Gel Manicure Options Using Formaldehyde Free Gel Nail Polish

Surprisingly, there are gel manicure options that use formaldehyde free gel nail polish. And yes, Ask the Pro Stylist was stumped, until I did a little research.

Happy Hump Day Lovelies and welcome to another edition of Wednesday’s beauty question answered by the Pro, however this week, I felt more like a student again as this query into gel manicure options stumped me. A reader is on the lookout for formaldehyde free gel nail polish after she discovered she is allergic.

Hi Deirdre, 
I have a question about the gel nails. I switched to them because my husband could not take the smell of the acrylics and after doing 3 or 4 of them I had a reaction, it was a poison oak like reaction on my skin surrounding the nail.

It was itchy and painful when the skin split near the nail bed. I at first thought it was my light; I thought that the lights were not curing the gel well enough. Then I switched to an LED light, same reaction. I then after more research found that I might have an allergy to the formaldehyde in the gel.

The only product that I found without it was the “Haute”? I tried it on one nail to see if I would have a reaction and I did not have one. My question is do you know of any other products out there that I could use that does not have the “bad” stuff in it? The Haute line is very limited and I like to doctor mine with glitter, and their line does not give me that room to play.

Thanks Teresa Wilder-Sams Valley Oregon

Thanks for writing in Teresa. This was a curios query, because, I didn’t know there was be a formaldehyde free gel nail polish on the market and had honestly never heard of the Haute line of gel. So, after some research, I have a few answers for you, but am not sure of they will be of assistance.

My first thought was to look at my favorite at-home gel nail polishes. However, reading the small, very small print on the back of the bottles proved fruitless without a magnifying glass. After some time, I was able to define some of the ingredients, too long and vast to list here, but what I did find were formaldehyde derivatives and/or other ingredients that can also cause skin reactions. Now, while I am not a chemist or a physician, my instinct was to not advise or mention these gel manicure products, as I cannot be 100% certain they are formaldehyde free or that you wouldn’t suffer another reaction.

I have reached out to the owners of both companies to ask if their line is made up of formaldehyde free gel nail polish, but have only heard back from LacQit. The owner has assured me her line of gel nail polish is indeed formaldehyde free.

I was going to advise silk wraps or going back to acrylics that are applied in a well ventilated area when your husband isn’t around. But, then I wasn’t sure if you are a nail professional or just really nail savvy; it isn’t easy to do your own acrylic nails. And  it wasn’t clear if it was the smell during or after an acrylic application that irritates your husband. However, the quest to answer ensued.

Next I searched Haute and was very intrigued by its formaldehyde-free gel nail polish. You are correct; the line is limited in color. Hopefully, as a demand for this product increases, as I am sure it will, they will expand. The more popular Keratin and Brazilian blowouts became, the greater the demand was for formaldehyde free beauty products.

On a last ditch effort, I simply Googled formaldehyde free gel nail polish. And yay, one of my articles showed up first in the search, but that didn’t help in any way. I found three more products that will, maybe, work for you-I hope.

Brisa Gel Nails by CND are hypoallergenic. If you are not a beauty professional, you might not have access to this.

Nutra Nail Gel Googles as formaldehyde free, but the ingredients aren’t online.

Eco UV Nail System seems to be available online and is advertised as a formaldehyde free gel nail polish line.

In the meantime, if any reader knows of any additional formaldehyde free gel nail polishes, please email me. Comments have been disabled, and I haven’t fixed that yet, sorry. And if I hear from any other gel nail polish company, I will be sure to update this post ASAP and email you.

If you have a beauty question similar to Teresa’s formaldehyde free gel nail polish inquery, please email me at DeirdreAHaggerty@gmail.com.

©Deirdre Haggerty, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this article may be reproduced without prior written permission and consent from the author.