Saturday, May 22, 2010

OPI Nail Polish

OPI Shrek Forever After Colors [Seasonal]

It's sandal season again, and for many of us that means we want cute little pedicures. And OPI delivers great nail polish colors for us vegans and cruelty-free consumers. OPI does not test on animals. Most of their products are vegan, but you need to watch out for a couple of things.

First, their ridge fillers are made with silk. Second, some of their super-shimmery colors may contain fish scales, which would be listed as 'pearl' or 'guanine'. 'Pearl' or 'guanine' is literally made from small fish scales and skin, suitably cleaned, and mixed with solvents such as castor oil and butyl acetate. Mica is the animal-free replacement for shimmer.

If you are worried about chemicals, OPI reformulated its entire line of Nail Lacquers, Nail Treatments, and Nail Hardeners to eliminate DBP (dibutyl phthalate) and Toluene. There are nail hardeners with or without formaldehyde to give consumers a choice, and formaldehyde has never been an ingredient in OPI Nail Lacquers or Nail Treatments.

Ok, so there's the basics. Now the important question. What color nail polish are you going to wear this summer?

My color choice will be Blue My Mind (right), for my toes anyway. Now I just need to find time to give myself a pedicure.

Ranking: *****

***** awesome! Highly recommended.
**** hey, this is pretty dang good.
*** not bad at all.
** eh.
* bad. Keep looking for alternatives.

[OPI can be found at Ulta and Beauty Brands.]

For more information about companies that test on animals as well as those that are cruelty-free, please see CaringConsumer.com.

2 comments:

C said...

Oh sweet! I am totally going to be picking some of this stuff up. I have stopped painting my nails all together the past few years, but maybe this company is worth checking out! Thanks! I love the look of that Aqua/mint color...or maybe a girly pink. <3

Kenike said...

C- I'm just curious? Did you stop because you thought nail polishes might not be vegan?

There are quite a few vegan brands that make nail polish, and several not-quite vegan brands that are cruelty-free and have vegan products. Most of the completely vegan ones you have to buy online though.

Here's a link to PETA's list of companies to check into for more nail polish goodies. I just happen to like OPI polish and find it easily here and in lots of great colors.

http://search.caringconsumer.com/search_list_icons.aspx?Donottest=-1&Product=Sub_65&Dotest=-1