Vogue, Elle, The Blond Salad … all three agree on one thing - 2019 is the year of neutral nail polish.  Earthy beiges and subtle hints of color make the perfect gifts for spring. One non-toxic color line we’ve recently tried out is the Ella & Mila collection.

Ella & Mila is 7-free lacquer line. It doesn’t have the common top-three toxic ingredients found in most nail polishes Formaldehyde, Toluene, DiButyl Phthalate (DBP). Plus Ella & Mila is also free of four other not-so-good chemicals too: Formaldehyde Resin, Camphor, TPHP and Xylene. E&M products are also vegan and Animal cruelty-free (PeTA certified) and made in the USA.

If you want to gift an everyday wear, E&M’s “Barely Pink” is right on par with Pantone’s 2019 spring hue: Pale Dogwood. Finding a neutral that doesn’t clash with my jaundice-palm-undertones has been a struggle... but this pairs well for me.  I was worried I might be a bit biased, so I threw an impromptu mani-party and not-so-subtly asked my old roomies to try out the shade. Sammy has olive skin and Sara has super fair ginger-skin but after three coats they both gave “Barely Pink” the thumbs up. Hazel convinced me to give her a mani with the color too. She’s a picky one when it comes to nails, but she really liked the subtle tone too. That leaves us four for four on the approval scale.  Pros: shiny-ness and staying power.  Cons: it’s a bit on the opaque side.

If you’d rather prep for fall I’d reach for E&M’s “Honeymoon Bliss” color.  The shade is taupe with a touch of lavender—I recommend two coats. Pros: Saturated color. No “chem” smell. Cons: None so far.

Wrap up your nail polish and make it a toxin-free duo by adding some diy-ed cuticle cream on the side:

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons organic/fair trade shea butter

1 teaspoon 100% yellow Beeswax Pastilles

1 tablespoons Fractionated Coconut Oil

7 drops Lavender essential oil

1 tsp French Green clay

1 small glass container

1 container for gifting

Directions:

1. Add shea butter, beeswax, Green Clay and Fractionated Coconut Oil into a small glass container (4-5 inches tall).   Place the glass in saucepan in 1-1.5 inches of water. Bring to a boil.

2. Stir ingredients in the glass jar until they combined. It takes about 10-ish minutes.

3. Once the ingredients are combined and melted, grab your oven mitts and carefully remove the glass from heat. Let it cool.

4. Add 7-10 drops of lavender essential oil

5. Pour the mixture into your giftee container and let harden. This typically takes me about 2-3 hours.

6. Wrap w/ nail polish and go ahead and gift-away.

XOXO,

Lemon