10-free

10-free is a marketing label for nail polish that is formulated without ten named ingredients, usually the toxic trio plus formaldehyde resin, camphor, ethyl tosylamide, xylene, parabens and TPHP, with no legal definition behind the number.

Also known as: 10 free nail polish, ten-free, free-from nail polish, 5-free, 12-free

The number in 3-free, 5-free or 10-free counts the ingredients a brand has left out. No regulator defines the lists, so each brand writes its own, and higher numbers often add substances that were rarely used in polish in the first place¹. The following counts are the ones most brands agree on.

Mooncat's 10-free list, for example, names DBP, toluene, formaldehyde, tosylamide/formaldehyde resin, camphor, ethyl tosylamide, xylene, parabens, TPHP and TBHP². Manucurist, Kure Bazaar and Nailberry use 12-free.

In Europe the number means less than it does in the United States. Under Regulation (EC) 1223/2009, DBP is banned, toluene is restricted and formaldehyde as such is prohibited, so 3-free describes a legal minimum for any polish sold in the EU. Free-from claims must also follow the common criteria in Regulation (EU) 655/2013, which discourage claiming freedom from a substance that is banned anyway¹. The useful way to read a 10-free label is to check the ingredient list for the two items that matter most in modern polish: TPHP and camphor.

Written and fact-checked by the India Anaïs editorial team. Every number and rule is linked to its source. How the guides are made.