Orly Rococo A-Go-Go

  A lovely (almost) one-coater purple sparkle.  From last year's Rock Solid collection I think...

Happy sparkling,
Em

Formaldehyde

  Today when I was watching the news, they had a report about formaldehyde.  I was like, "Hmm I think that formaldehyde is in nail polish but I'm not sure..."  So I just went and looked it up.  For once, I was right.
  Formaldehyde is CH2O.  It is commonly found in building materials and as a bacteria killer and (ahem) it is found in nail polish.  Well, not all nail polish.  Some brands (namely Zoya, Wet n Wild Fastdry, Finger Paints, Orly, etc.) do not contain formaldehyde and they are commonly nicknamed 4-Free.  Don't quote me on this but I think that it might be one of the components that makes nail polish smell so strongly.

  The reason that I am telling you all this is because it was on the news today.  It was (finally) recognized by the United States government as a carcinogen.  If you are like me and didn't know what the heck a carcinogen is, then it is something that has been proven to cause cancer.  Before the U.S. had recognized it, Canada had declared it as a toxic material in 1999 and so did some countries in Europe.
  Now this kinda gets me scared.  For all you nail bloggies out there who swatch every day, use the 4-Free.  I know I sound totally hypocritical saying that (because I don't use it myself) but as of now, I can't afford to continually buy polishes as expensive as Zoya.
  Honestly, it has long been suspected to cause cancer.  But until today (or yesterday) it was not officially declared.  Girls (and boys), we have to be careful and use as little of not 4-Free nail polishes as we can.  We have to try to keep ourselves from getting cancer.

The industrial chemical formaldehyde and a botanical known as aristolochic acids are listed as known human carcinogens. Six other substances — captafol, cobalt-tungsten carbide (in powder or hard metal form), certain inhalable glass wool fibers, o-nitrotoluene, riddelliine, and styrene — are added as substances that are reasonably anticipated to be human carcinogens. With these additions, the 12th Report on Carcinogens now includes 240 listings. It is available at http://ntp.niehs.nih.gov/go/roc12.
Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2011/06/11/why-the-federal-government-finally-acted-on-chemical-safety/#ixzz1P1ybJSvS

The report found that concerning amounts of formaldehyde could be encountered in plywood and particle boards, as well as in hair salons and in mortuaries. While the most intense source of exposure will be for workers in some manufacturing plants — who might encounter large concentrations of formaldehyde on a frequent basis — ordinary consumers should seek to avoid exposure to the chemical as well. (We reported on the Occupational Health and Safety Administration's warning in April about the Brazilian blowout hair treatment, which can expose salon workers and customers to dangerous levels of formaldehyde.) Studies of mortuary workers exposed to high levels of formaldehyde have shown increased incidences of certain kinds of rare nasal cancers.

From the New York Times:

Dr. Otis Brawley, chief medical officer at the American Cancer Society, said that formaldehyde is both worrisome and inescapable. “It's the smell in new houses, and it's in cosmetics like nail polish,” he said. “All a reasonable person can do is manage their exposure and decrease it to as little as possible. It's everywhere.”

Consumers can reduce their exposure to formaldehyde by avoiding pressed-wood products or buying only those that are labeled as U.L.E.F. (ultra-low-emitting formaldehyde), N.A.F. (no added formaldehyde) or C.A.R.B. (California Air Resources Board) Phase 1 or Phase 2 compliant.

Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2011/06/11/why-the-federal-government-finally-acted-on-chemical-safety/#ixzz1P1z04tRn


So you don't have to totally eliminate it, but use it as sparingly as possible please!


Be 4-Free,
Em

My Research...

  I decided to conduct my own little experiment instead of doing my history project.  I used the blogs that I follow (a total of about twenty-five) and wanted to figure out what the most popular nail polish brand and color category is...
  Surprisingly, this really didn't take too long.  Though I really only payed attention to the top two for brands and the top three or four for colors.

Brands...
1. OPI
2. China Glaze (barely in second)

Colors...
1. Blue/Green (wayy in first)
2. Purple
3. Pink (I am surprised by this because "On Wednesdays We Wear Pink")


  And just to make life more fun, I decided to figure out the most popular colors (top five) for many top brands like OPI and China Glaze and Zoya etc.

OPI
1. Black Shatter
2. Silver Shatter
3. Teenage Dream
4. Entire Katy Perry Collection
5. Entire Pirates of the Caribbean Collection

China Glaze
1. Crackle
2. For Audrey
3. Entire OMG Collection
4. Ruby Pumps
5. Entire Tronica Collection

Color Club
1. Worth the Risque
2. Fashion Addict
3. Revvvolution
4. Alter Ego
5. Poptastic

Sally Hansen
1. Hidden Treasure
2. Nail Strips
3. Barracuda
4. Yellow Kitty
5. Sequin Scandal

Orly
1. Confetti
2. Rage
3. Space Cadet
4. Fancy Fuchsia
5. Bubbly Bombshell

Deborah Lippmann
1. Happy Birthday
2. Across the Universe
3. Gitter in the Air
4. Bad Romance
5. Boom Boom Pow

Rescue Beauty Lounge
1. Scrangie
2. Coral
3. Grunge
4. 360
5. Anne

MAC
1. Mischievous Mint
2. Ice Cream Cake
3. Made to Order
4. Bad Fairy
5. Coral Wave

Finger Paints
1. Lavendar Hilight
2. Gossamer White
3. Psychadelic Sunshine
4. Amethyst Atelier
5. Pink Imagination

Essie
1. Allure
2. Ballet Slippers
3. Nice is Nice
4. French Affair
5. Fiji

Sinful Colors
1. Soulmate
2. Hazard
3. Easy Going
4. Nirvana
5. Frenzy

Nubar
1. 2010 Collection
2. Reclaim
3. Gem
4. Absolute
5. Treasure

My favorite colors to discover were the Deborah Lippmann ones.  Grr I want them so much!

Happy discovering,
Em


DISCLAIMER- These are not official.  These are my guesses from the research that I have done.