure acetone free soy- based remover…also no headache!
Rebecca; I love Zoya, and I find my mani to last even longer than the brand I used previously. I work on the computer all day, cook; and i clean, so my nails get some wear and tear. I usually use the Zoya Anchor base coat, 1 layer of a sheer pink by Zoya, and the Zoya Armor top coat on my hands. My nails look presentable for 2 weeks whereas with my previous polish I had to do my nails weekly. I think with a dark or bright polish color it may not look good for quite so long though. I’m not sure if Lori used the Zoya base coat and top coat? Maybe that’s why it didn’t last long. Also, I noticed before I changed to clean products that certain face products like facial peels w/ AHA’s would also make my nail polish peel off since I was using my hands to rinse off my face rather than a wash cloth. In hindsight, I can only imagine what that peel was doing to my poor face if it was removing shellac from my nails!!! Yikes!
The consistency of the colored polish is slightly thicker than other brands so with a lot of the colors I only use one coat. A bonus is that I’ve had the top coat, base coat, and a few of the colors for a little of a year and they still haven’t thickened like most polishes do.
Another great thing is that they will send you “color spoons” for most of the colors for 50 cents each with free shipping, and then you can deduct the money that you spent on the color spoons on your next order. The samples are made with the actual polish so it’s very accurate representation of the colors.
I’ve read about Scotch Naturals, also a waterbased nailpolish. They look very stylish and are availible in a good range of colours. But they seem to dissolve easily in too hot showers… Perhaps I’ll give it a try.
appreciate all the Zoya comments!
My favorites are Deborah Lipmann (her glitter polishes are AMAZING, but a bit pricey), Butter London (my favorite shades are All Hail the Queen and Yummy Mummy), and Zoya. I wore Zoya’s Yummy ( a pretty, medium blue shade) on my toenails for my wedding as my “something blue!”
How was there no mention of Butter in this post?! It’s the best polish and the shades beat all other lines by a mile. Muggins, Tea With The Queen, Toff, and All Hail McQueen are a few favorites.
My current favorite is Cobblestone by Karma Organic. The staying power is great (2 weeks) and the remover works perfectly too!
I use a nail buffer (not sure if that is the correct term) and no polish. It seems to work just fine, at least for my needs.
Sinful Colors Professionals is three-free and only two dollars per bottle! Needless to say, it is my favorite nail polish in the entire world.
My favorite three-free nail polishes are Sinful Colors, Milani and Wet-N-Wild.
COOL
COOL!