You’re getting ready for a party and decided to put some nail polish on. You come back home a little later than you thought, still haven’t prayed your night prayer, and need to make wudu. But, you can’t. I mean, you can, but it won’t count since you have nail polish on. So now you have to take it off to be able to pray. Sound familiar?
If it doesn’t sound familiar to you because you haven’t known such a situation, here’s a little explanation. As Muslims, we are instructed to pray five times a day, and a pre-requisite to prayer is wudu, or ablution, wherein you wash your hands, feet, face, and rinse your mouth and nose. Having nail polish on prevents water from reaching the nail bed which, according to the opinion of the majority, has to be cleaned as part of wudu as well. Nail polish in itself is not haraam, or forbidden. It just creates a barrier and makes it hard for us to pray, which is why most Muslim girls/women avoid it altogether or wear it only on special occasions and take it off immediately after. The only time we keep it on for days is when we’re on our period and aren’t obligated to pray. You get the point?
When ‘Inglot’ came out with its O2M Breathable Nail Polish range, everyone went wild. Yours truly included. The general impression was that being breathable meant the O2M range was wudu friendly, and some scholars endorsed it too. A water permeability test I did at home, though, proved otherwise. Turns out there’s a difference between “breathable” and “water permeable”. How silly of me to not realise, no? Heartbreak ensued, and nail polish, for me, became restricted to occasions and those 6-7 days a month all over again.
Two years ago, however, I came across a Canada based cosmetic brand called ‘Tuesday In Love’, and there was quite a bit of talk about their water-permeable nail polish range. It was being compared to and tested against the ‘Inglot’ O2M range, and also your regular name brand nail polishes. Reviews and lots of water permeability tests were found on the wonderful world wide web, and the first set of nail polishes was ordered. They arrived, were tested at home, found water permeable indeed, and oh the joy was unmatchable. The only problem? The formula was peelable. Not that it wasn’t advertised so. It was, and peelable nail paint seemed like a great thing as it saved you the trouble of sitting down with cotton pads/balls and nail polish remover and made changing nail colours really easy. It definitely did. However, it peeled a little too easily. A little something in the kitchen and it peeled easier than potatoes.
Just sometime back though, ‘Tuesday In Love’ changed its formula, and their water permeable nail polishes were now non-peelable too. Oh, the khushi when I read this! So I ordered a few for myself, tested them at home, not once but thrice, and was convinced of the permeability. I put it on, and it didn’t peel! Yay!
I don’t use nail polish every day, and don’t keep it on all the time, but it’s good to know that when I do put nail polish on, and my nails look all pretty and dressed up, I don’t have to worry about having to take it off to be able to pray. Thank you for that, ‘Tuesday In Love’.
While the colours are great and being water-permeable is absolutely amazing, the one downside is that it is a little expensive, retailing at $14.99 a bottle, with a flat shipping rate of $8.75. For that much money, the packaging and look isn’t all that great, especially when compared to other brands. I suppose it may be because the water permeable formula must be expensive to manufacture.
The water permeability test can be found all over YouTube, which is why I’m not putting up pictures of mine. I do request you, however, to not just take my, or anyone else’s, word for it and test it yourself before you decide to keep it on during wudu. If it appeals to you, I hope you enjoy it!
Get 15% off your Tuesday in Love order with the coupon code: WACKYWINDOW
Have you used any other water-permeable nail polishes? Do tell!
P.S. Please keep your religious opinions to yourself, I’m not trying to start a fiqh discussion. Thankyouverymuch. *smiley face*
Nice, informative and a great share ….. keep up the good work
Good job Sits. I endorse your words. I wear mine most of the times.