The present invention relates to a nail varnish composition which contains a plasticizer A) and a film-forming agent B), characterized in that the plasticizer A) comprises at least two carbonate structural units of formula (I) and has an average molecular weight of ≧450 g/mol, determined by gel permeation chromatography against a polystyrene standard in tetrahydrofurane at 23° according to DIN 55672-1, and a hydroxyl functionality of ≧1.5 and ≦6.The invention further relates to a coating which can be obtained from the nail varnish composition according to the invention, to a substrate coated with such a coating, and to a cosmetic method for coating finger and/or toe nails, according to which method a nail varnish composition according to the invention is applied to finger and/or toe nails. The invention also relates to the use of compounds as plasticizers in nail varnish compositions which compounds contain specific carbonate structural units.
