What is Nail Polish ?

It has been around since 3000 B.C. Chinese people grew their fingernails and it was regarded as a kind of status symbol. These ancient people used different kinds of materials like wax, egg etc to make polish. The darker the colour of the nail polish was the higher class it meant.
Of course Egyptians also coloured their nails.

In Europe it has been enjoying huge succes since the 20's-30's. At first auto paint was the basis of the nail polish but later on this improved although these pigments were still used to be the heart of the polish. Dry time improved during the years and special pigments were used.

It is considered to be a safe poduct although there are some ingredients that are worthy of watching out for. One of these ingredients is toluene. This helps the polish to adhere to the nail plate. In the 90's this chemical was suspected to cause cancer and birth defects. It is true of course but studies proved that touline level was way below the standard of safety in both the saloons and nail polishes as well.


Later on Formaldehyde came under fire. Nail hardeners contain a very negligible amount of this ingredient which is five times lower than the legally used 5%. Moreover anyone who is allergic can choose from several formaldehyde free products.


The most recent ingredient that has been investigated is DBP (dibutyl Phthalate) that helps polish spread. Although this ingredient has been banned in Europe the US did not find it harmful because of the above mentioned reasons again.


There are only a few manufacturers that are allowed to make polish and the reason for this are the very strict safety rules. Apart from these regulations making polish is farely simple. All the base ingredients are added in a large tank and a kind of blade mixes them for about 10-20 minutes. After this other components are added and mixed for another 20 min. When it's filtered the procedure is over. Of course mixing is not finished untill the perfect shade is acchieved.

• Tosylamide/formaldehyde resin - Helps to improve adhesion


• Nitrocellulose - Makes the surface hard and shiny


• Suspension Agents - Makes the polish easier to use, keep polish pigments from settling.


• Pigments - Provide colour


• Plasticizers - Allow polish to bend and become flexible.


• Solvents - Improve flow and evaporate after the polish is applied.


• Stabilizers - Prevent polish from discolouring.

Feel free to choose there are several new shades and colours appearing with every season.

Thanks for finding this website and taking the time to read my nail polish article