Our Scotch Naturals nail polish in Nature & Health magazine

UPDATE

Scotch Naturals was the only reasonable quality adult water based nail polish on the market. In 2015, they attempted a reformulation and new technology. It was never released and this product is no longer being made.

Alternatives

There's no truly lasting natural nail polish on the market. The best option for adults who need a long lasting polish is a 10-Free nail polish that have had the 10 most toxic ingredients removed. If you suffer from chemical sensitivities, we recommend that you skip the use of nail polish completely.  You can get a peelable water based nail polish from our kids makeup category, but they're only available in pink and purple and they don't have the staying power of a 10-free polish.

From here on, this is the original post.

We'd like to say a big thank you yet again to Nature & Health magazine for featuring us and one of out totally natural & safe products, the Scotch Naturals water based natural nail polish. It is featured in an article talking about anti-aging serums and the pros and cons of nail care products.

For the average person, the advice on the natural nail polish is perfectly fine, but as someone who suffers from MCS (multiple chemical sensitivities), I am now going to offer you a more in-depth set of advice tailored specifically to your needs and sensitivities.

Another e-tailer interviewed for the article suggests that people choose 3-free polishes as they have three well known toxic ingredients removed. Those ingredients are formaldehyde, DBP and toluene. I'm afraid this advice isn't anywhere near good enough to being a natural solution for someone who has chemical sensitivities. Unless you're buying a $3 bottle of nail polish from the chemist, most major mainstream nail polish brands have already jumped on the 3-free bandwagon. If you want 3-free polish, you can walk in to any chemist, Priceline or department store and buy a bottle of Revlon for anywhere between $5 and $13 depending on sales. The industry is doing a nice job of self-regulating in this area, which is really nice to see. Even Butter London, which everyone thinks is the most popular natural solution is only 3-free and no safer than a bottle of Revlon.

The absolute minimum I would suggest to people is a 5-free polish. I have said it before and I'll say it again, 3-free and 5-free nail polish is NOT natural. It has LESS chemicals in it than most others, but they're still petrochemical based. If you want truly natural nail polish, you need to choose a water based nail polish like the Scotch Naturals featured in the article. Ours is the ONLY water based nail polish mentioned in the article.

Do we stock 3-free or 5-free nail polish?

No. Why? There's a safer solution, the water based nail polish from Scotch Naturals (and for the kids, Hopscotch Kids which is the same formula but is in tiny bottles that are round and less likely to tip over and have smaller brushes for teeny tiny fingernails. We have written a blog in the past about our thoughts between 3-free, 5-free and water based nail polish, which you can read for some more information.

Water based nail polish does take a little extra care in the application, and doesn't wear quite as well as their 3-free and 5-free counterparts. It forces you to take a little TIME OUT FOR YOURSELF and clean your nails, apply a base coat, 2 to 3 layers of colour and a top coat and then not wash your hands for 8 hours. It's the absolute perfect excuse to have a shower, put your favourite CD on, light a candle or pop some essential oils in to a vaporiser and totally unwind before you go to bed.

Want advice on products if you have chemical sensitivities or a sensitive nose?

If you are a sufferer of chemical sensitivities and you want help choosing a product, please send through an enquiry and ask that I answer it for you. If you have MCS, my sales hat comes off. If we don't have anything suitable for you, I will tell you not to buy anything. Chemical sensitivities is a horrible and debilitating illness to live with, I have had it for 20 years, and will NEVER, I repeat, NEVER push a product on anyone with a sensitivity if it's not suited to them. Shop Naturally is an incredibly successful venture, in part, because of our full disclosure policies and no-nonsense approach to promotion, marketing and advertising. Our products sell themselves. It is our mission to purely provide information and let our customers make their own minds up.

If you want me to smell something and tell you what it smells like, as long as I can do it without compromising the integrity of a product, I'll do it for you. Chances are, if it's a part of our natural makeup range, I have already road tested it and remember exactly what it smells like. Earlier this week, I sniffed a lipstick for a customer to tell her what type of smell it had. For the record, it was a Lavera one, and it has a mineral / earthy scent from the raw ingredients. It has no added fragrance. Zuii (for example) which we don't sell, smells like someone stuffed a bunch of roses up your nose!

Speaking of stuffing a bunch of roses up your nose, the Eco Tan oragnic fake tans are on the same page. Amazing product with amazing reviews and feedback and I have tried them, but they have the Rose Geranium essential oil in them. If you're sensitive to that smell (it's my kryptonite), there are other options in store from Lavera & Sukin (but it has a trace amount of chemical preservative in it). Please ask questions if you have them.

I am always available to answer email enquiries. I spend some time each week manning the customer service hotline (but not a lot), but I am always happy to call customers back if they need specialist attention.