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BANG FOR THE BITE
Nail care that's natural is no nail in your coffin (even if you bite 'em!), and affordable polishes are now available in every color imaginable.
COCKTAIL FACT
Putting the man in manicure, men account for 29% of beauty-spa goers.
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home › tip library › Nail Care
Who says it's bad to bite?
The Bite
We love all Biters - even nail biters - but it's time to say "bite me" to nail polishes and products with cancer-causing chems. Totally glam, natural alternatives are now at your fingertips.The Benefits
- Get drop-dead gorgeous nails without, um, dropping dead.
- Avoid hormone-disrupting chems like phthalates, most commonly found in women aged 15-45, in part due to the use of nail polish.
- Water-based formulas let your cuticles breathe.
Personally Speaking
Bite team member Kay's daughter used to bite her nails, so she considered buying her a gross-tasting "no-bite" polish. Unfortch, the chems it contained were just as yucky as the taste. A (nail) biter no longer, mom and daughter now prettify with polish from Honeybee Gardens.Wanna Try?
Patience please: some natural polishes take a little longer to dry.- Honeybee Gardens No Peel Polish and Nail Polish Remover - widely available at Whole Foods ($2-$7).
- SpaRitual Nail Lacquer - 72 different hues of vegan, phthalate-free polish ($10).
- Peacekeeper Nail Paint - we like the muted purple Paint Me Grateful. All profits go to women's health and human rights orgs ($12-$17).
- Santé Kosmetics Nail Polish Remover - ethanol-based formula ($10).
- Max Green Alchemy Cuticle Rescue - conditioner with essential oils to nourish dry or discolored nails ($14).
- Skin Deep - find out if your fave nail products make the eco-grade using this directory.
May 01,2007
Sponsor
All editorial suggestions in this tip are the result of testing and a preference for the tip topic. No advertiser has paid to have its company referenced in the tip. For more information, please read our Editorial Policy.
In Safe Hands
You’ve seen it before: The girl who just paid 80 bucks for lavender, crystal-embossed press-ons asks her boyfriend to open a Coke can for her; or the receptionist who spent two hours getting air-brushed Frenchies is now, despite advanced feats in contortionism, eeking out five words a minute. Then, of course, there are the World’s Longest Fingernail contestants (check out the current record holder here, and prepare not to sleep tonight). Why?
But nail care isn’t always strictly impractical – esp. when you know you’re not painting on freaky hormone-altering chems. Besides, there’s something undeniably sexy and sophisticated about that impossible woman with red-red lips and perfectly manicured nails demurely sipping an espresso at an Italian coffee bar. Bring on Honeybee’s Moulin Rouge!
Hurray for feeling pretty…and still hitting the 65 wpm mark.
Hurray for feeling pretty…and still hitting the 65 wpm mark.
-Jenifer Morgan… off to meet with my hand-modeling agent…
Biter Comments...
I would love to know if anyone has a chemical-free alternative to artificial nails/acrylic. I play an instrument and need to have three artificial nails for that purpose, but feel like I'm taking years off my life every time I get them put on. No amount of strengthening my natural nails would make them strong enough to endure the beating I put them through. Any suggestions?!
Who needs polish! I have "working hands" and keep my nails short, but my friends all BUFF their manicured nails, and they look GORGEOUS and glossy, without being painted.
I was searching the web for products without known carcinogenic chemicals such as Parabens and
Sodium Lauryl Sulfate and Sodium Laureth Sulfate. I was surprised to find them in many products offered by Honey Bee Gardens that you recommended today as a source for nail polish. Maybe that is all they can claim.
Of the more than 100 products we carry, only four still contain parabens and two contain laureth sulfate. We are working on changing these four product to remove those ingredients. All of our other products have some of the cleanest ingredients you'll find in the industry. But our products and commitment to clean ingredients speak for themselves. We list ingredients for each product on our web site. Have a look!
NoMiss brand nail polish is also good. It's available at Vitamin Cottage and, I think, at Wild Oats.
Melissa
Glad to hear most of your products are clean. I obviously looked at your website and read ingredient lists. Must have looked at the four products that still contain parabens and laureth sulfate. Also glad to hear that you are working on it. I will keep checking back to see how you are doing and will look at the other items.
Thanks for the info
Michelle thanks fosr the info on the other brands.
I've gotta say I love Honeybee Gardens but the first time I tried them, I *almost forgot* that my nails were drying because there was absolutely no smell whatsoever. Also the non-peel (at least in Fairy Dust) lasts for about 4 days before it starts to chip.
Hi! This is Jody, Founder of PeaceKeeper Cause-Metics! We are so thrilled that Ideal Bite included us in the list of great nail products! Thank you soooo much Ideal Bite!
The Breast Cancer Fund and the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics have a rating of 0.0 being water and 5.0 being the most toxic nail polish on the market. Our polishes are rated 1.2 and are ranked on the Skin Deep website as the NUMBER ONE most non-toxic paint-based nail polish on the market. Yea Team!
This is because we use no Toluene, Formaldehyde, Acetone, Phthalates, Parabens, FD&C Coloring and no animal testing (not even on my dog, Lucy).
Look, the absolute most natural thing is the beauty of our own nails. But if we are going to wear a nail polish for the fun of it, I say wear the most non-toxic polish possible… and while we’re all at it, wear a polish that gives its profits to urgent human rights issues for women and girls. I describe this as women in the land-of-Plenty helping women and girls who cannot even afford a nail polish.
Thanks for learning more about us ! Please e-mail me at jody@iampeacekeeper.com if you have questions about our ingredients or the activism issues that we fund! Here’s to safe cosmetics and equity for all ! Jody
I've tried both Honeybee Gardens and Peacekeeper. Both brands have BEAUTIFUL colors and lasted for a long time.
I did think Peacekeeper was a little easier to remove. I had a little trouble with Honeybee, and you want to make sure it dries before you get in the shower.:) It's water-soluble - I looked down at my toes and thought I was losing it!:) It was really, really, really nice to use a product that didn't have the horrendous chemical odor of most normal nail polishes.:)
Thanks to both companies for trying to do the right thing and look out for the health of their customers and the world in general!:)
This is Jody again from PeaceKeeper. One other thing I have to say is that our colleagues at Honey Bee really are trying to do all the right things to make great products... We admire their work and are glad to be in their company !
It does look like you are doing great but why not take those 6 products off your site until you have reformulated them. If what you are going for is clean products I wouldn't think you would want to sell ANYTHING that doesn't fit the image
"Of the more than 100 products we carry, only four still contain parabens and two contain laureth sulfate. We are working on changing these four product to remove those ingredients. All of our other products have some of the cleanest ingredients you’ll find in the industry. But our products and commitment to clean ingredients speak for themselves. We list ingredients for each product on our web site. Have a look!"
I loved this bite. But, question. I can't use traditional polish as it seems to encourage my nails to weaken & break, especially in winter. Is it the *bad* chems in them that cause that? Will Honeybee & Peacekeeper eradicate my problem so that I can feel like a *Starlette* in sexy colors?! Thanks!:)
Hi Sunny,
Nail health is often a sign of internal health. I'm sorry to say that I strongly doubt nail polish will either cause or solve this problem. Treating your nails with Vitamin E oil, on a daily basis, should help prevent breakage, but visit your trusted natural practitioner for health advice specific to you.
Although Honeybee Gardens polish works great, beware of buying from their website. I was mailed the wrong color and waited for months to get the right one. After exchanging many emails and being promised it was mailed three times, I never got any packages. When I sent a final email asking for tracking numbers, I mysteriously never heard from the company again and never had a resolution. I sent an email saying I was disappointed and could not in good conscience ever buy their products again with service like that. I would suggest buying Peacekeeper polish instead.
This is Melissa from Honeybee Gardens. I find it very unfortunate that anyone would use this forum to air a complaint. That being said, I am unaware of the problem this customer speaks of, and would look to personally resolve it. For 12 years, we have prided ourselves with some of the best customer service in the industry, going out of our way to do whatever is necessary to make our customers happy. I'll never say we're perfect, and that a few mistakes haven't been made along the way (isn't that how we learn?), but I can tell you I personally do my best to ensure every customer has a good experience with our company. I admire and respect what Ideal Bite is trying to do with this forum, and I apologize for this customer using it for something other than what was intended.
My only response for others reading this blog is that I was dealing directly with Melissa during the entire time I was having service issues. I believe it is appropriate to let other potential customers know of service experiences with other companies, whether they are good or bad, based on this Ideal Bite tip - hence my comments on both HG and Peacekeeper.
Wow! I don't know about your experiences Mary, but Honeybee has always provided my wife and I with excellent product and service. I've been a web customer since 2001 and Melissa has always been very helpful. I love their aftershave and my wife has recently begun buying their nail polish and cosmetics. Not long ago, my wife and I went on holiday to Europe and needed our order FAST. Melissa sent our order Priority Mail and we got it in time. That really meant a lot to us. Anyway, that's our experience with Honeybee. We just love them. My wife was reading this forum and showed it to me. I was very surprised and felt compelled to comment.
Hi Jim, Thanks for sharing your positive experience, but as a neutral observer I also needed to comment.
If a company is to complain about people giving feedback about their service or products on this site, then it should not matter if it is positive or negative. I feel it is hypocritical of them to think positive comments are great, but negative comments are (I quote HB) "using (this forum) for something other than what was intended".
I am personally disappointed to see so much discussion by businesses. I feel comments like "Thanks for mentioning our products" should have been written directly to the Ideal Bite staff. It is a shame when a public forum becomes a vehicle for free advertising by business executives.
PHOTO ALBUMS
Posted by: Melissa | May 01, 2007 at 05:36 AM