Vegan Nail Polish
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This list of vegan and cruelty-free nail polish brands rates how clean they are, from 3-free all the way to 21-free (free of 21 harmful toxins).
Table of Contents
(click the links below to skip to the section you’re looking for)
- Vegan Nail Polish Reviews
- A Complete List
- Vegan Nail Polish Remover
- Ingredients to Avoid
- The TLDR: My Recs
I really like having cutely painted nails. This goes back to when I used to DJ at college radio stations, and it would make me happy to see my fingernails when I was running the board. Now it translates to seeing my fingers on my keyboard at work or in posts on my website. It just makes life happier.
When I found out that not all nail polish was vegan, I looked online for a comprehensive list. To make things even more complicated, nail polish can have a lot of harmful chemicals. Some of the brands that have been studied and linked health issues include OPI, Côte, Essie, Ten over Ten, REVLON, and Sally Hansen (only some of SH’s line). So, I wanted to know how to find non-toxic vegan nail polish.
Instead of spending my life at a dermatologist or optamologist trying to find the cause of eyelid dermatitis or skin conditions, I did some research to find healthier nail polish options. Here’s a list of vegan and cruelty free nail polish, with toxicity, from least toxic (21-free) to most toxic (3-free).
Non-Toxic Vegan Nail Polish Brands I Recommend
If you don’t want to see the entire list or read a bunch of nail polish reviews, here’s the TLDR. These are the best vegan nail polish brands that are the least toxic and highest quality.
- 100% Pure Zero Nail Polish is 20 free
- Mineral Fusion is 16 free
- 786 Polish is 11 free
Reviews of Vegan Nail Polish Brands I’ve Tried
If you don’t want to read my reviews of vegan and cruelty-free nail polish brands I’ve tried, jump to the full list of vegan nail polish. If you’re interested in which brands I’ve tried so far and what I thought, read this section.
100% Pure
Total score: ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
100% Pure Zero Nail Polish is 20-free. They’ve updated the packaging since I tested it, so I can;t vouch for how it’s changed. But back in 2015 when I tried it, I used 3 colors: green tea ice cream, mint, and seafoam. I loved the brush! It was perfectly sized for a lot of coverage with little effort. It still smelled like nail polish, which was surprising for how non-toxic they claim to be. I loved that I only needed 1-2 coats of it to get good coverage. My nails started chipping after 2-3 days.
786 Cosmetics
Total score: ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
I tested the 786 Cosmetics nail colors called Java Halal (black) and Lahore Halal (gray). I liked the brushes a lot, and the coverage was really good (only 1 coat of black needed and only 2 coats of white or gray needed). I didn’t love that they started to chip after 2 days, but otherwise, this was one of my favorites. When I tried them, they didn’t have a ton of colors, but that was like 8 years ago, so they may have more now.
Dream by PS
Total score: ☆ ☆ ☆
I tested the silver glitter Dream by PS nail polish, so it’s not as good of a test as if I had tested a solid color. I liked htat the glitter polish was packed full of glitter, so I only needed one coat. And I liked that the chipping didn’t start until day 3, but that could have just been because it’s harder to notice chips with glitter polish. Since they’re only 7-free, they likely have Ethyl Acetate, Butyl Acetate, and Nitrocellulose. Read why this matters to me.
duri
Total score: ☆ ☆ ☆
I tested the color Love Stories. I really liked the brush a lot! It was the perfect size to get a lot of coverage quickly. It needed 2 coats, which is average, but the chipping started on day 2. This polish also didn’t last long. It got super thick after a few months. I even tried to add the Ella & Mia polish thinner, and it didn’t help. Since they’re only 7-free, the ingredients likely include Ethyl Acetate, Butyl Acetate, and Nitrocellulose.
côte
Total score: ☆ ☆ ☆
I tested the côte colors No. 10 (pink) and No. 28 (red). These were gifted to me. One thing I liked a lot was that it didn’t chip until day 4. That is basically unheard of in the world of non toxic polish. One thing I didn’t like is that the light pink needed 4-5 coats which is just too many in my opinion. If I were rating this just on usability alone, it would get a higher score, but unfortunately, côte contains Benzophenone-1 and Tosylamide Epoxy Resin, which are ingredients I’m trying to avoid from now on.
Trust Fund
Total score: ☆ ☆ ☆
I tested four Trust Fund colors: Sex Tape (pink), Beverly Thrills (blue glitter), Money Buys Happiness (light pink), and Celebrity Crush (yellow). I was really impressed with the brush in 3 out of 4 bottles. The yellow took 7 coats! But the dark pink only took 2 coats. Chipping started after 2-3 days.
Yapa
Total score: ☆ ☆ ☆
I tested the color Vanessa (peach). It only needed 2 coats, and it started chipping after 2-3 days.
Sally Hansen Pure plant based nail polish
Total score: ☆ ☆ ☆
I bought the Sally Hansen Pure plant based clear top coat. In my mind, if I can only have one non-toxic nail polish, it should be the top coat, so that when I touch my face, at least the coat that’s making contact with my skin is better.
Mineral Fusion
Total score: ☆ ☆ ☆
I’ve tested the Mineral Fusion colors Meteor Shower (purple glitter) and Little Black Dress (black). I’ve also tested the nail polish remover. It’s very similar to other nail polishes, but I do find the brush to be slightly small for my taste. I do like that I can find this at stores, like Sprouts Farmers Market and my local co-op.
Mineral Fusion is 16-free. The worst ingredients it has are Nitrocellulose dissolved in Butyl Acetate and Ethyl Acetate.
Ciate
Total score: ☆ ☆ ☆
I tested the color Fun Fair (pink). I needed 3-4 coats for good coverage. My nails started to chip after 3 days.
Zoya
Total score: ☆ ☆ ☆
Zoya has 300 shades to choose from, which is kind of amazing. I tested the color Marley, which is a pretty lavender shade. I needed 2-3 coats for it to look nice, and it started chipping on day 2 or 3. Zoya is free of 12 of the major toxins, but unfortunately, it still contains Benzophenone-1.
1143 H2O
Total score: ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆
I tested the color Mint 2 Be. The brush was surprisingly too wide, but the company said that was a defect. The odor was almost non-existent! I only needed one coat of polish, but it start to chip right away, so I probably should have used another one even though it didn’t look like I needed it. This is one of the only nail polishes I’ve ever used that had no odor. Unfortunately, I think they might have stopped making it.
Hard Candy
Total score: ☆ ☆
I tested the color Sky, which as you may have guessed is a light blue shade. The brush size and odor were average. My biggest complaint is that I needed 4-5 coats of polish. Nobody has time for that. And after all those coats, it still chipped in 2 days!
Sparitual
Total score: ☆ ☆
I tested the color Peach and Harmony, which was surprisingly the name for a white shade (Sparitual, if you need help coming up with names, hit me up). The brush size and odor were average. Like Hard Candy polish, I needed to use 5 coats of this.
Piggy Paint
Total score: ☆ ☆
I tested the clear base coat back in 2018. It was so thin, like the consistency of water. I really didn’t like how it smelled considering it’s one of the cleanest nail polishes on the market in the U.S.
A Complete List of Vegan and Cruelty Free Nail Polish Brands
This alphabetical list includes vegan nail polish that is cruelty-free and also free of at least 3 of the harmful toxins usually found. Each brand lists how many toxins the company excludes from their polish, 3-free being the minimum required to make it onto my list, and 21-free being the least toxic. Back in 2015, 7-free or 11-free was the best you could find. It’s so awesome to see so many new vegan brands and so many that are non-toxic.
The following list doesn’t include brands (like wet n wild or julep) that have some vegan and some non-vegan. I did include REVLON, even though they aren’t cruelty-free since they still have to test when they sell in countries that require animal testing, but I made a note next to their name in the list.
I compiled this list in 2015 and updated it in 2018, 2023, and 2026. If you have information that differs from this list, please leave a comment, so that I can make sure my list is as accurate as possible.
| Brand | Toxicity |
|---|---|
| 100% PURE ZERO | 20 free |
| 1143 H2O | 7 free |
| 786 Cosmetics | 11 free |
| A beautiful life (ABL) | |
| A-dorn | 5 free |
| Acquarella | 7 free |
| Adorable | 14 free |
| Aila | 10 free |
| All Heart | 7 free |
| American Apparel | 3 free |
| Authority cosmetics | 5 free |
| AZA | 10 free |
| Bad Bitch Polish (BBP) | 3 free |
| Beauty without cruelty (BWC) | 3 free |
| Bella Pierre | 3 free |
| Benecos | 5 free |
| Berenice Beauty | 5 free |
| Bion cosmetics | 5 free |
| Black Dahlia Lacquer | 5 free |
| Booty Babe | 3 free |
| Butter London | 10 free |
| China glaze (eco glaze line only) | 14 free |
| Ciate | 3 free |
| Cienna Rose | 12 free |
| Cirque Colors Creme Nail Polish | 10 free |
| Color club | 4 free |
| Color me Earth | 4 free |
| côte | 10 free |
| Cult | 5 free |
| Dazzle dry | 11 free |
| Deborah Lippmann | 10 free |
| Dream by PS | 7 free |
| Dr’s Remedy | 5 free |
| duri | 7 free |
| E.L.F. | 3 free |
| Ella & Mila | 7 free |
| Entity Clean | 24 free |
| Essie Original | 8 free |
| Eternal | 21 free |
| Exurbe cosmetics | 5 free |
| Floss gloss | 3 free |
| Foxology by Artic Fox | 15 free |
| Gabriel | 10 free |
| Ginger + Liz | 5 free |
| Girls Like You (glu) | 10 free |
| Gloss & Co | 5 free |
| GLOSSLAB | 6 free |
| GLOSSWORKS | 9 free |
| Habit cosmetics | 5 free |
| Hard Candy | 3 free |
| heroine.nyc | 9 free |
| Holo Taco | 5 free |
| Honeybee Gardens WaterColors | 7 free |
| Huella | 9 free |
| ILNP | 5 free |
| I Scream Nails | 5 free |
| James Robert John (JRJ) | 5 free |
| JINsoon | 21 free |
| Jolie Vegan | 11 free |
| Joshik | 5 free |
| Kapa Nui | 11 free |
| Karma Hues | 21 free |
| Keeki | 3 free |
| Kester Black | 5 free |
| Kia-Charlotta | 14 free |
| Kitty got claws | 5 free |
| KL Polish | 12 free |
| Kure Bazaar | 5 free |
| L.A. Colors | 3 free |
| Lauren B Beauty | 5 free |
| LAW Beauty Essentials | 5 free |
| Leesha’s Lacquer | 5 free |
| Lillian Eve | 5 free |
| Lime Crime | 3 free |
| Lisa lacquer | 4 free |
| LiveOliv | 5 free |
| Londontown Lakur | 16+ free |
| Lustre | 5 free |
| LVX | 10 free |
| Madam Glam | 5 free |
| Manic panic | 3 free |
| Mersi | 11 free |
| Manucurist Green | 12 free |
| Milani | 3 free |
| Mineral Fusion | 5 free |
| Mischa NY gel polish | 10 free |
| Mischo Beauty | 10 free |
| MO Nails 12 Free Gel Nail Polish | 12 free |
| Models own | 3 free |
| Mooncat | 10 free |
| Moonstone | 5 free |
| Moov | 7 free |
| Nailberry | 21 free |
| Nails.INC | 21 free |
| Nailtopia Bio-Sourced Chip Free Nail Lacquer | 10 free |
| Nailtural. | 16 free |
| NCLA | 7 free |
| Night Owl Lacquer | 5 free |
| No miss | 5 free |
| Northern Nail Polish | 7 free |
| Nubar | 3 free |
| Obsessive-compulsive cosmetics (OCC) | 5 free |
| Olive & June | 15 free |
| OPI (nature strong line only) | 9 free |
| Organic glam (OG) | 3 free |
| Orly | 3 free |
| OUL’ISI | 21 free |
| Ownest Miss Cheering | 3 free |
| OZN | 7 free |
| p2 cosmetics | 3 free |
| Pacifica | 16 free |
| Paint | 5 free |
| pear nova | 10 free |
| PiCture pOlish | 5 free |
| Piggy paint | 17 free |
| Play ♥ Laugh (play love laugh) | 5 free |
| Pluchke Adorable | 14 free |
| Pretty serious | 3 free |
| Prissy cosmetics | 5 free |
| Priti NYC | 5 free |
| Pure euphoria | 5 free |
| Rainbow honey | 3 free |
| REVLON Ultra HD Snap (not cruelty-free) | 17 free |
| Sally Hansen (Pure line only) | 16 free |
| Scotch naturals | 7 free |
| Sheer Lust | 5 free |
| Sheswai | 3 free |
| SHINE | 10 free |
| Sienna Byron Bay | 12 free |
| Smith & Cult | 8 free |
| Smoke & Mirrors | 3 free |
| Brand | Toxicity |
|---|---|
| SOPHi | 16 free |
| Soulstice spa | 3 free |
| Sparitual | 13 free |
| Static | 8+ free |
| Superchic Lacquer | 5 free |
| Ten Over Ten | 8 free |
| Trust fund | 5 free |
| Vivre Cosmetics | 10 free |
| wHet | 3 free |
| wikkid polish | 5 free |
| Willow Byron Bay | 5 free |
| Wrenn | 5 free |
| Yapa | 10 free |
| Zahara | 5 free |
| ZAPORA | 5 free |
| Zoya | 12 free |
If you’re looking for a polish that has no odor whatsoever, I recommend 1143 H2O. It’s the only vegan nail polish I’ve ever tried that has no odor.
Brands of Vegan Nail Polish Remover
Some of the brands above also make vegan and cruelty free nail polish remover. I’ll list some brands that do below.
- A beautiful life (ABL)
- ella+mia
- Foxology is grape scented! And they donate a portion of their proceeds to animal sanctuaries.
- Gabriel
- Honeybee Gardens
- Karma Naturals - they also make a nail strengthener
- Mineral Fusion
- Olive & June
Ingredients in Nail Polish that You May Want to Avoid
- Benzophenone-1 (found in Côte, Zoya, and TenoverTen) is a known allergen and endocrine disruptor that has been declared unsafe in Europe for damage to DNA and hormone mimicry
- Benzophenone-3
- Camphor is an allergen that can cause dizziness, headaches, and nausea. It also affects organs and has been linked with liver dysfunction.
- Colophonium is an allergen linked with dermatitis and breathing issues.
- Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP) is a plasticizer, which is an endocrine disruptor and associated with damage to the liver, kidney, and reproductive system.
- Dimethicone is a silicone that can causes allergic problems. It’s also a non-biodegradable chemical which is harmful to the environment.
- Ethyl Tosylamide is an endocrine disruptor linked with eyelid dermatitis in 1 in 15 users.
- Formaldehyde and Formaldehyde Resin causes allergic reactions, dermatitis, asthma, nausea, and even reproductive issues and miscarriages.
- Glycol Ethers
- Hydroxyethyl Methacrylate (HEMA) is a monomer (found in Beetles original gel nail polish) is banned in Europe in nail polish
- Methyl Ethyl Ketone (MEK)
- Nitrocellulose dissolved in Butyl Acetate and Ethyl Acetate (found in Wet N Wild and most other polish) can cause headaches in sensitive people
- Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) is what they make plastic bottles out of (found in TenoverTen)
- Organic Halides (AOX) are chemical compounds consisting of various substances like bromine, iodine, fluorine, and chlorine. They cause various disorders such as nerve damage.
- Phosphate-based flame retardant
- Toluene is a neurotoxin that can cause neurological damage, impaired breathing, hearing loss, and decreased brain function. In pregnant women, it can cause birth and development defects.
- Tosylamide Epoxy Resin (found in Essie, OPI Original, Côte, Wet N Wild, Manucurist Green Flash gel base coat, and Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure) is in the same chemical family as Ethyl Tosylamide. It’s an endocrine disruptor linked with eyelid dermatitis in 1 in 15 users.
- Triphenyl Phosphate (TPHP) is linked with endocrine toxicity, reproductive toxicity, and neurotoxicity (found in Wet N Wild)
- TPO (found in OPI Original)
- UV nail lamps was linked with cancer in one study (switch to LED)
- Xylene is found in nail polish, petroleum products, and paint thinners. Low doses can cause headache or dizziness for a short period of time. High usage can affect the respiratory system, kidneys, and cause gastrointestinal toxicity.
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