Sistaco is a "mineral based" nail set that markets itself on relative purity. The brand claims you can "say goodbye to toxic dipping powders" because "all of our products are non-toxic."

But are Sistaco nail sets made entirely from minerals? Does the brand use any potentially toxic additives? Is this really healthier than traditional nail sets? And is Sistaco better or worse than popular nail polish brands like Sally Hansen?

In this article we'll answer all of these questions and more, as we analyze the ingredients in Sistaco's nail powder to give our take on whether or not it's healthy.

We'll also compare the healthiness of Sistaco to other nailcare brands to pick our winners (and losers).

Key takeaways:

• Contains some colorants with questionable health effects
• At least one product missing CI identifiers 
• We do not currently recommend Sistaco

Ingredient Analysis

The ingredients in the Metallic Range of Sistaco's Powdered Trio Pack are shown below:

image source: https://sistaco.us/

While some of these ingredients are mineral based, not all are.

CI 42090, also known as Blue 1, is a synthetic dye that's clinically shown to have harmful effects on human and animal health in some studies, at least when ingested.

CI 15850, also known as Red 6 or Red 7, is a synthetic dye produced primarily from petroleum.

CI 14700, also known as Red 4, was described as having a natural alternative (carmine) in a medical review published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, and we'd prefer if the brand used that compound.

"Golden dye," "blue," "red," "white" and "violet" are also described as ingredients in this blend, without any specific Color Index (CI), which is strange and concerning in our view.

Some of the ingredients are derived from minerals.

CI 77499 is an iron oxide, which is a class of natural colorants shown to have UV-protective effects, as we discussed in our RMS Beauty review article.

Overall, while the potential negative health effects of synthetic colorants used on skin are certainly less concerning than from being ingested, we do not consider Sistaco to be healthy, and we do not currently recommend this brand.

Sistaco vs. Popular Nail Polish

Here's how the healthiness of Sistaco stacks up against other nailcare companies in our view:

Sally Hansen

Contains many more ingredients than Sistaco, but those we consider the most questionable (synthetic colorants like Red 4) are included in both products.

Importantly, there are no colors listed without CI identifiers.

Winner: Sally Hansen

Nailboo

Contains similarly questionable colorants, but none are missing CI identifiers.

This brand was sued over allegations of illegally spamming customers, as we documented in our Nailboo review article.

Winner: Tie

Manucurist

Ironically, the brand that markets its healthiness the most is the least healthy in our view.

Some polishes from this brand contain fragrance, which can trigger "adverse health effects," according to a 2016 medical review.

Winner: Sistaco

Sistaco Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Contains some natural colorants
• Iron oxides can protect from UV damage
• Appears to be fragrance-free
• Mostly positive online customer reviews

Cons:

• Contains some questionable synthetic dyes
• Some colorants missing CI identifiers
• Expensive
• Not healthy in our opinion

Conclusion

From a health perspective, Sistaco is an average nail care company in our view.

While the brand claims their formulations are "mineral based," they also contain some questionable synthetic colorants that we take issue with.

It's somewhat unproven whether or not these compounds are harmful when applied to the skin (rather than ingested), but we err on the side of caution, and would prefer entirely non-toxic, naturally-derived colorants (ideally tested in clinical trials).

Most of the online customer reviews of this brand that we came across while researching this article were positive, and we have no doubt that the cosmetic effects may be positive.

We consider Sistaco to be healthier than Manucurist due to its fragrance-free nature, but less healthy than Sally Hansen given our concerns over the missing CI identifiers in at least one product.

We do not currently recommend Sistaco from a health perspective.