My Daughter has been asking me to paint her nails for atleast a year now. She’s five and sees her friends come to school with rainbow coloured nails adorned with tiny little stickers of unicorns and hearts stuck on them. It’s something I enjoyed as a little girl, having my Mom paint my nails for me.. so it hurts a bit when I’m the Mom who says “No”. I’d love more than anything to share that bonding time with her, she’s naturally as girly as they come and her little face sinking when I don’t allow nail polish strikes the level of Mom guilt to a 10.
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You see, I’m not totally comfortable with the options out there for children.. even the more natural options for children STILL had ingredients that I didn’t want sitting on her. I’m well aware of the endocrine disruptors (not good to mess around with little ones hormones as they grow), and the ingredients that are labelled human carcinogens that are sitting in those bottles. They often contain formaldehyde and formaldehyde resin which has been documented in research journals as cancerous. While I’m not always into creating a space of fear mongering in this community, this is not a debatable fact.. it’s quite well known that formaldehyde is NOT something we should be applying to ourselves. Certainly not something I want to be painting into my children while sealing it in with Dibutyl Phthalate (includes as a polish hardener, anti-chip) and Toluene (the ingredient that gives it the smooth finish). It’s just not worth it to me.
I even had a hard time with some of the natural nail polish options for kids that are labelled as “natural”. Yes, it’s true they are less “toxic” but they weren’t up to my personal standards. Some still contained ingredients that I wasn’t completely comfortable with using so I just stuck to my guns and told her it wasn’t allowed.
Fast forward to a couple of months before her 5th birthday and I happened to stumble upon a brand of natural children’s nail polish that didn’t make me feel uncomfortable. Here’s the thing, nail polish is paint. Is there a completely non-toxic nail polish out there that’s made of fairy dust, spirulina powder and organic lemon juice? No. It’s gotta stay on the nails somehow, but the nice part about children is they generally could care less if the polish chips or peels after some wear. This gives a little wiggle room. I was not looking for some magical polish that lasted for weeks, this was for my baby who just wanted to have fun colours on her nails.
So when I found Prim + Pure, I was immediately drawn to their status of being a 15-free nail polish made with “fruits and veggies”. I had been disappointed in some of the false claims from previous brands I had looked into.. so I went in fairly skeptical. To my surprise, I opened up the ingredient deck (which wasn’t hidden and hard to find by the way.. always a red flag when I can’t seem to get the entire list) I actually felt pretty good about it.
Here’s the ingredient deck for their natural fruit and veggies nail polishes:
Full Ingredients:
Styrene/Acrylates Copolymer, Water, Citrus Medica Limonum (Lemon) Juice, Beta Vulgaris (Beet) Root Powder, Daucus Carota Sativa (Carrot) Root Powder, Sucrose, Spinacia Oleracea (Spinach) Leaf Powder, Ribes Nigrum (Black Currant) Fruit Powder, Maldighia Glabra (Acerola Cherry) Fruit Powder, Silica Dimethyl Silylate, (May Contain +/-: Mica, Titanium Dioxide, Iron Oxide, Manganese Violet, Ultramarine Blue, Chromium Oxide Green).
This is about as natural as you get when it comes to a nail polish. It’s filled with fruit and veggies colours just like their website stated and the list of “no no” ingredients was not bad at all. The only ingredient that I don’t love are the Acrylates/Copolymers which act as the “glue” that keeps the colour on their nails. You aren’t going to find any nail polish that won’t have at least this. It will not maintain on the nail bed at all. But here’s the difference, conventional nail polishes typically include a long list of ingredients in one tiny bottle that work to adhere the colour to the nails, harden the polish, maintain for a long period of time, smooth out the application.. but this children’s polish contains none of that. This is why I feel most comfortable using this brand of polish.
So, once I found this I knew I wanted to get her a little kit that we could use to spend some time together and paint our nails. I ended up grabbing a 3-pack kit that contained 3 shades of polish (we went blue, pink and purple) a mini flower nail file, and a little sheet of tiny mermaid stickers that she could stick on top of the nail polish as it dries. It was perfect! The look on her face when she opened this gift was priceless, I’m convinced she thought I would never budge.. but the truth is I had been actively searching for a long time to find this exact product. The time and effort really paid off. She’s happy, Mama is comfortable.
Review: Prim + Pure Fruit & Veggie Nail Polish for Kids
The polish itself is a pearl finish, the colours are bright and cheery, and they apply really well. I only do one coat and that’s enough to give her lots of pigment. The polish typically lasts a day or two, and this is partly due to her being a very adventurous kid who plays in the dirt outside and uses her hands to do lots of fun crafts. But, she could care less about the staying power.
I will still ensure that we aren’t applying daily, it’s a nice treat for her when she gets to paint her nails. My Mom guilt over being the “hippie mom” who doesn’t allow what the other Moms do has subsided a touch and I’m super grateful that someone decided to create these little bottles of fun.
Prim and Pure is made by another Mom in the U.S. who felt the same struggle I had when it came to being strict over nail polish with her little ones. She has created an amazing alternative for Mums like me to feel comfortable. Yes, it’s just nail polish.. but it goes beyond that. Having options is imperative, and this is one product I had been having the hardest time with. I get to have the same pretend “spa nights” with my Daughter that all of the other Moms have enjoyed. It’s one less thing I have to say “no” to.. I’m so grateful for this wonderful company and their rainbow range of natural fruit and veggie nail polishes for kids!
Nail Polish Remover for Kids:
With this brand of polish, I don’t typically have to remove a lot of it. It comes off nicely on its own. If I DO find there are a few bits I need to remove on my daughters nails, I’ll opt for lemongrass essential oil on a cotton round and rub in a circular motion. I wholeheartedly recommend Young Livings Oils and just by signing up a member account with me for free will give you access to a permanent 24% discount. You can check them out HERE.
Where to find Prim + Pure Polish:
If you want to grab some Prim + Pure nail polish and sweet little kits for your kiddos, you can head to their website HERE.
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