Question:
As far as I know, nail polish has to be removed before going to Mikvah; while hair dye and eyebrow tinting are ok… I am wondering how it is different, since it seems to have the same permanance. Can you kindly explain?
Answer:
The difference between the two is that hair dye is very thin and only considered coloring. When you feel the hair you are not going to feel the thickness of the dye on it. Therefore it is merely considered coloring, and “coloring” is not considered a chatzitza. Nail polish on the other hand is thicker and leaves a layer of polish on the nail, i.e. when it peels you can feel the difference, therefore it is considered a chatzitza and has to be removed.
As a side point, this is in retrospect, however before going to the mikvah you should try to remove all dyes etc. even if it isn’t technically a chatzitza.
Sources:
Y:D 198-17, Chut Shani Nidah 198- pg. 309, Rema ibid -1, L’torah U’lhorah 7 pg. 27, Ohel Sara vol. 2 8-3.
Thank you very much for your reply! Why is it that I should try to remove all dyes if it’s not a chatzizah?
L’chatchila the halacha states that a woman should remove anything that is extraneous to her body, as I quoted from the Rema. The reason is because if there are things that she doesn’t remove, she might not remove things that she has to. Therefore she has to remove everything. It is only in retrospect that we will say that if it wasn’t removed the tevilah was still alright.
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