• Question: What is nail varnish made from?

    Asked by grace2112 to Sinead, Jessamyn, Eleanor on 18 Nov 2013.
    • Photo: Sinead Cullen

      Sinead Cullen answered on 18 Nov 2013:

      Hi Grace,

      I love my nail varnish and I am always changing different colours. I tend to like the darker colours like “Ruby Red” from Rimmel.
      Anyway nail varnish is made from nitrocellulose, which is chemical that is highly flammable and is one of the main ingredients in gun powder too. The nitrocellulose is dissolved in a solvent like ethanol. There are then more chemicals called plasticizers added. This is what makes the nail varnish and little bit flexible so it won’t crack and break off when it dries. It also contains resins and that’ s what causes it to stick to our nails. So the nail varnish can remain clear, like the clear top coat you out on over your coloured layer or other nail varnishs can contain certain pigments, which gives you the different colours.

      It is very different to how nail varnish was made years ago where nail varnish was was often made from a mixture including beeswax, egg whites, gelatin, vegetable dyes.

      Hope this helps 🙂

    • Photo: Eleanor Holmes

      Eleanor Holmes answered on 20 Nov 2013:

      The solvents in nail varnish are what makes it smell so strongly.

      Make sure to paint your nails in a well ventilated area as solvents are not good to breathe in too much and you quickly stop smelling them even when they are still around.

      Do an experiment. Paint your nails and then leave the room you painted them in for a few minutes. When you go back into the room you should be able to smell the solvents again really strongly because your brain is detecting this as New information again.

      Solvents evaporate very easily so you should always re-cap your nail varnish bottles. Otherwise they will dry out and be useless.

      (Do you get creative with your nail designs? I once painted each nail as the crest of a different superhero. Superman, Batman, Spiderman, etc. It took about an hour!)

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