Natural Nail Polishes Review: Priti, NoMiss, Suncoat (long!)
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free skin care · Fri Jun 27, 2008 6:57 pm

So I went on a natural nail polish buying binge about a month ago (pre-EDS), and I thought folks might be interested in the results since some of them haven't been reviewed here before. First, I should say that I'm a big fan of the natural stuff, but I also know where it has limits (like nail polish). I did way too much "research" in finding nail polishes -- lots of blogs, enviro sites, etc. All of these nail polishes are 3-Free (Toluene, Formaldehyde and DBP (dibutyl phthalate) free, and if they've been rated on Skin Deep's database, they're 3 or lower (hazardous rating out of 10).

First, I tried the water-based ones with great expectations. Honeybee Gardens (which I know folks have discussed on EDS a bit before) looked lovely for the first 12-24 hours. Then chip, flake, chip. I know I only did one coat, but it was less than a day before it was chipped enough that I had to take it off. It flaked so badly for me that I actually was able to simply scrape it off my nails (gross but true). And this wasn't the peel-off version! Not much better with a double coat even.

Suncoat is also water-based, and I had a little bit better luck with it. It stayed on my toes much longer than my hands, though, as is the case for me with any polish. What's great about the water-based ones is that there really is *no* smell -- I was amazed! Also, I found the Honeybee Gardens polish remover to be very effective with all versions of natural polishes. It also has no smell -- I can even take it off indoors (a first for me and my chemical-sensitive husband), and it didn't take me 10 minutes of elbow-grease either.

Ok, next came the natural but non-water-based polishes since I wanted more lasting power. What I'm disappointed with here is that they do smell. With Earth Day every fashion magazine was on the green wagon announcing these wonderful smell-free polishes. Bummer, but they really do smell like regular ol' nail polish. That being said, they are free of the worst nasty chemicals; I paint my nails by an open window with these.

Priti is from an organic spa in NYC that's been all over the press this spring. I sprang (pun!) for the polish (over $10/bottle -- a wee bit pricey unless you love Chanel). It provided good coverage and lasted as long as I expect regular polishes to (4-5 days). No Miss is a little cheaper than the others ($6) and had some fun colors that I wanted. It's a little more watery than Priti, but with a couple coats also worked well and stayed put.

Based on store trials, I know that Peacekeeper polish also has the expected smell, though they're having a 15% off sale at their website right now, so I might give it a try too... I'd like to try Zoya, but I haven't wanted to pay for s/h and it's not available in my area. As mentioned in other posts, you do sacrifice a bit in terms of the "normal" pigmentation and texture you might be used to with other nail polishes, but with 2 coats I haven't really found this to be a problem. Hope this might help others with their search!

(Sorry this got so long -- I'm an English teacher, I can't help it! But no correcting my grammar now that I've said that, I get it enough from my family. Very Happy

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free skin care · Sat Jun 28, 2008 8:11 am

I appreciate your post! I've only tried Zoya and Nubar, so I liked reading your impressions of the other brands. The good news is that there are a good number of brands now that are Big 3 Free; even China Glaze and OPI are Big 3 Free now. People have commented that the change to their formulas is not great; I didn't notice a difference.

free skin care · Sat Jun 28, 2008 9:28 am

Happy if I can help, Marci. In my research I was trying to figure out what made some of these nail polishes more "natural" than the big names -- I know Revlon has been Big 3-free for years now... If you look at the profile of a polish like Peacekeeper compared to Revlon on the SkinDeep database, it seems that, first of all, it just has fewer ingredients. It's also camphor-free and, according to its website, "free of phthalates, Parabens, or FD&C/Lake Coloring." The one thing I can't figure out is how a more well-known polish (like Zoya maybe) compares to something like Peacekeeper or Priti, because ingredients aren't either advertised or listed and they're not in the database. Other "less toxic" brands include Butter London, Aquarella, Dr. Remedy, Nubar, and Sante. If anybody knows more about these polishes or other natural nail polish tips, I'd love your input!

free skin care · Sat Jun 28, 2008 11:35 am

You said "London Butter" is "less toxic" - aren't they "3 free" as well ?

free skin care · Sat Jun 28, 2008 11:36 am

I've been wanting to try PeaceKeeper, but they have such a limited color selection. Do you have any pics of PeaceKeeper polish used in manicures?

free skin care · Sat Jun 28, 2008 11:37 am

London Butter has good colors, but hasn't gotten great reviews at MUA. Also, the bottle is smaller than standard np bottles and pretty pricey.

free skin care · Sat Jun 28, 2008 1:52 pm

Hi Lin, sorry if I wasn't clear there. All of those polishes I listed are 3-free, including London Butter. It's just that they advertise themselves as being "green" (whereas a company like Revlon is also 3-free but not necessarily positioning itself in the "natural" market). So what I'm interested in knowing more about is how significant a difference there is between the various natural/green 3-free brands and the other, mainstream 3-free. Technically speaking, no nail polish, even the water-based ones, are considered non-toxic, they're all just "less toxic" (according to NG Green Guide; see their buying guide for more info: http://www.thegreenguide.com/products/Personal_Care/Nail_Care). Another great source is the blogger "All Lacquered Up" who wrote about this in detail earlier this year: http://www.alllacqueredup.com/2008/04/go-green-healthier-polish.html

Marci, I don't have any photos of the Peacekeeper polish (though I think I'll be placing an order soon and would be happy to post them then). I've only "sampled" them at the store, and I agree that their selection is limited. Based on what I saw in the store (this was when I was traveling), it seems like the online swatches were pretty true to life. I made a note to myself to buy "grateful" (for winter) and "tranquil" (which is quite natural looking). But, "All Lacquered Up" does have a photo of "forgiving": http://www.alllacqueredup.com/2007/02/peacekeeper-cause-metics-make.html

Rereading ALU's take on "green" polishes, it's interesting to see that NoMiss is in the same category as Revlon and Chanel... And these appear to be the safest ones (per her). SkinDeep makes distinctions between them (for example, Peacekeeper is not in the safest category on ALU but is only rated a 3), but it doesn't really have enough polishes rated to compare, and some of their ingredient lists are out of date. I'm not sure if I'm answering my own questions here or just confusing myself more! Shock

free skin care · Sat Jun 28, 2008 1:58 pm

Just figured out that Peacekeeper was mis-classified on All Lacquered Up -- it doesn't contain camphor, though she had it classified as such. This makes a little more sense to me...

free skin care · Mon Jun 30, 2008 2:24 pm

Did you read anything about SpaRitual in your research? I've been dying to try this brand...

free skin care · Mon Jun 30, 2008 6:38 pm

Hi sgresnic, I haven't had a chance to try Spa Ritual myself, but I have heard good things. It's also Big 3-Free, plus it's vegan (who knew?!) Also, it's "free of synthetic dyes," which sounds like a good thing; plus all the packaging is eco-friendly. I'm not sure why I overlooked this in my shopping, b/c at $9 it's not too bad (just wish I could get it somewhere local!) But on various green beauty boards it's gotten some good reviews, including that it lasts at least a week. If I get my nails on a bottle, I'll let you know (or vice versa please!)

free skin care · Fri Jul 11, 2008 8:34 am

Just wanted to post an update as I recently got 2 sets of Zoya polishes -- really fun colors! They're 3-free, camphor-free, and "vegan friendly," so they fit in with the other natural polishes, but they have 300 colors! $6 a bottle or $34 for a set of 6 from zoya.com.

They still smell (my main complaint even with the "natural" polishes), but the pigment is very rich, and of the 12 colors I got (a BOGO special last month) I only found one (a purple color) a bit watery. Otherwise I didn't think they were too runny or thick. For some fun or "wacky" colors, I think this is the polish to go for -- though I'm bequeathing the banana yellow, sparkly green, and bright orange to my younger sister. Very Happy

Unfortunately, Peacekeeper is out of the color I wanted, so a post on that will be delayed at least until August. Sad

free skin care · Wed Jul 16, 2008 3:47 pm

Just wanted to give you all a heads-up on a Zoya polish deal. If you're interested in trying a few new colors, they've got this great deal set-up with multiple nail polish bloggers wherein you get three free polishes specifically picked by that blogger with any purchase -- and there's no minimum purchase! That means you could buy one polish for $6, pay the $7 s/h ( Razz

) but get 4 polishes for $13! This blogger has compiled all the sites participating in the deal (you have to go through the individ. blogs themselves to get the promo): http://ballzandthinner.blogspot.com/2008/07/zoya-extravaganza.html

Happy shopping!

free skin care · Wed Jul 16, 2008 3:51 pm

WOW! Thanks so much for letting us know, KBLang!!

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