A few weeks ago I talked about painting my son’s toenails pink. The backstory is that I received some Hopscotch Kids Nail Polish from my friend Sue at Raspberry Kids. The sample was given to me for free, in exchange for writing about it here. Which I am about to do. Disclosure: accomplished.
Anyways, back to my story. I got the little bottle full of bubblegum pink-ness, and of course my daughter Hannah and I tried it out. And then my toddler Jacob got in on the fun. In the end three sets of toes and one set of fingers were painted. The instructions with the polish said that you should clean and buff your nails first. We did not. We are rebels that way. We applied only one coat, and then we played in the grass. More rebellion.
Hannah’s toes
In spite of our rebelliousness, the nail polish lasted pretty well. After a week there was some chipping and fading, but that’s been my experience with pretty much all nail polish. I would say that its drying time and length of wear were pretty typical. It’s been 3 weeks since I did Jacob’s toes, and there are still polish remnants on him. It behaved pretty much like regular polish, but it is not as scary as regular polish.
The people who make Hopscotch Kids say that their polish is completely safe and non-toxic. I am not really qualified to judge their claim, but I can tell you that it doesn’t smell like regular nail polish. In fact, it smells sort of like water colours, which I guess makes sense considering that it is water-based. It didn’t emit fumes, and I really appreciated that, especially because it was going on my kids. My daughter Hannah loves nail polish, so having a safer option is awesome.
My feet, evidence that I am not so good at getting the polish in the right spot
Along with the polish, I received a sample size bottle of polish remover. My experiences with the remover were less positive. On the upside, it is free of the scary chemicals that traditional polish removers contain. But it didn’t do a great job of removing the polish. For my kids it wasn’t a big issue. Their polish seems to wear off faster than mine, probably because they are far more active in general. Also, they don’t really care if there are polish remnants. But for me, it was a bigger deal. I don’t really enjoy the half-polished nails look, and I had to use a lot of remover to avoid that.
Hopscotch Kids is geared to kids, and for kids I think it’s a good solution. I certainly feel more comfortable with it than with whatever we find at the drugstore. My kids love the vibrant colours, too. For adults, though, the ineffective remover is a bit more of an issue. I understand that Hopscotch is working on an adult line, so perhaps they will work out their polish remover with that.
Polish and remover
My friend Sue kindly gave me a second sample size polish, remover and emery board to give away. The polish is bubblegum pink, which is the same colour we used. If you would like a chance to try it, leave a comment on this post sometime before 6pm Pacific time on July 26. I will draw one winner at random – people anywhere in the world can enter, one entry per person. UPDATE – The contest is now closed, congratulations to Melodie, our winner!
My son loves it when I have painted nails, each time he sees the new colour he is impressed. A week or so ago my Mom was watching the boy and when we picked him up he was sporting candy floss pink finger nails, he still has some of the polish on and he says next time he wants 'rainbow coloured' fingers LOLNo need to enter me into the contest, I just wanted to comment
Oooo, it looks fabulous. I’m afraid my daughter will grow up frustrated by the lack of interest in such things, for she is such a twinkle toes. Have you checked out http://www.ewg.org? This has some info of interest: http://www.ewg.org/phthalates/HowtoreduceyourexposuretoPhthalates
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Victoria is just getting into nail polish since I found a bottle of mine and did my toes. I know she would get a kick out of having a bottle of her own
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I want to try it!
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This looks like something my daughter would love! Pink is her fav!
Thanks for the write up Amber and for reviewing the hopscotch kids nail polish and remover.
We’ve had great experiences with our mani’s and pedi’s and my daughter loves that it is her very own polish.
I will let Ginny from hopscotch know about the post and I’m sure she will comment here.
Thanks for the opportunity to work together Amber!
Sue
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Sue Sinclair, Chief Executive Mom
Raspberry Kids
Ooh, pink toes.
I think the Poptart would like that.
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I would LOVE to give this a try – my daughter is six and we haven’t really done nail polish (despite frequent requests) because I’m kind of freaked out by the nasty chemicals. I keep meaning to try one of the more natural kids polishes, but I’m not organized enough to get around to ordering online.
Very nice color!
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My 3 year old is already a huge fan of having her nails painted, even though she rarely sees mom do it. She would be very excited if mommy won something like this.
oh oh pick me pick me! My girls love nailpolish, especially anything called “bubblegum pink” nailpolish.
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One of my favorite things about nail polish is the names of the colors! I always smile reading the names! Thanks for the chance. Have a great weekend!
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I’d love to try it. We have a red bottle of waterbased stuff – can’t remember the brand but pink? I’m all over pink.
well pink nail polish? how can we say no? lol i was interested in how you liked the polish remover as iwould love a more eco friendly version- mind you i am in dire need of a pedicure so i dont have any polish to remove!!!! lol
There are alot of times when it is us three ladies lined up for daddy to paint all of our nails.
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I’ll enter. I still haven’t played with painting my daughters’ toenails because I haven’t really gone looking for a safe alternative to the regular stuff. You’ll save me looking if I win. And my kids will think I’m just a bit cooler too. And then you’ll be to thank for that too. Oh, and Hopscotch Kids.
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Em is already a major lover of painted toes. She found my nail polish stash a few months ago and has sported coloured toes ever since. I admit to wondering about the chemicals in nail polish since she still has a tendency to suck on her toes when she’s tired.
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It’s been a long time since I’ve had a manicure or pedicure. Years? I like red polish though – and if I paint my toenails, I’m not close enough to them to see my inaccurate handiwork! I’m glad to know there are less toxic polishes than the standard.
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I’d love to try it (yes, and DD & DS too!) .
Oh, and I think its awesome that you painted Jacob’s toes. I know some mamas (&dadas) would be weird about that, but I think its fine. They’re only little once!
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Count me in Amber! I know a 6 year old that would love it!
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My 11-year-old would love this as I’m “mean” and won’t let her use the toxic stuff.
My 4 year old would love to win this! Thank you!
Toby, my 10-year-old son, and a gaggle of 4 to 12 year old kids at our co-op would love to try it. We would make a little party out of it!
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wow how impressive….my girls too love nail polish but rarely get it bc it is so bad they like to put their fingers in their mouths constantly!! Peace of mind and pretty nails. love it.
Amber – You Rebel! I too sometimes don’t take the time to buff my kiddos nails – but you will surely get better, longer lasting wear when you do take the time to clean and buff nails. Thanks for the great review!
In regards to the remover it is harder to remover nail polish when it’s cold. I have found that after a bath or shower your nail bed and polish will be softer making it easier to remove. Our adult line will have a completely different remover – one that removes both conventional and water-based polishes. I think you will LOVE it!
Oh my kids would love this! My kids want nail polish every time I get my nails done (which isn’t nearly as often as I’d like). It’s nice to know there are some non-toxic options.
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My kids always want to wear nail polish…yuck! I have slightly discolored toe nails and never like to use polish because it seems so unhealthy! Alas I would try this…much to the relief of my co-workers who are always surprised when I wear sandals with no polish! I wonder what other colours they have and where you can buy it!
glad to see their is a natural option!
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Have tried several non-toxic brands on the market, but not that one. I’m in!
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OOOh! Can you buy it in stores?
I hadn’t painted my 2YO’s nails as I hadn’t been able to find something like this – thanks for telling us about this great alternative to regular polish!
this stuff is a dream come true for my fashion forward 6 year old who LOVES painting her toes and nails and I don’t cos I bite mine!!!
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I don’t bite my toe nails….could never reach that far!!
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I love that you painted your son’s! My M has had a ponytail a lot recently and LOVES nail polish!!
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Nice colour! I’ve been painting Elizabeth’s nails for the last week or two, and it has been helping stop her thumb sucking problem. What can I say? The girl wants to be glamorous! That pink is hot!
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I’m sure my little girly girl would love it.
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Wow! Love all the comments and thanks for chiming in Ginny!
All hopscotch kids salon quality Eco-friendly nail polish is available at http://www.raspberrykids.com
Some of the pink colors are low in stock but we will be getting more in addition to the say say oh playmate color coming in august!
Please let me know if you have any questions!
Sue
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Chief Executive Mom, Raspberry Kids