Pretty Piggy Paint

When we were children, my niece (who is now all grown up) was not allowed to drink milk. "Too many growth hormones," said her dad. But, she was allowed to wear nail polish to make up for the milk, and I was not. I was so jealous. Maybe that's why I like having painted toenails.

Now that its warming up and I'm wearing sandals, I really really really want to paint my toenails. But, it's not just the formaldehyde, toluene, phthalates, biphenyl A, ethyl acetate and acetone that is stopping me, it's also the knowledge that if I paint my toenails, two little girls (who drink hormone-free milk) will also want me to paint theirs.

While I don't know exactly how I feel about little girls and painted nails, I do know how I feel about unnecessary toxins. Putting all those chemicals on little girls, that's crazy! Yet I see Arielle enviously admiring her little friend Brianna's red nails, and I don't want her to feel left out like I did.

Being a mom sure is a tightrope walk sometimes, isn't it?

So.... I did a Google search on non-toxic nail polish. And... I found Piggy Paint. I know it isn't a toy, but I thought some of you might also be interested and I asked to do a review.

Piggy Paint is the invention of Melanie, a mom with girls just the same age as Arielle and Linnea. Like my girls, they love being fancy.

One day, they were painting their nails when a glob of nail polish fell on a foam plate. It started bubbling and eating through the plate. Eeewwwww! Eeeek! Yuck! So, Melanie decided to make something better.





Piggy Paint nail polish may not be quite as natural as mud, but it is made out of child-safe ingredients and colorings -- the same type of ingredients as in children's art supplies and in cosmetics. And, every ingredient in the polish is biodegradable with no traces or residues left behind -- no formaldehyde, toluene, phthalates, biphenyl A, ethyl acetate or acetone. It's available in 13 pretty colors ($9.99 each).



We tried Girls Rule! , a lovely pinkish purple with just a bit of sparkle.

Arielle and Linnea were thrilled. I told them it was a special thing, but since we were going to a Princess Party, we could do it.

We painted our nails after their bath and then blew them dry for one minute with the hair dryer. Here they are... clean little girls checking out their toes.



And, then dancing at our Princess Party with extra pretty piggies.



The polish wore well. It looked good for a full five days. And then I easily removed it with Piggy Paint's nail polish remover.



For us, this was a fun thing. But, Piggy Paint has some suggestions about how their polish can be used as a learning tool for improving fine motor skills, and learning about colors and patterns.

Sara's Toy Box readers can receive 20% off anything on the site wit the code "GIRLY20L". The code expires June 1, 2009