Jodi I use the Revlon pencil one and it seems to work well for me. All I do it just moisten my fingertips and roll the pencil on the underside of my nail. It only last through a few hand washings and if it all doesn't come off I just use a nail brush to get into the corners of the nails where it seems to stick. I haven't seen the Sally Hansen one, does it look just like an eyeliner like the Revlon one does?

I've never heard of anyone being allergic to nail polish! Does it just irritate your skin around your nails? Do you know what in the nail polish you are allergic to, or have you tried different brands to see if they worked for you? I don't know how risky that would be since I don't know how severe your reaction is, sorry for the questions just curious, hope you don't mind!

Jenny,

Yes, the Sally Hansen brand white nail pencil looks like an eyeliner pencil. It too lasts only a few handwashings. I'd like to find a product that not only lasts longer, but has better coverage as well.

Years ago (over 20) when I first realized I had problems wearing naial polish, it showed up as a rash (contact dermatitis) around each eye, making me look like a raccoon. I soon discovered I could successfully wear nail polish as long as it was formaldahyde and toulene free. Fortunately many brands now offer that option.

Then, in the last few months I've been having trouble with even the formaldahyde and toulene free products, but instead of causing a rash, my lips swell, go numb and eventually peel. I've tried a number of brands and each causes the same problems. Recently, as a test, I once again tried a nail product with formaldahyde and toulene (NailTek) because I was trying to grow my thin, peeling nails out. By the end of the day both my upper and lower lips were covered in blisters. They took over a week to heal. No more experimentation for me.

Jodi-

Oh Jodi Yikes doesn't seem worth it! Sorry you have had such a bad time with nail polish. Have you tried talking to someone at a salon and see what the recommend? Maybe they would have some suggestions on what will last longer and won't cause any reaction for you. I'm sure someone else will come along here with some ideas! I do love the look of my nails when I use the pencil, its like a more natural looking French manicure. I would however like something that lasted longer.

Maybe buffing your nails will help grow them out and make them stronger and prevent some peeling. If you can maybe a nail or cuticle oil something with vitamin E will help too. That with the buffing should help some just try and keep them short until they start growing in stronger then they will be less likely to peel.

I hope you find something that will help and work for you! Things like this people take for granted and don't realize how much they would miss them. I know I would miss it a lot if I couldn't wear nail polish!

Jenny, I find buffing my nails sometimes makes them weaker.

I actually got them to grow out quite nice recently by using Nailtiques. I knew it had formaldahyde and toluene in it but was willing to put up with some minor irritation in order to use the product. The Nailtiques/NailTek products are the only strenghtening products that protect and don't peel my nails. So my lips were a little swollen and cracked...it was worth it to have nails that looked great. I think several months of taking Neo-natal vitamins (I'm 50) helped as well. I haven't been able to grow my nails out for about four years now, so I am just thrilled to have nail tips that need whitening. :-)

Anyhow...since Nailtiques didn't give me horrible problems (aside from the lip cracking and peeling), I decided to try a bottle of NailTek to compare. That's the day I developed painful blisters that ran the length of both my upper and bottom lips. Yow! You can bet that little, tiny $12 bottle went into the trash.

But my nails appear to be strong and fairly healthy now so all I want to do is make them a bit more appealing by making the tips white so even the tiniest bit of dirt or makeup doesn't show.

By the way, I have lots of allergies (nickel, shellfish, pollen, rabbits, mold/mildew, dust, sunscreen/block...and many others), so this polish allergy doesn't surprise me at all. It's just been kind of unpredictable in recent years.

My whole life revolves around avoiding something on a daily basis it seems...sigh

Jodi-

Jodi I'm sorry to hear you have so much trouble with allergies! I can't even imagine! The only thing that I've ever had an allergic type reaction to is grass directly on my skin when I was younger. I'm pretty sure I've outgrown that but I just keep that to myself so I don't have to cut the grass but its ok BF needs to have something to do!

I'm glad to hear you have some nails now though! I will keep my eyes open for any new whitening pencils and let you know if I find anything.

Jenny, I am also looking for a white nail pencil. I like the one that Seacret makes but I can't find it. Toulene is highly toxic as is formaldahyde. Toulene is also in perfume which causes me serious breathing problems and formaldahyde is in some vaccines, believe it or not. This is an old post but maybe someone will have an answer.