The nitty-gritty of nail polish

Sonette van Rensburg takes an in-depth look at the technology behind nail polishes, and what sets them apart from one another

 Many questions have been raised lately around the safety of nail polishes and the ingredients therein, as consumers become far more aware. Brands are constantly competing with one another in order to produce the best polish on the market, with just the right combination of chemical ingredients to ensure that a formula offers all the qualities a good professional nail polish should: full coverage, chipresistant, extended wear, superior shine, and an overall flawless finish.

However, there is so much confusion and misunderstanding about chemical safety and toxicity, you may find yourself facing questions from a misinformed customer. Questions raised may include, “Is there formaldehyde, toluene or dibutyl phthalate in the product?” And customers will expect you to give an informed answer.

Ingredients

Most nail polishes consist of a combination of:

• Pigment – used to create and add colour and also assists with coverage.

• Film-former – assists in making the polish durable and shiny. The most common film-former is nitrocellulose. An interesting fact is that the film for old-fashioned black-and-white movies is made of nitrocellulose.

• Resin – makes polish tough and resilient.

• Tosylamide – very commonly used in most nail polish brands.

• Solvent – most brands use a combination of butyl acetate, ethyl acetate and toluene for easy application. Solvents are also used in nail polish removers.

• Clay – aids with suspension and helps to keep the ingredients mixed and makes polish easier to apply.

• Plasticiser – helps with preventing chips and cracks. Dibutyl phthalate (DBP) has been used for many decades as a nail polish plasticiser. It is also used in soft toys, baby bottles and tubes for dispensing food and medicine.

• UV stabiliser – prevents sun and light from fading or changing the colour.

Do most professional salon brands contain the same ingredients? Mostly they do, however each manufacturer differs in the quantities of ingredients and solvents they add to their product. These ingredients have been used by nail polish brands for decades now. The same primary ingredients are used in most base and top coats, with the exception of clays and pigments.

Are nail polishes safe?

Nail polish products have been used safely for decades, by many women across the globe. The natural nail is made up of keratin, a non-living hard durable substance that is oil and moisture-loving. Nail polish dries to a hard durable surface, and, once the ingredients in the polish become embedded in the hardened film coating, they are not absorbed by the body or released into the environment.

Most polishes are a combination of plasticisers, resins, UV stabilisers and solvents to give a high-quality, high-shine and chip-free product. Plasticisers are additives that maintain the flexibility of resins after they have dried. They are a sort of a molecular “lubricant”, which make the resin less vulnerable to chipping.

Resins are a type of polymer that holds the polish together. They are composed of giant molecules that are made by linking smaller molecules into long chains and networks. After the polish has been applied, the solvent component of the polish evaporates to leave behind a smooth, hard coat of lacquer. Because it evaporates, the solvent is responsible for the strong odour that polishes emit. Solvents must be compatible with resins, so that 

the resins can be evenly spread on the nail. Those solvents that evaporate too slowly or too quickly ca ruin the lacquer or cause bubbling.

UV stabilisers are additives that help keep lacquers from changing colour when exposed to too much UV light from the sun.

The truth about formaldehyde

Internationally renowned product chemist Douglas D Schoon believes that some advocacy groups globally are incorrectly claiming that formaldehyde is an ingredient in cosmetics.

“They are even loudly proclaiming that formaldehyde is a known carcinogen and are demanding that manufacturers remove this cancer-causing ingredient from cosmetics,” says Schoon. “Actually, if these groups understood formaldehyde’s basic chemistry, they would see their claims are absolutely wrong. They’d also know that formaldehyde is not a cosmetic ingredient and never has been.

“Advocacy groups incorrectly claim that formaldehydeis an ingredient found in nail hardeners, and nail polishes. So, how can I be so sure that formaldehyde has never been a cosmetic ingredient? Because formaldehyde is a gas, not a liquid or a solid. A gas cannot be added to cosmetics as an ingredient, since it would rapidly escape from the product.”

Schoon notes that formaldehyde is a naturally occurring gas that must be kept absolutely bone dry. In the presence of even tiny amounts of moisture, it instantly transforms into completely different substances.

“This is why it quickly breaks down and doesn’t accumulate in the environment. As you can imagine, this is yet another reason why formaldehyde can’t be used in cosmetics; it wouldn’t be stable for more than 1000th of a second after contact with moisture.”

How did this misunderstanding begin? Sometime in the early 1900s, formaldehyde manufacturers began mixing this gas with water to create a liquid substance called “formalin”.

“These manufacturers mistakenly assumed that the added formaldehyde was simply dissolving in the water and this is how formalin was sold. They didn’t realise that formaldehyde does not dissolve in water, but instead instantly reacts with the water to change into a completely new and different substance called methylene glycol, which belongs to an entirely separate chemical family.”

Sonette van Rensburg has been in the nail and beauty industry for over 24 years.

She consults with salons, spas and training salon professionals in all aspects of nail and beauty technology, basic salon skills, client relations and perfecting technical skills.