On A Quest to find Non Toxic Nail Polish in Singapore

Yup you read right. I'm on a quest to find Non-Toxic nail polish in Singapore. I don't know how I stumbled upon this non-toxic mumbo jumbo because I've never given a second thought to nail polish before. I usually just buy inexpensive ones based of my liking of the colour. When it comes to choosing nail polish removers tho, I usually do choose the non-acetate one or ones that don't smell harsh. Right now I'm using one that smells nothing like the traditional nail polish remover, it completely smells like Strawberry syrup. I can't remember where I got it from, could be SaSa.

Anyway, I never realised how uninformed I was as a consumer on how toxic nail polishes are. Yes there's the terrible smell that should set off your warning bells, but in the quest to look cute, you often just put up with the smell and not think twice about it. But now I find out there are nail polishes out there that claim to be non-toxic, and as a bonus vegan free (non animal tested) and better for the environment! I feel like I've been in the dark.

The Big 3 toxic chemicals in nail polish as pointed out in a lot of websites is  Dibutyl Phthalate (DBP), Formaldehyde and Toluene. You can Google what these chemicals all do. But according to the US Department of Health and Human Services (http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov), this is how these toxins can affect one's health:

How can toluene affect my health?

Toluene may affect the nervous system. Low to moderate levles can cause tiredness, confusion, weakness, drunken-type actions, memory loss, nausea, loss of appetite, and hearing and color vision loss. These symptoms usually disappear when exposure is stopped.

Inhaling High levels of toluene in a short time can make you feel light-headed, dizzy, or sleepy. It can also cause unconsciousness, and even death.

High levels of toluene may affect your kidneys.

How can formaldehyde affect my health?

Low levels of formaldehyde can cause irritation of the eyes, nose, throat, and skin. It is possible that people with asthma may be more sensitive to the effects of inhaled formaldehyde.

Drinking large amounts of formaldehyde can cause severe pain, vomiting, coma, and possible death.

How likely is formaldehyde to cause cancer?

Some studies of people exposed to formaldehyde in workplace air found more cases of cancer of the nose and throat than expected, but other studies did not confirm this finding.

In animal studies, rats exposed to high levels of formaldehyde in air developed nose cancer. The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has determined that formaldehyde may reasonably be anticipated to be a carcinogen.

DBP

Can cause birth defects and abnormalities in physiological developments and is a suspected Endocrine Disruptor. This chemical has been banned in cosmetics and nail polishes in the EU but not in the US (or other parts of the world I guess)

This website also gives pretty in depth explanation of why it's best to go with non toxic nail polishes. And this one gives a list of US brands that make safe nail polish. 

So it all sounds pretty scary right? Most of the time I only put nail polishes on my toes because with all the cooking, washing and house work I do i know it doesn't last a couple of days. But there are times when I do want to put them on my finger nails and now with all this information I'm a little paranoid. I don't know whether all this stuff really is bad for you when you're putting it on your nails. I mean you're obviously not gonna drink it and (most likely) you're gonna try not to inhale it as much as possible. But....and there's always a but.....it's better to be safe than sorry right? So thus my quest to find non toxic nail polish in Singapore. When I was at Metro today I saw that they sold O.P.I brand of nail polish. I'm not as familiar with which brands of nail polish is better or what, but I've heard this brand mentioned several times and in various blogs and youtube tutorials. They're not cheap, but still affordable when there's a store wide sale. I was tempted to get them because my vague memory was telling me that I had read somewhere that O.P.I brand was safe and had eliminated the Big 3 toxins. But unfortunately there was nothing on the display to say so so I didn't trust myself. Only the Nic's Sticks had a sign that said it was free of the Big 3 toxins.  But looks like I was right, cos according to their website: 

"Since 2006, OPI has reformulated its entire line of Nail Lacquers, Nail Treatments, and Nail Hardeners to eliminate DBP (dibutyl phthalate) and Toluene.

Formaldehyde has never been an ingredient in OPI Nail Lacquers or Nail Treatments.

Some OPI Nail Hardeners do contain formaldehyde, while others are formulated without it to give consumers a choice. The levels of formaldehyde are more than four times lower than the safe levels established by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. In fact, according to a study conducted under the auspices of the California authorities, the levels of formaldehyde, even in nail salons, are no higher than those found in many common work places, such as offices, where no nail products whatsoever are present. OPI continues to search for effective alternates to formaldehyde."

I did take a whiff of one of the pots and it smelled exactly the same as a 'normal' nail polish....so...what does that mean? I just wondered whether other unknown toxic chemicals have been replaced in place of the ones they've taken out. I guess we'll never know. Anyway I was going to order some water based and Big 3 free nail polishes from the US, but as it turns out Comgateway doesn't deliver nail polishes because it is considered as a flammable substance. Too bad....

And if you've got some spare time, here's an interesting read from O Magazine. 

Ruyi at Resorts World Sentosa

Cheap eats at RWS, reasonable prices. It's basically like a Chinese fast food. The food is served in paper bowl. But the taste is pretty alright, servings could've been a bit bigger.

Beef Brisket Rice

Curry Noodles

Dumplings in Hot and Sour Soup

My version of Martabak Telor

Martabak Telor is a pretty fattening Indonesian snack that is sold on the streets. It's basically a pastry filled with minced meat and then fried in some oil till crispy and golden. A bit like the Indian Murtabak, whereby they put a filling like curry or sardines inside a prata. Our version tho is served with a sweet and sour dipping sauce with pickled cucumber/carrots,  rather than curry sauce.

I honestly don't know how that pastry is made but the way I make it at home - and also a healthier version - is by using ready made frozen spring roll skins. Simply mix some minced meat with some diced french beans (string beans), add some garlic, seasoning and 1-2 eggs depending on how much mixture you have. Then lay out your skin and spoon a generous amount of the mixture. To ensure a crispy exterior, I wrapped the whole thing in another piece of spring roll skin. This is also so the fillings don't ooze out. The mixture will actually seep through the first layer of spring roll skin so the next layer of skin will easily adhere to the first layer. Once you've done that, just heat up some oil in a skillet pan and pan fry them until crispy. You don't really need a lot of oil. Once golden and crispy, take them out and chop them into squares. To make the dipping sauce, mix sugar, rice vinegar and soy sauce with water till you get a sweet salty sour flavour.

Tip: If you have left over spring roll skin, wrap it tightly with cling wrap and refreeze for later use.

I've used minced pork

Gyozas (Post #2)

So after my last attempt of making Gyozas (which worked out beautifully), I made them again, this time by doing it the traditional way of pan frying them and then adding water to the pan rather than steaming them first. It came out to be more or less the same. they puffed up a little more than if they had been steamed first. So presentation wise, steaming is better because it keeps its original shape better. But at the end of the day, it's the crispy bottoms that mattered since gyozas are served upside down - or crispy bottom side up.

Look at how yummy and crispy these look!

Vietnamese Fresh Spring Rolls

Made this beautiful dish to bring over for the weekly family dinner. I don't think the in laws are used to eating something so 'out of the ordinary' (to them anyway), but I was glad to see my mil actually enjoying it and it goes to show that she's more adventurous than I give her credit for. My fil on the other hand who was having a cold kept on saying he didn't want to eat it cos it was 'cold'. He actually thought it came from the fridge. Kept on insisting it was cold even before he tried it. But at least he did try a bite. I think they weren't so used to eating Thai basil because of the strong flavour and fragrance. Mil seemed to enjoy it, but not so much sil. What's important is my darling hubby telling me that it was delicious and that's all I needed to hear :)

I bought the prawns at Pasar that morning and boiled it myself. It was soo good and sweet. The other fillings included marinated pork, thai basil leaves, vermicelli and curly lettuce. I cut the spring rolls in half so that it wouldn't be so daunting to everyone. This is a great dish for entertaining, cheap, easy and you can make the rolls and the dipping sauce it in advance!

Step by Step for beginners:

Prepa. ration:

1. Get your prawns and just drop them in boiling water till they change colour. Once they change colour, take them out and soak in cold water or just run the tap over them to stop them cooking and cool them down. Then peel the prawns and if you wish, half them so you can make them go a long way, meaning 1 roll will only use 1 prawn rather than 2. But if you're generous and u can't be bothered then just leave it whole.

2. Boil some water in another pan. While that's happening, wash your lettuce leaves (curly lettuce is prettier) and if using, thai basil leaves, spin dry or towel dry.

3. Get some rice vermicelli. If you use fresh ones then you only need to dunk them in some hot water. You can even use the same water you boiled your prawns in, this cuts a step and saves reboiling water. Fresh ones only need a few seconds, dried vermicelli will take a few minutes. Remove from the water and run tap water over it to stop it cooking and set aside.

4. Once the water in the other pan is boiled, turn off the heat and get your wrapper. Dunk it in the hot water while rotating it. You don't need to dunk it till soft, just till it's wet and lay it on a plate or cutting board. The water will actually absorb into the wrapper and soften it, that's why you don't have to dunk it till it's limp and soft.

5. Then get the prawns and lay them on the wrapper. Lay them down towards the other end of the wrapper away from you. If you've halved the prawns then make sure you put the stripes or orange side down. Then lay your lettuce leaves beside the prawns closer to you and put the basil leaves on top and some rice vermicelli. Then fold the sides towards the middle and then roll the skin away from you making sure it's tight and there you have it!

To make peanut dipping sauce, add equal amounts of peanut butter and hoisin sauce and mix well.

To make the vinegar dipping sauce, pound some garlic and chilli, transfer to a jar with a lid and add sugar, water, vinegar/lemon and fish sauce and shake till thoroughly mixed. Taste and adjust.