Nail Polish Update:
I’ve been hearing a lot of controversy about whether this polish is water permeable or not. From time to time I google others reviews on the polish to see what others are saying. These 3 videos stand out to me from Haute Muslimah and Muslimah to Muslimah and A.Mustafa– in their experiments Inglot wasn’t permeable. In mine below and a few others such as Mustafa Umar’s and Manic Yours and this Inglot experiment on video, the water did seem to permeate. So this polish seems to be doubtful as now I really don’t know what works and what doesn’t. And if you’re a Muslim woman and see what may be at stake, salah/namaz/prayer/you-name-it, I think it probably is better to be safe. So I’ve been limiting my wear of the Inglot Polish; what I used to wear on a daily basis, I now don’t wear as much. The cool thing about the Inglot polish is that is is super glamorous and super easy to take off, which I love. No need to struggle with removing it with remover, it comes easily off with a quick nail polish remover swab, so that’s a nice perk if you do want to wear it whenever/wherever in that you can easily remove it for prayers. The videos that I linked above show that another polish called Tuesday in Love appears more water permeable so that’s another option for the nail-polish-loving-Muslims. I love the colors/hues/glossy finish Inglot offers so I gravitate to them and am choosing to wear them more limitedly!
9/2/2013 Update: here’s a new video that Inglot just made. I suggest you watch it if you are debating its permeability. I found it useful.
Here’s my original post below…
Hot Pink. Turquoise. Coppery Beige. These nail polish colors have always beckoned to me.
In order for prayers to be valid, Muslims have to wash in a specific ritual called Wu’du before they pray. Water needs to permeate to the nail so that’s why some Muslim women choose not to wear nail polish.
Inglot nailpolish has become really popular with Muslim women and was even featured on National Public Radio in the US since this nail polish is breathable and allows oxygen and water vapor to permeate to the nail. Some people who have tried it claim water droplets do too. An article by a scholar Mustafa Umar was featured on Suhaib’s Webb’s website where a student did a coffee filter experiment showing the permeability of this unique nail polish ~ the article went viral, and nailpolish sales went up! Sadly, Inglot (the Polish inventor of this polish) died just as he heard the good news about his polish doing well.
I did the experiment for myself too.
Start out with standard nail polish, and an Inglot’s bottle from The O2 Breathable Collection.
Apply 2 coats on each coffee filter. Remember the teal one is Inglots. Wait for polish to dry…
Then, once dry…I liberally sprayed some drops onto the coffee filters. I didn’t do just one or two drops, as when we pray and do our wudhu, we usually wash our hands with water, not just drops. Also, note that the water will go through the coffee filter easily when there’s no polish there, so that’s why the areas around the nailpolish are wet or a darker brown already. Disclaimer: I wasn’t the neatest water dropper/sprayer!
Here is water on the purple standard nail polish.
Here is water on top of the teal Inglot Breathable nailpolish.
The trick is to rub. If you don’t rub, I don’t think the water will go through.
When you rub/apply pressure over the teal breathable polish, the water gets absorbed and you don’t see the drops on the surface of the nail polish area. I can’t recall exactly what it looked like underneath my filter to see if the water went through. I assumed that if the water disappeared on the surface that it did. The above videos I posted are more clear and their experiments show that the polish isn’t permeable.
however, even if you rub over the standard purple Sally Hansen polish, the water glides on the top of the surface. The water will go through the coffee filter where there is no nail polish, but wherever the purple polish is, the water will stay on top.
I’m a new fan of Inglot O2 Breatheable Nail Enamel. I’ve been in touch with the people who work at Inglot and they said in order for the polish to be permeable, that you don’t apply a base or top coat, but simply the polish as is. I have the pink polish 605 Hot Hot Pink on my toes. I’ve heard there’s a breathable top coat now, but you need to do your own research on it.
**To see other articles on this nail polish, here are some below. Double Disclaimer: I’m not a scholar but just thought i’d share my findings! I strongly encourage you to do your own research/your own experiments and share your findings here. I’ve been getting a lot of questions about this polish, so here are some other positive & Negative blogger opinions/reviews.
***To summarize, It all boils down to doing what you’re comfortable with – go with your gut feeling. Like Sobia Kamran, May God forgive me for any incorrect info I may have passed along. As mentioned, please do your own research and go with your comfort level of when you choose to wear this polish. It’s great quality polish and leaves a glossy finish, that I know.
Positive Opinions :
NewYork Times: Muslim women lacquer up.
MANICyours: Inglot’s ‘Halal’ Nail Polish Tested (I did this experiment with a papertowel. It worked without rubbing – it took a little less than 3 minutes. Theirs worked much quicker.
Mustafa Umar’s article: Is Breathable Nail Polish Sufficient for Wudu?
Inglot O2M: Halal Nailpolish? Can it be true?!
breathable nail polish — you can make wudhu!
Inglot Releases Halal Nail Polish
Inglot experiment on video – a YouTube coffee filter experiment with rubbing the water on filter.
Neutral Opinion: Halal Nail Polish Sparks Colourful Dialogue
Negative Opinion:
one blogger Sobia Kamran’s opinion on the polish not being halal: http://www.reveilingyourself.com/2012/04/halal-nail-polish.html . I admire her opinion: “So, there you have it folks, it depends on your Taqwa! I couldn’t have said it better. May Allah SWT forgive me for any incorrect information I may have passed along.”
RT: Imam Suhaib Webb does not approve of inglot nail polish. The article on his website that does was not written by him.@suhaibwebbsite
A YouTube experiment of Haute Muslimah review on the polish not permeating: regarding my experiment, I can’t recall exactly what it looked like underneath my filter to see if the water went through. I assumed that if the water disappeared on the surface that the water permeates. She has a different opinion. She likes and tests another polish called Tuesday in Love.
Doodling Through Life 
As salamu alaykum sister,
Thank you very much for this excellent write-up. A few people [from different parts of the world] have been calling me and complaining that the experiment was not working for them. Your excellent pictures and explanations have even put my heart to rest again 🙂 May Allah reward you.
– Mustafa Umar
Assalamalaikum Mr. Umar,
I’ve changed my opinion somewhat on wearing this polish due to new research. I’ve been researching others videos experiments so just wanted to let you know as you have a link to my site. I’m still keeping my article posted, but am sharing a somewhat different opinion, so wanted to update you. Thank you for understanding!
Wsalam Mr. Umar,
I’ve been doing experiments and analyzing this polish for the last few days, so thank you for your response. My husband & I did this experiment too (http://www.venusbuzz.com/archives/37426/manicyours-inglots-halal-nail-polish-tested/ ) and it worked with me for a paper towel, but it took around 2-3 minutes, which I felt was a little lengthy. With wudu, we’re usually done in that amount of time.
I noticed though when you apply pressure/rub over the polish, the water goes through almost immediately; I thought that was the most wudu-friendly way. Inshallah this knowledge will be beneficial :)!
thank you for doing the experiment. at first I doubt about how long the water goes through the nail. but if you have tested that it would goes through almost (btw, how long is this “almost”?) immediately by rubbing it, I hope the nail polish will pass the halal requirement.
I would say 5 seconds.
You should try it too just to be safe! 🙂 inshallah hope that it is as water permeable as when I tested it.
I would say the ‘almost’ would be 5 seconds with applying pressure/rubbing hard.
inshallah hope it is as water permeable/halal as when I tried it . you should try it for yourself though too and let me know how it came out! 🙂
what about putting two or three lyers from the breathable polish (inglot o2 has a french manicure, but that means using the base, the white, and the coat polishes) does that will give the same results?
I’m not sure; you could try it out, but I just stick to the basic polish as have tested it and know the water goes through.
Salaam alaykom,
I went on a preety crazy spree at Inglot today and bought the base coat as well. Where I live, in dubai, they’ve got the 02M breathable base and top coat. Was wondering if the base + 2 coats of nail polish + top coat would still allow water to permeate?
Do you think it’s sufficient to do the experiment on cotton pads?
Umm Osama, I really don’t know if it’s sufficient or not. I ‘m guessing the less polish coats the better as you want to would like the water to permeate.- good luck! Allah knows best! 🙂
Thank you for putting up this review… I’ve also had a lot of doubts regarding whether or not inglot’s claims were true. I also decided to put them and Tuesday in love head to head to see if the experiment of water permeability would work. The inglot one was not permeable at all.. the water just sat there (similarly to the video posted by muslimah2muslimah).. but the Tuesday in love one allowed the water to go right through.
I also like the fact that Tuesday in love is cheaper and they also donate proceeds to a worthy cause.
I ordered two of the pinks from them, and definitely going to order more cause I love their colors 🙂
thanks for your insight 🙂
Salamu ‘alaikum Sr. JAK for the well-organized article. It was helpful. I am trying to share with you my experiments with Inglot O2M also, which I found didn’t live up to the claim (saddened). I posted it as a picture album on my FB. How can I share it with you? Does the link below work?
https://www.facebook.com/julyprncssleo/media_set?set=a.10101970604205203.1073741838.3206773&type=3
Salamu ‘alaikum Sr. JAK for the well-organized article. It was helpful. I am trying to share with you my experiments with Inglot O2M also, which I found didn’t live up to the claim (saddened). I posted it as a picture album on my FB. How can I share it with you? Does the link below work?
https://www.facebook.com/julyprncssleo/media_set?set=a.10101970604205203.1073741838.3206773&type=3
Thanks for Reading- cant access the link- try again:)? I heard better stuff about Tuesday in love
Asalamuailkum sister I’ve try my own test on inglot on a paper towel n coffee filter it doesn’t work n it sadden me I like the inglot colour very much. I don’t like the Tuesday in love colour n the consistence in alit thicker n it looks like a paint. How I wish there us more test done on inglot so that I won’t be half hearted to use it again
I know it is hard to figure out what’s right !
Muslim doesn’t understand the point in prayers.. its about vulnerability. .. to be grateful of what you have… its almost like wearing full makeup when praying when wearing such colours on nails… henna is fine because those are plants and does not involve chemicals… especially american products.. (not being rcist or anythng) but… are you really going to believe that?… its okay to wear nail polish… even normal nail polish… but the right thing to do is just to remove it during prayers… it doesnt even take 5mins to clear every nail…
This experiment is very easy and useful to know either the nail polish is breathable or not.