Following on from our recent article ‘Is nail oil contributing to the allergy crisis?’ – let us look at the implications of this.
Some thought this was ‘fake news’! It most definitely wasn’t, and it caught the attention of many!
What was ‘new’ about this was the fact that, something suspected by dermatologists for a long time, has now been proved! Oil and other moisturisers are ‘penetration enhancers’. This proof has come from 3 independent studies and published in a well-respected Journal as recently as August 2021.
As nail professionals, we should understand the ‘inhibition layer’, the ‘sticky layer’, the ‘tacky layer’ or whatever you choose to call the unreacted layer of monomers on the surface of a coating that has been uv cured. This also applies to ‘tack free’ / ‘no wipe’ top coats, even though many don’t believe this.
It also relates to the L&P system when the incorrect ratio is used which is always too wet or ‘feeding’ the overlay with more monomer’ to give a longer ‘work time’.
Moving along: I know we have all seen demonstrations and videos where the ‘inhibition layer’ is removed by rubbing the whole nail, backwards and forwards and side to side, with the alcohol cleanser. Right?
This is spreading the unreacted monomers all over the surrounding skin. This is ‘bad practice’!
Many responded to this article saying that they were not taught to do this but taught to wipe downwards with a new pad or clean area of the pad. This is GOOD practice. But I do believe this is in the minority!
Then, with no hand washing to remove monomers remaining from cleansing and dust created by shaping (which, for the L&P system also has some unreacted monomers) oil is applied. This is BAD practice!
What the recent research has proved is that any monomer left on the skin (for whatever reason) will be drawn down into the layers of the skin and form an allergen!
So, the ‘good practice’ is using a nail oil; the ‘bad practice’ is not making absolutely sure that no monomer is left on the skin!
This is how nail pros believe they are working to a good standard by using nail oil and encouraging their clients into a daily use of oil but, with monomers around, they could be doing more harm than good!!
So, cleanse the ‘inhibition layer’ safely; have your clients wash their hands at the end of the application, removing dust prior to colour if present, and before applying oil.
More important information is to follow!
