MSU psychology professor launches scientific nail polish

Nail polish with a purpose is what Missouri State associate psychology professor Erin Buchanan is striving for as she released her own polish line dedicated to promoting research and ideas in science.

Parallax Polish, an indie nail polish company, launched this past August with its first set based around influential women in science.

“I’ve always been into really girly things and got into the indie scene where things aren’t your average, well-known products,” Buchanan said. “I joined a group online where everybody else was making their own polish. I researched how to make it and got a lot of feedback online.”

She explained the hard part wasn’t making it; it was finding a way to set herself apart from the major brands. And that’s when she decided to tie it to what she loves best: science education.

“It was definitely an ‘a-ha’ moment,” she said. “We’re always joking about how women in science never get any love, and it just kind of took off from there.”

In her first set, the Women in Science collection, each polish is named after an important woman who made significant contributions in science. The properties of the polish also reflect the scientist’s specific work.

Buchanan said it’s a good conversation starter if someone notices your nail color.

“For instance, the blue color is based on the woman who worked on the Manhattan Project — on Cobalt 60,” she said. “And the Marie Curie polish is a bright orange that also glows in the dark, noting her work in radioactivity.”

Several of the women included in her line are scientists that Buchanan has always admired, like Ada Byron.

“You’d know her as Ada Lovelace, and she did a lot of work with computer coding,” she said. “And I, myself, do coding, so a lot of them were personal, and the others are more popular women in the field.”

Buchanan explained her company is all about science, but promoting women in science is particularly important to her because she is one of them.

Her research lab focuses on statistics and computational linguistics. One of her graduate students is studying the language in politics and when more masculine pronouns— he and him— are used.

“I just want people to talk about science,” she said. “Especially girls, and to get them interested in STEM.”

STEM is the acronym referring to the academics of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

To promote the education aspect of her brand, Buchanan posts pictures of the polish on her social media accounts that explain the importance of a certain scientist’s work. She also has that information linked to her website.

And to make ties to MSU, she has released an orange polish — the color for awareness of leukemia — as a donation to represent Allie Alvstad, an MSU softball player who was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia.

“I have quite a few softball students who have really rallied about it,” Buchanan said. “I think it’s cool that our students have shown so much interest, and it really shows our character as a school.”

The polish is a part of the #AllieStrong campaign, and the money goes toward her treatment.

Buchanan always wants her polishes to mean something, and she takes pride in using them to promote science education.

She also takes pride in doing all the work, from making the polish, to labeling every bottle to keeping up with her website and social media.

“The hardest part is finding the right mix,” she said. “Sometimes you think colors will go great together and you mix them and realize it’s brown. Finding the right consistency is also important; I make a lot of messes at the house.”

Her polishes have never been tested on animals and are also “5-free.” This means they are made without toluene, formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin, camphor or DBP (dibutyl phthalate). These are harmful chemicals commonly used in corporate nail polish brands, according to Buchanan.

Up next for Parallax Polish are three new polish lines that will release this fall.

In the works is a Noble Gases set with glitter notes, a color-changing thermal set representing controversies in science and a set relating to her research lab on campus.

You can purchase her polish at http://parallaxpolish.storenvy.com/ and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @ParallaxPolish.

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