I am not much of a makeup freak myself, but there is one thing I always liked as a kid: weird and funky nail polish colors. Canary yellow, violet and ruby red with glitter, you name it. And there’s nothing like some groovy shimmery nails to put a grin on my own little girls faces.

After I learned more about the unhealthy side of nail polish, I didn’t really want my two natural beauties aged four and six to be getting high on solvents when they tried to steal my nail polish. Nor did I want to worry about them smearing it all over their fingers (and our furniture, try getting red nail polish of your beige couch, I dare you). Sure, they might be a bit young to use nail polish, but sometimes it‘s a better treat than, say, another sugary ice cream.  Anyway, not to worry, there is a solution to all kids vs nail polish dilemmas!  French brand Nailmatic just launched a line of children’s nail polish.

Their nontoxic, water-based colors can be washed off with warm soapy water. Notorious bad boys such as formaldehyde, phthalane, fromaldehyde resin, phthalanes, camphor and parabenes were not invited for this nail polish party, and that is good news, especially for young kids.

Nailmatic Kids comes in cute, bright & happy colors that don’t make them look like mini adults. More importantly, my kids LOVED the colors I brought home for them: turquoise, bright yellow, glittery deep pink and violet. I totally made their day when I got the little bottles out of my bag and without any help they were happily occupied for a good couple of hours, getting super creative, starting over and over again, just washing the polish off in between.

They had so much fun playing with this nail polish, I know what to bring as a gift to the next kids birthday party. Of course, the nontoxic formula still doesn’t mean they can drink or eat the stuff, so I wouldn’t leave a baby alone with a bottle. However, with kids age 4 and up and a little adult supervision this nail polish is perfect.

It does come off the nails quickly because of the obligatory hand washing several times a day. Be that as it may, on toes, when you‘re not specifically rubbing your nails in the shower, the colors last for quite a while! The colors are dense and have a great coverage, which is great as most kids don’t have the patience for several layers. If your kid doesn’t choose to put a big fat blob onto its nails like one of mine did a couple of times, the polish also dries rather quickly.

Before you ask, yes, I got the stains off my couch, table and clothes without much effort. An important detail because I, lazy mum, have better things to do than getting frustrated about ruined dresses & pillows. Just watch out with porous surfaces like freshly plastered walls and the likes. So if your kids like nail polish, but you don’t like the side effects of the regular kind,  try Nailmatic Kids, you will all love it.