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Summer Nail Polish Colors Get a Healthy Makeover

Get the hottest summer nail polish colors from brands that care about your style and your well-being!

Get the hottest summer nail polish colors from brands that care about your style and your well-being!

By now, it’s no secret that nail polish has some nasty chemical additives in them that aren’t good for your health. With all the new stories now about the chemical toxins floating around nail salons, you may have thought you were safe with your DIY home mani-pedi. Sadly, that’s not the case.

This article outlines the three most common toxins in the average nail polish:

  1. Dibutyl phthalate has been linked to lifelong reproductive impairments in rats. In humans, the highest concentrations of it have been found in women of childbearing age, which makes sense, as these are probably the most likely gender and age group to be exposed to it in nail polish.
  2. Toluene is associated with anemia, kidney damage, liver damage, and a lower blood cell count. Even though it gives nail polish its smooth shiny finish, I’m thinking it’s not so worth it!
  3. Formaldehyde is well known for causing skin, eye, and respiratory issues. But did you know it’s also been linked to leukemia? As far as what it’s doing in your nail polish, apparently this is the stuff that makes your mani last longer.

Yikes. In the interests of your long-term health and summer style, here’s some summer nail polish colors that won’t leave you worrying about those scary chemicals.

Get the hottest summer nail polish colors from brands that care about your style and your well-being!

1. Coral

Probably the one of the most consistent colors of summer, coral is bright and comes in so many orange/pink variations. Maya by Zoya is about as perfect as it gets for corals. And of course, all of the brand’s colors are toxin-free; they’ve nixed all the bad stuff listed above, plus some others!
Get the hottest summer nail polish colors from brands that care about your style and your well-being!

2. Bright pink

Cameo from LVX is super feminine, and hot pink is pretty much a timeless color for nails, especially in the summer. The brand’s site also makes styling recommendations for each color. Another big bonus: all of their polishes are vegan and cruelty-free, AND they’re free of all the scary chemicals listed above, plus a few more.

Get the hottest summer nail polish colors from brands that care about your style and your well-being!

3. White

I’ve been seeing this everywhere this summer! Not only is it as timeless and chic as the bright pink above, white nail polish just oozes sophistication. This one by RGB is slightly off-white, making it the perfect long-lasting summer color. And all of RGB’c colors are made without the harmful carcinogens listed above.

Get the hottest summer nail polish colors from brands that care about your style and your well-being!

4. Beige

This color is for when you’re not feeling that adventurous, or if you work in a conservative environment where you can’t sport hot pink/glitter nail polish all summer long! Beige is usually my go-to color, since it elongates fingers and just makes nails look generally cleaner and more put-together. Nice by Sheswai is awesome because it’s free of those three common toxins AND they use sustainably harvested wood in the bottle caps.

Get the hottest summer nail polish colors from brands that care about your style and your well-being!

5. Marsala

As Pantone’s color of the year for 2015, marsala just had to be included on this list. Aston is a beautiful color from Butter London. As a long-time devotee to the brand, I can say that these polishes last a long time before chipping! Like the other brands, Butter London is proudly chemical-free.

So, what are your favorite colors for summer? Know of any more healthy or animal-friendly nail polish brands?

[Photo of hand with nail polish from Shutterstock]

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