Re: What are the ingredients in fingernail polish?

Date: Sat Feb 27 20:52:04 1999
Posted By: Raymond Cheong, Undergraduate, Chemical Engineering, University of Maryland
Area of science: Chemistry
ID: 919467141.Ch

Message:

Hello Liberty,

Sorry it took a while to reply. A friend of mine showed me a bottle of Wet 'n' Wild fingernail polish. The main ingredients for this brand are:

ethyl acetate
butyl acetate
nitrocellulose
isopropyl alcohol
polyester resin
dibutyl phthalate
styrene/acrylates copolymer
stearalkonium hectorite
stearalkonium bentonite
benzophenone-1
calcium pantothenate

There were additional ingredients (listed as "may also contain") which were various pigments and metals that determine the color and glitter of the polish. These will naturally vary from polish to polish.

You can find an excellent description of what these ingredients do in this previous MADSCI entry on nail polish.

There are many other descriptions of nail polish in the MADSCI archives. Try searching the archives using "polish" or "nail polish".

Good luck with the science fair and I hope you stay interested in science.

Your MAD Scientist,
Raymond Cheong

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