chemx_products

PRODUCTS

There are hundreds of different products that people use on their fingernails. All of them are full of chemistry! Everything from nail polish, to cuticle creams all have their own chemistry that makes them work and make your nails perfect.

The ingredients found in a bottle of Wet n' Wild Nail Polish are:
ethyl acetate
butyl acetate
nitrocellulose
isopropyl alcohol
polyester resin
dibutyl phthalate
styrene/acrylates copolymer
stearalkonium hectorite
stearalkonium bentonite
benzophenone-1
calcium pantothenate

NAIL POLISH

Basically there are three main types of ingredients in nail polish. The first are the organic solvents and drying agents, then comes the thickeners and hardening agents, then lastly the coloring agents that create shine, strengthening, and other effects that you can pick and choose as you are buying the product. "The most common organic solvents and drying agents are ethyl acetate(also used as nail polish remover), butyl acetate, formaldehyde, and isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol). The thickeners and hardeinging agents are nitrocellulose, several different acrylate copolymers and/or polyester/polyurethane copolymers." (Kip Sturgill). The hardening agents are really just plastics that are soluble in the organic solvents, so when they evaporate, you are left with a coating of the plastics on your fingernail. This is what makes your nail polish!

NAIL POLISH REMOVER

First of all, what ingredients are in nail polish remover? Some of the hazardous contents are acetone and ethyl acetate. If the acetone is ingested into the body, it will irritate the lungs. It is extremely flamable, and when used it makes the nails become brittle while removing the polish. The ethyl acetate is irritating to the eyes, nose, and throat.

The trick to nail polish remover is that it is basically the pure form of one of the ingredients of the nail polish. If you really think about it, there is no chemical reaction to get the nail polish off your fingernail with this solution. Basically, when the nail polish is put on to the nail, it is in a liquid form that is hardened as it dries. The nail polish remover puts it back into the liquid state to then be wiped off the nail with a cotton ball or Q-tip or some other cloth or paper product.
The nail polish remover is the organic solvent that is found in the nail polish, just in a pure form (however when it is sold in stores it can be diluted or have other chemicals in it just for these purposes). So when the nail polish remover is applied, it basically dissolves the nail polish back into its liquid form. That is why the nail polish has to dry in the first place. If you take a look at the cotton ball or Q-tip after taking off nail polish, notice that after a little while it becomes hard on the cotton. So to put it simply, if you could save the nail polish that is on the cotton ball, you could recycle it and use the nail polish over again as long as you have a solvent.

So what is this catch? The solvent has to "like" the polymer (Kip Sturgill). So in this case, the organic polymer (hardened nail polish) can be dissolved by the organic solvent (remover). If this happens and they "like" eachother, the solvent molecules (which in the remover are the acetone solutions or in some cases the ethyl acetate) basically push themselves between the polymer molecule chains and keep pushing them apart as they go. As Kip Sturgill explains, "There are so many of the solvent molecules pushing the polymer chains apart that eventually the polymer chains do not know that other polymer chains exist and you get a solution." This is what makes the liquid type substance that can be wiped off on to a cotton ball. So there's something to think about the next time you paint your nails....