Greening My Nail Care

It’s time for me to think about “greening” my nail care. I have not done anything different towards that in a couple of years sinceI decided to always bring my own paraben-free hand and foot creams (usually the Burts Bees Naturally Nourishing Honey Foot Cream and the Almond Milk Beeswax Hand Creme) to every manicure and pedicure. I also always bring my own nail polish but that’s more to know the polish is fresh than from a green perspective.

Still, it’s time to update, especially there’s been more coverage on formaldehyde-free and toluene-free polish and polish remover. Formaldehyde and toluene are carcinogens. My favorite Essie nail polishes (Mademoiselle, Bordeaus and Time Square Red) have not yet cut back on their chemical contents.

And while New York has thousands of nail places, literally, and a handful of greener ones (Dashing Diva and Priti Organic Spa are the two that come to mind), I have my favorites and have been terrible about checking out a new greener place. Not that my favorites are bad by any stretch of the imagination – in five years of being in the city, I have had dozens of excellent pedicures and manicures at the various Spa Belles locations in Chelsea or West Village, at Pastel when I am in the East Village, and at Pinky’s when I am uptown. I also like Chelsea Nails and another spot on 23rd street two doors down — can’t remember the name but the pedicure chairs are in a room with a wonderful skylight. When I am all the way downtown I prefer Hana Nails on Maiden Lane over most of the other downtown places.

But, let’s face it, none of them are very green, especially compared to Dashing Diva or Priti. So time to get myself out of this rut. I can always go back to my favorites armed with no-bad-chemicals nail polish remover and formaldehyde-free polish in addition to my paraben-free cream.