What Does Vegan Nail Polish Mean

You may have heard about vegan nail polish, but have you ever thought about what that actually means?

Or maybe you never even thought there were animal products in some nail polishes? Either way, it can get confusing!

In this article, we're diving deep into the world of nail polishes, talking about the benefits of vegan nail polish and why you should seriously consider saying goodbye to your regular products forever!

Breathable Super Food Infused Nail Polish

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Traditional nail polish

Many people are surprised to learn that most traditional nail polishes contain animal-derived ingredients.

The most common of them are:

Guanine. This material is used in nail polish for shimmer and is derived from fish scales.
Keratin. This animal protein is used to "enrich" nail polish and strengthen the nails, though it only provides short-term effects. Keratin is derived from cattle, horses, pigs etc.
Perfumes. Artificial odours are often added to nail polishes to achieve better aromas and are usually derived from animal ingredients, e.g. musk oil or shark liver oil.
Oleic. It's an acid derived from animal oils and used to thicken the product and add lustre.

The processes used to derive these ingredients are harmful to the animals and absolutely unnecessary.

Besides using animal products, traditional nail polishes usually also contain various toxic chemicals like formaldehyde, phthalates, toluene, sulphate, parabens that are harmful to your health and can cause nail discolouration, chipping, breakages etc.

And that's not all. These nasty ingredients can cause long-term health problems like:

Headaches
Dizziness
Dry or cracked skin
Eye, nose, throat, and lung irritation
Damage to the liver and kidneys

Vegan nail polish

Vegan nail polish does not use any animal-derived ingredients or pigments. That means no fish scales, crushed bugs, animal oils etc.

The vegan nail polish ingredients are plant-based and derived from non-animal products.

And even if you're not a vegan yourself, you still can benefit from vegan nail polish! First of all, it shows you care for animals because it's unethical to harm them just to create nail polish.

Secondly, as most vegan nail polishes are toxic chemical-free, you protect your nails from all the nasty side effects.

Vegan nail polish is usually made from plant extracts and various natural ingredients. These are non-toxic, and using such nail polishes can even help improve your nail health and appearance.

Ingredients commonly found in vegan nail polish often include soy amino acids, citric acid, various seed extracts and other natural compounds. These compounds hydrate your nails by binding moisture to them and also promote the production of natural keratins, resulting in shiny, beautiful nails.

Cruelty-free products

While similar, the terms "vegan" and "cruelty-free" are not the same.

Cruelty-free means that the nail polish didn't undergo animal testing at any stage of its production, and unfortunately, even the companies that create vegan products sometimes still do that.

Overall, many beauty brands still do animal testing, which is very disappointing. Such testing includes dripping substances onto the animals fur, eyes, and skin to the affect .. These processes harm animals, and by choosing cruelty-free nail polish you support the brands that stand up against these inhumane practises.

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Why is it better

If possible, when choosing nail polish, always go for vegan and cruelty-free products, even if they are a little more expensive.

The higher production costs are one of the main reasons why many brands avoid producing healthier and planet-friendly alternatives. It is also easier to use the same technologies and ingredients without additional testing and development costs.

That's why it's so important to support brands that make an effort to produce vegan and cruelty-free nail polish.

Much better for the environment and helps protect animals and ecosystems
Promotes honesty, endorses ethical consumerism
Supports transparency in the beauty industry
Helps support small local businesses

Besides that, using these nail polishes also gives you more freedom to experiment safely with your style and nail colour.

The products are free from known toxic ingredients yet provide the same quality and texture as regular nail polish!

Vegan nail polish contains natural ingredients that help make your nails:

Thicker, stronger
Brittle-free
Chip and break-resistant
Ridge free and hydrated
Shiny and healthy

How do you know if it's vegan?

So how do you know whether the nail polish you're looking at is vegan or not?

First of all, check the label for the above-mentioned animal-derived ingredients. If the nail polish contains any of them, it's not vegan.

You may also find a certified-vegan certificate on the packaging. The most common accreditation comes from PETA.org, Vegan.org, Vegan Society, and vegan nail polish Australia is often accredited by Choose Cruelty-Free Australia, Australian Certified Organic (ACO), COSMOS Organic.

Keep in mind that the nail polish could still be vegan even if it doesn't have any of these logos as it costs money to use them, and some brands can't afford the licensing fee.

You can also check the databases of these organisations and do your own research online about the smaller brands.

Dual Base & Top Coat with Celery Seed & Camellia Oil

Breathable Nova Flores SuperFood Infused Nail Polish

We're very proud of our vegan, non-toxic and cruelty-free Breathable Super Food Infused Nail Polish with organic superfood ingredients. It helps stimulate nail growth with a long-lasting smooth nail finish and boost your nail health while wearing fun colours!

This innovative, breathable and water permeable polish is a unique blend of high performance active and organic ingredients that help stimulate nail growth and repair damage.

The formulation is 82% derived from everyday vegetables such as potatoes and corn (yes, it’s pretty cool!) and is a cleaner beauty choice for healthy, beautiful nails.

This potent blend is infused with Broccoli Seed Extract rich in Vitamins A, B, K, E and contains up to 100 times the antioxidant compounds of a Broccoli head.

Bamboo Isoflavones in this vegan nail polish brand delivers nutrients to the nail, strengthens, boosts resiliency against chips and scratches and provide long term shine and vibrant colour.