Stop Nail Biting with Edible Nail Polish

Kid Licks manicure. (Photo: Kid Licks/Germsnails)

Kid Licks edible nail polish was born to keep children from ingesting toxic ingredients found in nail polish, but it can help adults, too. After eight hours wearing it, I’m en route to a life free of nail biting and picking. Founder Audrey Amara was being cautious when she kept her young daughter from painting her nails like mom. “Since my daughter was at an age when she loved to put everything in her mouth, my gut told me that I shouldn’t hand her my bottle of nail polish,” Amara told Yahoo Beauty. “When I actually looked at what nail polish is made of, even nail polish for kids, I was happy that I didn’t let her paint her nails that day.”

Like me, Amara has also found benefits of wearing Kid Licks in motherhood. “I have not had my nails painted with regular nail polish in years because I have been either pregnant or nursing — and am also a nail biter.” The learning curve edible nail polish offers to nail biters is what won me over. The products are made from food and are all organic, non-GMO, vegan, and cruelty-free. Like Amara and her husband and co-founder, Josh, I worry about the negative impacts of the nail polish chips I’m likely swallowing when I bite my nails, but nail polish also prevents me from biting more than anything else.

Despite my mom’s best efforts with Band-Aids and nibble inhibitors (clear coats that taste and smell bad), shards of fingernails were perpetual coffee table accessories throughout my youth. The habit has lasted a lifetime, and after hearing about the side effects of nail biting like dental issues and infection, I decided to make moves toward letting go of my childhood vice and take Kid Licks for a test drive.

My day began on a bench near my apartment in Brooklyn with a rainbow of the three available Kid Licks polish colors on my left hand. I decided on Sour Carrot Orange because I thought the Beet Red drew too much attention to my stubby bitten nails, and I wasn’t quite sold on Barley Grass Green. As the world’s worst manicurist, I was grateful for the option to lick off the globs of excess polish. Consequently, I looked like somebody straight out of “My Strange Addiction.” The polish actually tastes pretty good and exactly as you’d expect. Sour Carrot Orange has a simple, five ingredient recipe of water, organic acacia, organic carrots, organic corn starch, and citric acid — but this was the last time my nails were in my mouth all day.

Kid Licks colors. (Photo: Devon Kelley)

After about five minutes, my manicure was dry and the polish became matte and translucent. I added another coat to be sure I was achieving the full effect. It was a good thing I did, because much of the second coat came off after I washed and dried my hands — wetting the polish makes the lacquer become wet and malleable again. After realizing that, I was more careful drying my hands after washing, and the polish remained intact. By the end of the day the edges had begun to chip off, but since it’s so easy to repaint or wipe off, that wasn’t something that bothered me. In fact, I removed it easily with a wet paper towel right when it started to chip. “It’s not the type of polish that will last all week, although it lasts quite a bit longer if you put it on before bed, dry it with a hair drier, and then let it cure overnight,” says Amara. With more shades of Kid Licks has coming in the future, I’ll be first in line to pre-order.

Kid Licks Sour Carrot Orange. (Photo: Devon Kelley)

Related:

Nettle Tea to Bone Broth: Get Healthy Hair and Nails from the Inside Out

Confessions of a Nail Biter

Nail Polishes Go Non-Toxic