Things that make you go hmmm...

Usually my Friday posts are a little bit more upbeat, but I found this out last night and I'm still a bit furious and outraged so I had to share...

A few days ago I tweeted about how I wished I could paint my nails, but it was so close to bed time I knew that I would have sheet marks in the morning. Immediately I had several women tweet me and recommend Seche Vite top coat. They said you wouldn't believe how fast it dries. Sold.

So yesterday evening Dave and I headed to the store and grabbed this bottle of it and I was so excited at the thought of painting my nails that night and not having to worry about messing them up. I have been using the Sally Hansen quick dry top coat, and I like it, but again I can't use it too late in the day. And it definitely doesn't dry within 30 seconds like it says.

When I went to paint my nails I noticed that it didn't say how long to wait between polishing my nails and applying the top coat. I knew the Sally Hansen brand recommended waiting 2 minutes before using it so I thought I'd look it up online first and see if anyone had any tips.

What I found was disturbing. I read a few threads talking about health threats and something crazy that was supposedly on the label. I uttered, "No way." out loud while reading what these ladies claimed was on the label and then was left in shock and my jaw dropped as I saw it right there on the bottle in my hands...

"WARNING! This product contains a chemical known to the State of California to cause birth defects or other reproductive harm." WHAT?! I couldn't believe it, so Dave and I researched a bit and found countless peer-reviewed articles stating that toluene (the dangerous ingredient) is in fact harmful and can cause many other issues other than those stated on the bottle. It had been banned in all cosmetics in Europe back in 2004 and removed from most here in the US, but not yet banned.

Now, I realize that it may just be a precaution and all of that good stuff, but the articles did state that it can cause harm in small doses. This is just not something I am willing to risk. My health and the health of my future children is never something I will ever fool around with. Especially not just to have pretty nails. As much as I love having them.

So I will be returning this bottle today and trying something else that hopefully works just as well without the added risks. We make sure to only put healthy things into our bodies and I try to do the same with things I put on my body. It's just as unhealthy for your skin to absorb nasty chemicals as it is to eat them.

**If any of you would like to see the articles let me know, I'll email them to you! I'd love to link them on here, but they are part of an online library that not everyone has access to.