Do you love painting your nails but just cannot because of wudhu? To be honest I just wait for the time of the month when I can skip prayers and would crazily apply as many shades as I can in few days. Since we must perform wudhu before each prayer, and one of the conditions of wudhu is to let water pass through nails, applying nail polish for Muslim women is non-existence, until now.
MAYA Cosmetics is a brand that I came across recently. They offer variety of nail polish to their customers and best part is, they are halal, cruelty-free, wudhu-friendly and vegan. But, before I give you more info about Maya Cosmetics nail polish, let’s review other brands that claim they are halal.
There are a few companies claiming that they produce breathable and water permeable nail polish. LYN(Love your Nail), H by BCI, Tuesday in Love and Inglot’s O2M are on the top of the list. Yet, there is still a debate on whether these nail polishes are really wudhu-friendly!
Company’s Claim:
MAYA Cosmetics claims that their nail polish is the brainchild of a brilliant team of young innovators who wanted a professional, long lasting nail polish that would be safe to use, wudu friendly, & promote nail health. MAYA indicates that its products are:
- Air/water breathability – 30% more oxygen reaches the nail surface resulting in better conditioned & stronger nails.
- Fast Drying – within minutes.
- Long Lasting – far more durable than waterbased breathable nail polish.
- Minimal Chip.
- Vibrant colors including glossy top coat and matte top coat resulting in a variety of combinations.
- Free of commonly used harmful ingredients such as toluene, formaldehyde, dibutyl phthalate (DBP), and camphor.
- PETACertified.
- Free of prohibited alcohol, animal derivatives and animal testing.
- 100% Halal Certified.
- 100% USA Made.
The Test:
I followed the same experiments on all MAYA Cosmetics Nail Polishes. On a tissue paper, I applied a coat of all the shades I had. On top, I let 2 drops of water sit and waited for a minute.
After a minute, the water is still seen sitting on top of the nail paint.
So following the directions of ablution with these nail paints,provided by Maya cosmetics, which was to run the nails under water and rub gently for ten seconds, I did the same for 12 seconds.
The result: The water went through!
Maryam Ahmed in an article explained that she applied MAYA nail polish when she was putting henna for Eid at the same time. A small piece of henna got stuck on her nail. “When I reached home and washed my hands and removed the nail polish, I had henna stains on my nail. This I believe makes it really breathable nail polish as the other nail polishes do not allow henna to reach the nail.”
For reality check, I applied a dot of henna on the Maya Cosmetics nail polish. I let it dry. Then, I removed the nail polish. To my surprise, the henna was still sitting on my nail delightfully!
Final Verdict based on the experiment:
The experiment was done with 2 drops of water on 1 coat of nail polish on a tissue paper and the water went through after rubbing for 12 seconds. Now, imagine if we run water straight from the tap to the nails while rubbing, I think the amount of water then, will make a difference in letting the water get through the nail paint. With that being said, water didn’t go through the shades with top coat on. So, you might want to keep that in mind when using these nail colors. The test was done on total of 5 shades and the top coat and the result was the same for all except for the shade with top coat on, where water couldn’t pass through.
I personally appreciated the quality of these nail polishes. The packaging is sophisticated. The box has a tiny window that shows the color. I wish they would have done a better job to explain the color for each shade.
Each box comes with ablution directions. You can read the ingredients on the label. The nail polish bottle, and its applicator come in a size which is very easy to hold and apply. They lasted for a good 5 to 6 days with me doing all the house work like laundry, cleaning, washing dishes etc,with or without top coat.
Should you use it or not? Is your Salah valid even with the nail polish? These questions are for you to answer. As for MAYA Cosmetics, they passed the test anyway.
I neither encourage nor discourage you to use the product. You need to do your own though research to make sure that applying nail polish during Salah is something you wanna do. Good Luck!