The Stinky Truth about "Safe" Nail Polish

Trecking out of the post office today I looked up to the FINALLY blue sky.  A patchwork of puffy white grayish clouds and a soft blue sky hanging like a silken canvas.  I closed my eyes, breathing in deeply as though on the edge of the shore, thinking how nice it was to smell this fresh clean post storm air.

Then to my surprise - I suddenly thought I was choking - nose burning - stomach turning.  The smell of gas burning around me. Good God I thought, what on earth?! 

Low and behold, I had walked into the parking lot as a car was pulling out of the parking lot......leaving me enveloped in a cloud of exhaust.  Probably doesn't sound like a big deal.  However, if you could see the chemicals that were in this invisible air behind the vehicle you might think again.    I quickly made a 180 and went back inside the post to regain my breath.

As my nose continued to burn I thought about those specific chemicals in exhaust.  As I stood there people passed in and out, especially many women -  with manicured nails with fingernail polish.  It was then I remembered how the chemical makeup of fingernail polish and exhaust have some similar counterparts........chemicals such as Styrene, Benzene and Toluene.  And there I sat to pause for a moment thinking of all the people  that have NO idea that they are putting seriously toxic stuff on their their nails.  So, I did a quick look for the latest "environmentally friendly" nail polish.....

(Sidestep - this takes me back to the time that a friend had just put on her "organic toe polish"  I mean, it was sold at Whole Foods and was labeled "environmentally friendly" - - so it should be ok - right???  Wrong!!!  First of all,  I nearly keeled over after being with in 2 feet of her and her sparkly, still wet toe nails.  Secondly, it is not as "safe" as you might think.)

Ok, back to my research on the "safe enviro toe nail polish"......Agasp!  It still contains Styrene!  What is the big deal? Well, Styrene is a potential carcinogen and causes oxidative stress in our mitochondria.  Our mito-what??  Our mitochondria.   This is like the furnace in our cells where we we create energy.  And once this stuff gets in - it is hard to get it out!  This can slow down what is called our Krebs Cycle.  The Krebs Cycle is this amazing energy creating process that takes place in our mitochondria. 

As for the conventional toe nail polish, well it contains a very long list of toxic chemicals, including Formaldehydes Benzene, Toluene and Styrene - which are also in exhaust.  All toxic.  All potential carcinogens.

Who'd have thought that breathing in a bunch of exhaust would have led me to this blog of toe nail polish!  Well, no surprise I guess.  I don't know about you, but they BOTH make my nose burn and make me want to hold my breath!  

So how did I get nourished to remedy this little blip that felt like it depleted me.  I came home and took a slug of my MonaVie.   MonaVie?  This is a phenomenal whole food tonic that contains amazing Antioxidants that will help neutralize those free radicals that are caused by exhaust inhalation.  Sure enough, a few minutes later, I was feeling perky, clear and back to normal!  

Well, this blog just of rolled out of me....had no intention of writing about nail polish....I don't even paint mine!  Haven't for years now.....just going a la natural:)  I hope this has helped someone our there!

May you be well & thrive!

Sarah