362 JOURNAL OF COSMETIC SCIENCE
Dye leak test. The dye leak test was done using either one or two coats of nail polish,
similar to the evaporation test. One coat of each polish was applied with the applicator
that was part of the original packaging to a silicone mat and allowed to dry for 5 minutes.
Approximately 5 ml of water was poured into a 10 mL beaker. Using metal forceps, the
film was peeled off the mat and placed over the 10 ml beaker. Two drops of the blue food
color were dropped onto the film and allowed to sit for 1 minute. After 1 minute, the dye
droplet was rubbed for 10 seconds with a gloved finger in a circular motion and the leftover
was soaked up with a sterile Q-tip. The beakers were then flipped into an upside-down
position and let sit for 30 seconds. Then, the beakers were flipped back to upright position
Table I
Composition of the Nail Polishes Tested in This Study
Nail polish Ingredients (INCI names)
Traditional 1
(Sassy +Chic
in shade 946)
Ethyl Acetate, Butyl Acetate, Nitrocellulose, Adipic acid/Neopentyl glycol/
Trimellitic Anhydride Copolymer, Acetyl Tributyl Citrate, Isopropyl Alcohol,
Stearalkonium Bentonite, Diacetone Alcohol, Sucrose Acetate Isobutyrate, Silica,
Stearalkonium Hectorite, Phosphoric Acid, Titanium Dioxide (CI 77891), Red 6
(CI15850)
Traditional 2
(OPI in shade
Steel Waters
Run Deep)
Ethyl Acetate, Butyl Acetate, Nitrocellulose, Acetyl Tributyl Citrate, Adipic Acid/
Neopentyl Glycol/Trimellitic Anhydride Copolymer, Isopropyl Alcohol,
Stearalkonium Bentonite, Styrene/Acrylates Copolymer, Benzophenone-1, Silica,
Diacetone Alcohol, Di-HEMA Trimethylhexyl Dicarbamate, Trimethylpentanediyl
Dibenzoate, Phosphoric Acid, CI 77891 (Titanium Dioxide), CI 77266 (Black 2),
CI 77491 (Iron Oxides), CI 19140 (Yellow 5)
Water
Permeable 1
(786 in shade
Shiraz)
Butyl Acetate, Ethyl Acetate, Nitrocellulose, Adipic Acid/Neopentyl Glycorl/trimellitic
Anhydride Copolymer, Acetyl Tributyl Citrate, Isopropyl Alcohol,
Polyethylmethacrylate, Sucrose Acetate Isobutyrate, Stearalkonium Bentonite,
Diacetone Alcohol, Silica, Benzophenone-1, Trimethylpentanediyl Dibenzoate,
Dimethicone, Trimethylsiloxysili-cate, N-Butyl Alcohol, Phosphoric Acid, May
Contain: Mica, Bis (Glycidoxyphenyl) Propane/Bisaminomethylnorbornane
Copolymer, Aluminum Hydroxide, Tin Oxide, Titanium Dioxide/CI 77891, Ferric
Ammonium Ferrocyanide/CI 77510, Iron Oxide/CI 77499, Black Iron Oxide/CI
77499, Red Iron Oxide/CI 77499, Ultramarines/CI 77007, Aluminium (Aluminum)
Powder/CI 77000, DC Violet 2/CI 60730, Red 28/CI 45410, Yellow 5 Lake/CI
19140, Red 34 Lake/CI 15880, Red 6 Lake/CI 15850, Red 7 Lake/CI 15850
Water
Permeable 2
(Orly in shade
Kiss me I’m
Kind)
Butyl Acetate, Ethyl Acetate, Nitrocellulose, Adipic Acid/Neopentyl Glycol/
Trimellitic Anhydride Copolymer, Acetyl Tributyl Citrate, Isopropyl Alcohol,
Stearalkonium Bentonite, Acrylates Copolymer, Sucrose Acetate Isobutyrate,
Styrene/Acrylates Copolymer, Benzophenone-1, Silica, Trimethylpentanediyl
Dibenzoate, Dimethicone, Trimethylsiloxysilicate, Argania Spinosa Kernel Oil,
Ascorbyl Palmitate, Panthenol, Phenoxyethanol, Fucus Vesiculosus Extract,
Aspalathus Linearis Leaf Extract, Water/Aqua/Eau, Propylene Glycol, Glycerin.
May Contain: CI 77891 (Titanium Dioxide), CI 15850 (Red 6), CI 73360 (Red
30), CI 77491 (Red Iron Oxide), CI 77499 (Black Iron Oxide), CI 77492 (Yellow
Iron Oxide), CI 15880 (Red 34), CI 15850 (Red 7), CI 19140 (Yellow 5), CI
77163 (Bismuth Oxychloride), CI 77510 (Ferric Ammonium Ferrocyanide), CI
42090 (Blue 1), CI 60725 (Violet 2), CI 47005 (Yellow 10), CI 77000 (Aluminum
Powder), CI 77489 (Brown Iron Oxide), CI 77007 (Ultramarines), CI 77266 (Black
2), CI 77288 (Chromium Oxide Greens)
Water
Permeable 3
(Tuesday in
Love in shade
Sunshine)
Butyl Acetate, Ethyl Acetate, Nitrocellulose, Adipic Acid/Neopentyl, Glycol/
Trimellitic Anhydride, Copolymer, Acetyl Tributyl Citrate, Isopropyl Alcohol,
Stearalkonium Bentonite, Acrylates Copolymer, Styrene, Silica, Benzophenone-1,
Trimethylpentanediyl Dibenzoate, Til Permeability ComplexTM (Tuesday in Love,
Canada)

363 Water Permeability of Nail Polish
and the water was observed. For the two-layer film, the same procedure was followed with
the only difference of using two coats of nail polish instead of one.
Coffee filter test. One coat of nail polish was applied with the applicator that was part of the
original packaging onto a paper coffee filter in a 1 × 1 in square. The film was allowed to
dry for five minutes. The coffee filter was then set on top of a paper towel. Using a dropper,
two drops of blue food color were dropped onto the painted square and allowed to sit for
30 seconds. Then the dye droplet was rubbed for 10 seconds with a gloved finger. Then
the paper towel was observed to see if any water was able to permeate through the painted
coffee filter onto the paper towel. For the two-layer film, the same procedure was followed
with the only difference of using two coats of nail polish instead of one.
Paper towel test. One coat of nail polish was applied with the applicator that was part of
the original packaging onto a white paper towel in a 1 × 1-inch square and allowed to dry
for five minutes. The paper towel with polish was placed over another paper towel. Two
drops of blue food color were dropped over each square using a dropper and allowed to
sit for 1 minute. After the one minute, the dye droplet was rubbed for 10 seconds with a
gloved finger. Then the top paper towel was lifted to observe if any water passed through
and absorbed into the bottom paper towel. For the two-layer film, the same procedure was
followed with the only difference of using two coats of nail polish instead of one.
Permeability test with effervescent tablet. Two different techniques were tried to coat an
effervescent tablet. In the first method, the nail polish was directly applied to the tablet’s
surface with the applicator that was part of the original packaging and allowed to dry for
30 minutes before testing. In the second method, the nail polish was applied to a silicone
mat and allowed to dry for 5 minutes. Once dried, the film was peeled off the mat using
metal tweezers and used to wrap the tablet. Once the tablets were coated with the nail
polish film, they were placed into 80 mL of water in a 100 mL beaker and observed for 2
minutes.
Color bleeding test. One coat of nail polish was applied with the applicator that was part of
the original packaging on a silicone mat and allowed to dry for 5 minutes. A 50 mL beaker
was filled with 20 mL of deionized water. The polish film was peeled off the mat using
metal forceps then placed into the beaker of water and allowed to soak for 2 hours. The
water was placed in a 100 mL cuvette and the sample was tested with a spectrophotometer
(Konica Minolta CR-5, Ramsey, NJ) to record the L*a*b* values. For the two-layer film,
the same procedure was followed with the only difference of using two coats of nail polish
instead of one.
Scanning electron microscopy. Films of each nail polish were examined to study the surface
morphology with a JEOL JSM-7500F (JEOL USA, Peabody, MA, USA) with EDS Detector
Attachment scanning electron microscope in the Instrumentation Center (UToledo Main
Campus, Toledo, Ohio), operated at 5 kV. Samples of each film were mounted onto a
double-sided copper conductive tape (NEM Nisshin EM Co. Ltd., Tokyo, Japan) fixed on
aluminum stubs. They were then sputter-coated with a thin layer of gold in a vacuum for
45 seconds at 20 mA, using a coating unit (Denton Vacuum Desk II Cold Sputter/Etch
Unit, Moorestown, NJ, USA) to make them electrically conductive.
Statistical analysis. Differences in percent loss upon evaporation and in film thickness were
evaluated using one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s multiple comparison test using
SPSS Statistics 29 software (IBM, Armonk, NY). Differences were considered significant
at p 0.05.