Six ethical brands everyone will expect to find in your nail salon

As the world becomes more conscious of making the “right” beauty choices – and woke to the reality of cosmetic testing – upping your salon game with ethical brands is a good move. From toxic chemicals, to manufacturing intel, we owe it to the industry to do a little digging. We grabbed a spade, and got stuck in; here are six ethical nail brands – majority vegan – helping to make nail bars like yours, greener.

By Rachel Spedding

• 1 Classic mani: Smith & Cult

  Smith & Cult are renowned in the non-toxic nail market, offering 35 shades of vegan and gluten-free polish. For a classic manicure, they’re a good go-to, with polish that dries in 15 minutes and delivers a properly glossy coating. Super pigmented, with an epic shade range, the bottles look ridiculously good in any salon (course it matters).
• 2 Gel mani: Madam Glam

  US nails company Madam Glam is one of the most popular vegan picks in the industry (for both personal and professional use). The range is pretty inexpensive, despite boasting over 370+ colours (yes, really). You’ll find a bunch of their polish on Amazon, or at a number of UK distributors. Cruelty free, vegan, and cures in 30 seconds with UV lamp.
• 3 Classic mani: Kure Bazaar

  The ‘fashion favourite’, Kure Bazaar appeared across a number of catwalks at LFW. With 70 shades in the selection, the polish is made from 85% natural ingredients (like cotton, potatoes and corn), replacing nasty chemicals with organic goodness. Their latest colour selection is vegan, and KB claim to be the first brand to remove benzophenone -1 and -3 from their formula (while still ensuring a fade-free manicure). ​
• 4 Gel mani: INK London

  INK London are a British brand manufacturing in the EU, and they're proud to shout that their products are 100% not tested on animals. As for polish selection, 'xLac' is a one step colour, preferred for a 'file and polish' appointment (no base or top coat required, with easy soak off), while 'ILac' is a hybrid gel polish, more like shellac (giving 14 days wear). Sounds good to us. ​
• 5 Classic mani: Butter London

  With only three polishes in their original offering, Butter London now boast over 45 deliciously pigmented, chip-resistant shades in their vegan collection. There’s also bamboo extract featured in the formula, for all-round happier, healthier nails. The short, flat brush also helps with an even nail coating. Kind to animals and easy to apply. Great news. ​
• 6 Gel mani: MO Nails

  MO Nails founder, Marlene Orros, was a nail technician for 17 years before developing her healthy-for-nails-and-the-environment range. The ‘green’ product offering is innovative and high quality with a colour selection intended to suit the diversity of the fashion industry (seeing nails as ‘the ultimate fashion accessory’ – correct). 100% vegan, 100% cruelty free and non-toxic, and a continuously expanding collection, MO is the ‘friend’ of nail artists. ​

  There you have it – our nail bar fairy godmother duties are done. 

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