Hanami Nail Polish

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I love having my nails done. Even when life is full, things aren’t going to plan or my To Do list is ever-expanding, looking down to beautifully painted nails makes me feel like everything is under control.

The problem is to create those beautiful colours there are generally a lot of chemicals involved. The five ones most often pulled into question are formaldehyde, toluene, dibutyl phthalate, formaldehyde resin, and camphor. That first one is known to cause cancer. The others are linked to dermatitis and camphor is toxic if taken by mouth. Obviously we’re not drinking our nail polish but studies have shown that you can absorb these ingredients via your nails. There are no studies linking the amount you actually absorb this way with adverse effects, including cancer. However, I’m not keen on having cancer-causing ingredients in my beauty products, especially if I don’t need to.

There are a lot of brands that offer five-free options, some extending this to seven- or ten-free as they exclude other potentially questionable ingredients. But do they work as well as those salon approved brands? I’ve had mixed performances, to be honest, just I’ve had with commercial brands before I began switching over. 

I recently purchased a new brand, Hanami from Healthpost. I bought a delicious deep green colour to mix things up called Octopus’s Garden. I usually switch between pale pink, strong red and a deep burgundy colour and wanted something that was a little more unusual. And I’m obsessed with the colour green. Which I realised this morning in downward dog, when I found my nails coordinating with my yoga mat.

The polish went on easily, three coats were enough to give me a deep green finish. I don’t do the whole top-coat/bottom coat thing, maybe I should? I painted them last night while watching TV and sometimes this can end up with them not being quite set by the time I go to bed. I don’t notice until the morning when I wake up with imprints of my sheets across the nails. That did not happen. I woke up with beautiful sleek green nails.

Polish definitely doesn’t last as long as gels, but the effects of the UV light and the removal process isn’t worth it. Also, even if there are no links between the amount I’m absorbing via my nails and detrimental effects, what about those workers who are breathing in the fumes from the acrylic nail process and paints all day? That’s why I love doing my nails at home, with ethical brands.

Hanami definitely has you covered on the ethical front too. Australian made and independently owned means that the profits aren’t going to an international conglomerate that also owns brands that test on animals. Certified cruelty-free, they also donate some of their profits back to the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation whose land they they operate their business from. This is the kind of businsess leadership that I want to support.

I’d love to know, do you get your nails done? Do you have an ethical and sustainable salon that you love to go to?