Did you know that many mainstream nail polishes are made with chemicals, toxins, and known carcinogens like formaldehyde? And that many have been tested on animals? And that some even contain animal (or insect) products?
When I learned all this, I decided it was time to give my nail polish collection an overhaul. That was a decade ago. Since then, I’ve tried out dozens of cruelty-free, natural, and vegan nail polishes and I’m delighted to say that more awesome options exist for conscious shoppers than ever before.
When it comes to nail polish, you’ll want to look for two—or ideally 3—things:
- It’s made without any animal products
- The polish is cruelty-free, meaning it was produce without the use of animal testing
- It’s natural (or “healthy”), and made without the top toxins and carcinogens commonly found in nail polishes (such as formaldehyde).
Some brands that are not vegan do offer vegan nail polish options (like 100% Pure, which is mostly vegan, but not entirely). Other brands that have vegan options are not cruelty-free (they may test on animals here in the U.S. or sell their products in China where animal testing is required). Since we’re entering a time when there is such a plethora of options out there, I’m only including nail polish brands that offer a 100% vegan line of polishes on the list below.
Vegan Nail Polish Brands
- 786 Cosmetics
- Beauty Without Cruelty
- Color Club
- Deco Miami
- Dimension Nails
- Ella + Mila
- ELF
- Habit Cosmetics
- Karma Organic Spa (Karma Hues)
- Lauren B. Beauty
- Live Love Polish
- Londontown Lakur
- LVX
- Madam Glam
- NCLA Beauty
- Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics
- ORLY
- Pacifica
- Piggy Paint
- Sienna Byron Bay
- Sparitual
- Trust Fund Beauty
- Veque
- Wrenn Polish
- Zoya
Vegan Nail Polish Removers
When you switch to more natural nail polish, you may as well switch to more conscious polish remover as well. After all, we vote with our dollars! Here are a few of the vegan options that exist today. You can order many of these online, find them at natural foods stores, and even at grocery stores like Sprouts and Whole Foods.
A Few of My Favorites
I filmed a video sharing some of the vegan nail polish brands I’ve tried and my thoughts about each. Watch below!
Vegan nail polish was once nearly impossible to find, but today dozens of brands have sprouted up changing the game in the nail decor industry. These days you can even find entire nail salons that are cruelty-free, or at the very leave offer vegan and cruelty-free nail polish options!
There is an eco-friendly nail salon down the street from me in Sacramento that has an entire wall of vegan nail polishes to choose from. In fact, everything they use in the salon (such as nail polish remover and lotion) is cruelty-free and natural. If you can support those more conscious salons, all the better!
But if you go to a salon you’re not familiar with or you know is not particularly vegan-friendly, you can always bring your own polish with you and they are generally happy to use that. Want bonus points? Leave them with a polite request to carry some vegan polishes in the future. It’s sure to help their business as much as it will help you!
Cover photograph from Canva. Please note that this article contains some affiliate links, and shopping through these links supports our work at World of Vegan. Thank you!
