What ingredients are in our nail polish and why?

ETHYL ACETATE: A solvent that helps keep the nail polish liquid in the bottle. This agent evaporates after it is applied to your nails and helps the nail polish to harden.

BUTYL ACETATE: Another solvent that helps keep the nail polish liquid in the bottle. This agent also evaporates after applying the polish to your nails and helps the nail polish to harden.

NITROCELLULOSE: A film-forming polymer that ensures that the nail polish hardens and stays on your nails for a long time. Nitrocellulose is one of the safest and highest quality film-forming polymers.

ADIPIC ACID/NEOPENTYL GLYCOL/TRIMELLITIC ANHYDRIDE COPOLYMER: Also a film-forming polymer. This ingredient helps keep nail polish hard yet pliable on your nails. This polymer also contributes to a long-lasting adhesion of the nail polish to your nails.

TRIETHYL CITRATE, ALCOHOL: This ingredient is used as a plasticizer in nail polish. This makes the nail polish more flexible on the one hand and increases its durability on the other.

STEARALKONIUM BENTONITE: A thickener that helps keep the pigments in suspension. By means of this, the smooth and thick consistency of the nail polish is retained.

DIACETONE ALCOHOL: A solvent that, among other things, gives your nail polish a shiny finish .

MALTOL: This substance is a naturally occurring organic compound. Maltol has been shown to significantly minimize the formation of nitrosamines (which can be formed in very small amounts from nitrocellulose). This will make our nail polish even better.

PENTAERYTHRIL TETRAISOSTEARATE: A liquid emollient that both increases the viscosity of nail polish and adds shine.

PHOSPHORIC ACID: A mineral acid used to control the pH of our nail polish.

PIGMENTS: These give the nail polish its colour, shine and shimmer. Pigments are denoted by CI numbers.

Our Bio-Base recipe

The base of our nail polish consists of up to 80% natural ingredients. In addition, all our nail colors are 14-free. That means we're eliminating 14 questionable ingredients found in some traditional nail polishes and replacing them with better alternatives.

We made a conscious decision not to add microplastics and instead used metallic colors and added glitter particles. Our nail polishes can be applied odorless. They are vegan and animal-free, made in Germany and assembled by hand.

Which substances we deliberately avoid

Awareness of ingredients in cosmetics is growing year by year, and that's a good thing. The more transparency there is on the ingredients list, the better for us and the environment.

In particular, our blacklist includes:

Phthalates (incl. dibutyl phthalate (DBP), diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP)), toluene (also: methylbenzene), xylene, camphor, formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin, ethyl tosylamide, triphenyl phosphate, rosin, halogenated organic compounds (AOX), parabens, Silicone, fragrances, animal ingredients.

• Phthalates: Some phthalates such as dibutyl phthalate, also known as DBP or DEHP and DEP are endocrine disrupting chemicals. They are associated with ADHD, cancer, precocious puberty and fertility problems.

• Toluene: Is a solvent that is also used in nail polish and nail polish remover. It is believed that toluene is harmful to the immune system and can cause headaches, nausea, dizziness or skin irritation with frequent contact.

• Formaldehyde: Formaldehyde is one of those substances that must not exceed a certain concentration in cosmetics. The American Environmental Protection Agency even classifies the solvent as "probably carcinogenic". One more reason for us not to use this fabric.

• Xylene: The solvent xylene ensures that the paint remains supple. It is also responsible for the typical smell of nail polish. Xylene absorbed through the skin or airways can cause headaches, dizziness and shortness of breath.

• Campher: Is a plasticizer and, as a component of nail polish, ensures its shine and suppleness. Similar to xylene, it can cause nausea, dizziness and headaches when ingested through the skin or airways.

• Parabens: These chemicals are often used as preservatives in cosmetic products. However, they are suspected of influencing the human hormone balance because they are very similar to the female sex hormone estrogen. They should also be deposited in the body.

• Acrylic copolymer or other liquid or solid microplastic*: Often used in metallic paints or paints with glitter particles.

*according to BUND e.V. and consumer center