Hanami Nail Polishes Frequently Asked Questions

Hanami cosmetics are proud to be certified cruelty free & vegan (PETA and CCF certification), palm oil free, independently owned, and made with organic plant and mineral ingredients.

 

Plant & Mineral Based Ingredients

Glance your peepers over Hanami Cosmetics labels and you'll notice that they are big fans of coconut, shea, jojoba, castor oil, grapseed, mineral colors and a heap of natural ingredients that you may keep stashed in your kitchen cabinet at home! But there may also be some tongue twisters on there that aren't as recognisable, here's where we source them from:

 

Hanami Cosmetics Nail Polish is Ten Free

Hanami motto is "cosmetics with a conscience" and this includes Hanami polishes too. While nail polish cannot be made entirely with organic and natural ingredients (hopefully sometime soon though!) they have done their best - and ensure that Hanami polishes are safer for you by using a 'Ten Free' formula. What does this mean? Well, most commercial nail brands contain toulene, formaldehyde, DBP, camphor, formaldehyde resin, ethyl tosylamide and xylene, parabens, fragrance and animal ingredients (ugh!) - all of which are nastily toxic to both our health and to the environment on a production level. (*nb: we have converted 90% of our range to our new ten free breathable formula as of March 2018. Hanami glitter polishes are 7 free)

 

What does '7 Free' mean?

Did you know that the chemicals in commercial nail polish can be really bad for your health? Hanami nail polishes are formaulated to be better for your health, the health of the environment, and to those making it. Hanami removed the formaldehyde (yep, thats the stuff they embalm dead bodies in), dibutyl phthalate (DBP), toulene, formaldehyde resin, camphor, xylene and parabens - those nasty ingredients can do a bunch of harmful things to your body, from triggering allergies to causing havoc in your endocrine system.

 

Hanami is Certified Cruelty Free 

Animal testing is cruel, and so unnecessary, and Hanami wants to see it end in our lifetime. Hanami Cosmetics proudly donates $1 from every purchase on Hanami website to Humane Research Australia (HRA), a non-profit organisation that challenges the use of animals in experiments and promotes the use of more humane and scientifically valid non-animal methods of research.

 

What's the difference between Cruelty Free and Vegan?

For a product to be cruelty free, there needs to be no form of animal testing at any point in the products development/creation or final product.  Sadly (and frustratingly) it is qute common for a company to not test the final product on animals, but to have tested the ingredients on animals along the way (or before they started production) by a third-party. 

“Required by law” animal testing is another common excuse that companies use. This means that the finished products are tested on animals by a third-party to comply with regulations/laws in particular countries (China being one of these) - no matter what the packaging states, these brands are NOT cruelty free at all. 

For a product to be 'vegan' it needs to be free from ALL animal ingredients - this includes lanolin, beeswax, honey, collagen, albumen, carmine, silk, milk, gelatin, and many others. It's easy to assume (and it would make sense) that a product listed as “vegan” would also mean that it's free from animal testing as well, but because the term is not regulated, it is often used to just note that it doesn't contain animal ingredients. So it's possible for products tested on animals to claim that they're “vegan”.

 

How can you tell if your product is ACTUALLY cruelty free??

That is exactly why accreditation boards exist! Look for official logos on the packaging: such as Choose Cruelty Free, PETA, and Leaping Bunny as well as perusing the ingredients list for any animal ingredients. 

 

What you WON'T find in Hanami Cosmetics

Nano Particles

Nano particles are small particles with all three dimensions less than 100 nanometres (.1 micron), they're able to penetrate the skin’s surface layers and potentially cause some serious damage while they do it. Rest assured, Hanami Cosmetics do not contain any ingredient with a particle size less than .1 micron.

 

SLS or SLES

Cheap foaming agents, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) and Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES) are chucked in many beauty products (fun fact: it's also widely used in industrial cleaning agents such as engine degreaser) Guess what? You won'y be finding these in Hanami makeup and nail polishes .

 

Parabens 

Gross endocrine disruptors, butylparaben, propylparaben, methylparaben, and ethylparaben, can mimic oestrogen in the body which may be linked to increasing the risk of breast cancer. Hanami don't use these in any of thier products.

 

Palm Oil or Palm Oil Derivatives

Palm oil sucks! Found in over 90% of cosmetic and personal care items, it's a cheap ingredient and can be made into over 200 derivatives. Sadly demand for palm oil has increased ten fold over the last few years. Palm oil plantations contribute to the destruction of rainforests, in particular in South East Asia, threatening the survival of extremely endangered animals such as the Sumatran tiger, Asian rhinoceros, Orangutangs as well as having a huge impact on native flora in these areas. You can be assured that Hanami Cosmetics does NOT use any ingredient sourced from palm oil.