Why You Should Give Your Feet a Nail Polish Detox in the Winter

I don’t paint my fingernails (just a personal preference) but I’m all for pretty painted toe nails.

Let’s just admit it, feet can be sort of weird and painted toenails can hugely improve that!

But let’s just say, you’ve had painted toenails since you were 10. By the time you’re 20, you would have lived with toenail polish on your body for 10 straight years.

By the time you’re 30? 20 years of living with toenail polish on your body.

Why is that a big deal?

There are a ton of chemicals and very unnatural ingredients in nail polish. (even the cleaner ones.)

And when we paint ourselves with that polish, our bodies absorb some of those chemicals.

If we’re careful about what we put into our bodies, we should be careful about what we put ON our bodies. When we eat something, it gets filtered by our liver, but when we absorb substances through the skin they can wind up straight in our bloodstream.

But isn’t the nail sort of a shield from the chemicals?

The human nail plate is pretty thin (even if you have strong nails).

In fact, drug makers are even making drugs to be administered via “nail lacquer” aka nail polish. (It’s called transungual delivery, and it means the drug can cross the nail plate – aka the fingernail or toenail). 🤓

A little winter detox for your feet is probably a good idea!

I think balance is key. So, while living a clean and non-toxic life is important to me, I also want to paint my toenails and feel ok about it!

And for most of the year, I do that. But during the winter, when my toes are covered up most of the time anyway, I give my feet a little detox from nail polish. (And by “detox” I just mean I remove the polish and let my nails be free to breathe.)

A nail polish detox could be 3 months, 1 month, or even 2 weeks!

In my opinion, just letting your toe nails have a little time to breath and be without polish is better than none at all.

Choose cleaner nail polish after your detox

A study by Duke University and the Environmental Working Group revealed that we absorb at least one potentially hormone-disrupting chemical every time we get a polish.

Not trying to send you into a panic, but that’s just one chemical (called TPP) in one study. And I for one want to keep my hormones as healthy as possible!

I try to use cleaner nail polishes (ones without chemicals like TPP, Formaldehyde, and DBP) and polish removers without acetone.

I’ve used Mineral Fusion and Pacifica (which you can find at stores like Earth Fare and Whole Foods and see in the picture above).

Some other brands that are on the cleaner side are: Scotch Naturals, Acquarella, Honeybee Gardens, and Piggy Paint.

Small changes can really make a difference

It can feel overwhelming to try to switch over to clean beauty products all at once, so if you want to move in that direction just start with one thing at a time!

And give your feet a chance to detox during the colder season by going without polish—even if it’s just for a little!

You might even find that you love your feet just as they are. 🙂