My niece is at that stage where every time she comes into the shop with her mom, she is glued to my polish wall. I want something toddler-safe that I would actually feel okay putting on her tiny fingers. It doesn’t need to last forever but it would be nice if it dried quickly, lasted at least the day and (most importantly) is safe. Because she will put them in her mouth.
What I really want to know is what other water-based or non-toxic brands people are using on kids. Has anyone messed around with Suncoat Girl, ella+mila, or Kid Licks? Curious which of those actually survives longer than a day of normal toddler chaos without chipping off in patches.
Piggy Paint. It’s water-based, nearly odorless, and dries surprisingly fast. Thin coats; a quick blast from a cool hair dryer helps. The pink shows up well with one coat, though two looks more even if they can sit still long enough.
It’ll usually survive a day of toddler chaos, but it definitely chips sooner than regular polish but that can’t be avoided really. I’d still avoid treating any polish as safe to ingest; if it starts peeling into patches, I remove it rather than let little fingers go back in the mouth.
Water-based, the bright colors dry fairly quickly when applied in thin coats, and cleanup is easy once they’re done. Peels off like a layer of glue instead of needing remover (I wouldn’t use anything that needs remover).
It usually makes it through most of a day (really depends on the day) but picking at the edge will lift it. I wouldn’t expect multiple days. I’d still supervise closely because “water-based/non-toxic” doesn’t mean edible.
Since she’s going to chew her fingers no matter what, I’d think about these as two different groups: ‘free-from’ polish and stuff that’s actually water-based or food-based. ella+mila is a nice low-odor ‘17 free’ polish, but it’s still regular polish.
It isn’t meant to be eaten, so I wouldn’t pick it for a toddler who puts her hands in her mouth. Kid Licks is the one I’d worry about least if she licks it, since it’s made from food ingredients. The downside is it barely lasts. It can come off with handwashing and usually looks rough well before the end of the day.
For a special shop visit I’d go with Suncoat Girl, thin coats, no adult base or top coat. Plan on it being a one-day manicure. Trying to make it last longer just leads to frustration on both sides; at least it did for us.
One coat and some silly hand-waving has worked way better for us than pinning a toddler down for a full manicure.
Kid Licks would be my pick if she’s a determined finger-muncher since it’s food-based. It’s more like temporary nail color. Handwashing and snacks wear it down within a few hours for us.
Heads up on ella+mila: it’s a regular solvent polish with the nastier ingredients left out. It lasts longer than the water-based stuff, but it smells like polish, and you need remover to get it off, which is a wrestling match with a two-year-old. I’d save it for special occasions rather than the everyday shop visit.
Keep the water-based stuff in a separate little basket and let her pick from that instead of the main wall. She feels special about it and it keeps her hands off your gel bottles.
The Kid Licks stuff mostly faded off during handwashing on ours instead of peeling up in chunks, so I wasn’t really worried about her picking at it or chewing loose bits.
Make the drying part a game. Blow on it like birthday candles or shake the sillies out to buy yourself the 60 seconds you need without the wrestling match. Anything past one coat is asking for smears anyway, because they’re touching something the second you look away.
Oh good. The peeling and chewing was my biggest worry with her, so it’s a relief. Roughly how many washes before it was mostly gone though? And did the color hold up okay the whole time or did it start going patchy on you first?
Usually gone by the third or fourth proper handwash. Anything sticky or greasy took it off faster than soap did. The color stayed pretty even while it was on.
Their nail plates are way thinner than adults, so the UV lamp can actually burn them during curing. Plus, the removal process can damage those tiny nails. Stick with the water-based options you’re already looking at.
Use some bright colors and they probably won’t even think about the difference.
Just wanted to drop in here years after the fact because I was doing my own research into Piggy Paint and found something that gave me pause.
Neem oil is listed among their ingredients, and from what I’ve read, even small amounts can be pretty toxic to kids if they swallow it. Seems like a concern when we’re talking about polish for toddlers who are definitely going to be putting those fingers in their mouths.
Piggy Paint is my go-to when I know tiny fingers are going straight into mouths.
For occasional eating situations, regular polish honestly works just fine. It depends on if there’s a thumb-sucker who’s going to ingest every bit of it.
Toddler nail plates are so delicate, like tiny little glass petals. I’d skip any buffing, cuticle pushing, dehydrator, or primer completely. Just wash their hands, dry well, and do one whisper-thin coat. The prep matters almost more than the polish at that age.
Piggy Polish is non-toxic and made specifically for little ones, so that’s what I go with for my son. It chips within a day, but he can still wash hands normally and there’s usually some color hanging on by the end of the week.
Using the base/top coat combo plus a hair dryer like the instructions suggest does help it last a bit longer.
Skip the special kid polish. Grab an empty bottle, fill it with non-toxic Elmer’s glue, add some colored glitter, and mix it up. It peels right off when you’re done.
If you don’t feel like dumping out an old bottle, you can find empty ones online for pretty cheap.
put them in her mouth.
