Tips for Safe Manicures At the Salon & At Home

When I walk into most nail salons, the familiar odor of strong chemicals hits and although I don’t actually mind the smell too much, I know that it’s got to be right up there in the worst air quality that I could possibly choose to hang around in. Flying around in the air is a potent cocktail of perfume, acrylics, formaldehyde and literally hundreds of hormone-disrupting chemicals. If your salon offers acrylics, there’s a reason why the therapist wears a mask – tiny particles that are easily inhaled by just about everyone in the salon. It comes as no surprise that all the fantastic manicurists in my local salon suffer from respiratory and skin problems on a regular basis.

So how can we make our nail salon visit Gorgeously Green? The most important consideration is ventilation. Is there a window or a door open? I know it’s freezing in many parts of the country right now, but do insist on the manager cracking the window or the door (just say you have really bad allergies). The second consideration is to be sure that anything that you paint on your nails or put on your skin is non-toxic.

Here’s a 3-step check list to go through before your next visit.

1. Make sure that you take your own non-toxic (toluene, formaldehyde and dibutyl phthalate-free), polish* with you. That includes your top & base coat.

2. Take a small bottle of tea tree oil with you too. Drop 5 drops into the foot bath or nail bowl instead of the artificially perfumed salts that they sometimes add to the water.

3. Take a bottle of your favorite hand/foot creme, which again should be non-toxic**

* I love the following non-toxic polishes: Zoya, Sparitual, No Miss

**I love Burt’s Bees Almond Milk Beeswax Hand Creme, which you can also use on your feet.

The other solution is to do your nails at home. I try to  do mine as much as I can at home and the more I do it the better I get. Then every 2 ore 3 months, I’ll go to get them “detailed” at the salon. Saves me a bunch of money too.

Here’s how I do my manicure at home:

1. I remove polish with an acetone-free remover. I like Barielle Acetone-free Remover.

2. I rub a little paste made from 1tsp of baking soda and 1 tsp of lemon juice, into my nails and scrub gently with a nail brush before rinsing off.

3. I then rub a little vitamin E oil into my cuticles and leave for about 1/2 an hour.

4. Before polishing, I rub the oil off my nails with a little more acetone-free polish.

5. Finally I apply a pale pink polish. When I’m doing it myself, I always use pale pink, as mistakes show up with darker colors!

Finally, if you live in Hollywood, San Fran or Philadelphia, you’re in luck as each of these cities has an organic nail salon:

San Fran: The Nova Nail Salon

Hollywood: Recess Nail Salon

Philadelphia: Tierra Mia Organic Nail Salon

About the Author

Sophie Uliano is a passionate environmentalist who has developed an earth-friendly lifestyle that appeals to women who don’t want to compromise their glamour and style. She is the New York Times Best Selling author of “Gorgeously Green”, “The Gorgeously Green Diet,” and the newly released “Do It Gorgeously.”

Read more amazing tips from Sophie at GorgeouslyGreen.com