green toes

yes summer is just around the corner in the land of the flipflop. and that means that my toes will be leaving the safety and coverage of my sneakers for a bit of fresh air. i had never had a pedicure before i moved to l.a. and over the first few years visited a salon with some frequency. i chose one with good ventilation. the smell in many bothered me so. then i got pregnant. and the smell - even in this well ventilated space - was more than i could bear. (yes, the products are dangerous for the client, but think about the effects of levels encountered by the technician too!) pregnancy also got me reading more and more about the effects of various chemicals on my body - and in turn on my babe. phalates, toluene, formaldehyde... i had no idea that there was so much bad stuff in that little bottle of red polish. (ms. pea's post below covers so much of this so well.) i stopped with the pedicures. (heck, i couldn't see my toes anyway!)

there are few options for a "green" (and safe) pedicure. a seemingly small number of spas are pioneering new practices. (priti even has their own line of nail products.) and some companies are slowly making the necessary changes to their products. (though even with the removal of banned chemicals, many others remain. think about opi's 52 ingredients to honeybee gardens' 8!) for me, i've chosen the diy approach, and will take the matter into my own hands. (or feet as the case may be.) i have searched the web for the safest options. after some research at skindeep, the campaign for safe cosmetics, and the guide to less toxic products, i have ordered some polishes and enlisted my honey to help me out. (i have promised him a footrub in return.) (i love the one-stop nature of greenhands but have yet to find an equivalent closer to home.) flipflops here i come...i'm thinking rockstar. or maybe even applegreen. will get you a review soon. (any other suggested brands?)

(oh! and please don't forget - you cannot throw those half-empty bottles of nasty polish into the trash! what hurts you will also hurt our environment. please contact your local waste management authority for safe and proper disposal.)