North China’s Baotou develops rare earth nail polish

Enterprising technicians got busy in North China’s Baotou to develop a new rare earth nail polish with a twist, according to an Oct 22 report in the Baotou Daily.

The report said they used sa-son seed gum -- also known as Artemisia seed gum -- a kind of natural polysaccharide hydrophilic gum extracted from sea plant red algae.

It assisted the formation of a film, replacing the conventional solvent with water -- and added non-toxic and harmless rare earth oxide as a coloring agent to develop a new rare earth nail polish.

According to researchers at the center, most nail polishes currently on the market are classified as oil-based and water-based.

The oil-based nail polishes contain a large amount of organic solvents, and their irritating odors are extremely damaging to the body such as the nasal cavity, they claimed. They added that they are also flammable and explosive and can pose great safety hazards in production, storage and use.

The researchers said the water-based nail polish, using water as the solvent, greatly reduces damage from the organic solvent to the body. But the water-based nail polish film is normally not strong and doesn’t last long on nails.

The new nail polish -- developed by technicians at the Baotou Rare Earth Research and Development Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences -- by contrast stands out for its glossiness and its waterproof abrasive resistance properties and is more environmentally friendly.

To develop this kind of nail polish, researchers and technicians first learned the various formulas for nail polish, and then confirmed the materials they needed.

In the next step, the nail polish was adjusted and the formula dosage and sequence of materials were determined, so that the rare earth pigment powder could be uniformly dispersed in the solvent, and the film could form quickly.

The last step was to improve the technology and process.

Using non-toxic and harmless rare earth oxides as coloring agents, the center has also developed a rare earth lipstick, blush, eye shadow and other cosmetics which are soon to go on sale.

A lab technician focuses on the task at hand, at the Baotou Rare Earth Research and Development Center nail polish project, on Oct 22. [Photo/Baotou Daily]