There is a general concern about the DIY nail kits on the market, claiming that home gel polish kits are an overexposure reaction waiting to happen. Some even say that this is the reason for the upswing in people’s allergic reactions to enhancement products.
Podrían tener razón. La industria de los salones de belleza también podría verse empañada por las relaciones públicas negativas relacionadas con el uso doméstico inadecuado de estos productos. Personalmente, estoy de acuerdo en que los no profesionales sin formación no deberían utilizar productos profesionales para las uñas. También estoy de acuerdo en que los kits de bricolaje para uñas pueden provocar reacciones cutáneas adversas si no se utilizan correctamente y se evita el contacto con la piel.
Some clients are more likely to develop adverse skin reactions than others. Therefore, it is always best to assume that any client may develop skin sensitivity. Therefore, skin contact should always be avoided. Also, once should always properly cure nail coatings, which further reduces the potential for skin reactions. When properly cured, nail enhancements are not likely to cause adverse skin reactions of any type. Too many clients do develop skin sensitivities because nail professionals do not take care to avoid skin contact and many do not properly cure the coatings. How many clients develop skin reactions? No one can say for certain.
Adverse skin reactions are an important issue that I will be talking about a lot. However, most, if not all, of these adverse skin reactions are completely avoidable. In other words, the reactions reported are almost always due to incorrect application and/or improper cure. For instance, some adverse hair bleach reactions result from improper mixing of two-part hair bleaches or incorrect application. This is usually the result of not following the manufacturer’s directions or not heeding warnings.
I’ve served as an expert witness in many court cases over the last twenty-five years. Several cases I’ve seen have involved scalp burns. Scalp burns can happen for other reasons as well. Several happen because a stylist accidentally mixed two parts of the powdered bleach with one part of the liquid activator. That is instead of following the directions which call for one part powder bleach and two parts liquid activator. In other words, they switched the concentrations and used twice as much powdered bleach as they should have used. This type of mixing error may cause some hair bleaches to heat to over 150F (65C), which can foam and leak from the foils to burn the thin tissue on the scalp.
Many nail professionals appear to be just as likely to overexpose the skin as are the do-it-yourself crowd. I’ve watched nail professionals work for many years and I’ve seen some pay virtually no attention to avoiding skin contact. The skin around their client’s nails is red and inflamed. This type of visible irritation is very likely an early warning sign of a skin problem in development, or maybe a permanent allergic skin reaction. Permanent allergic skin reactions aren’t what they sound like, but it’s not a good thing either. Rashes and signs of visible irritation often appear to “go away” after the exposure is discontinued. However, if exposure to the allergy-causing substance resumes, the symptoms may worsen and return.
During my long career, only once do I recall a similar situation in which a retail nail coating product cause a significant increase in adverse skin reactions. This occurred when one of the first UV gel companies in the US began selling their products directly to consumers via a multi-level marketing scheme. Consumers were selling UV gel kits directly to other consumers and with virtually no training. These kits were even being sold at local fairs and street markets. The product’s application instructions were very poor and there were virtually no warnings or precautions on the packaging. Users received far too little information and no warning to avoid skin contact. To make matters worse, the UV lamp was very poorly designed. My testing showed that the nail lamp significantly under-cured the product on the nail. Here is why that matters:
Los productos para uñas se endurecen cuando superan los 50% de curado, pero deberían curarse hasta unos 90%. Medí el grado de curado de este producto al por menor y creo que fue de unos 60% de curado. Luego se curó lentamente durante las siguientes 16 semanas, pero apenas alcanzó un curado de 70%. Esto significa que los usuarios se estaban exponiendo a polvo/revestimientos mal curados, lo que puede ser fuente de algunas reacciones cutáneas cuando se produce una exposición prolongada y repetida de la piel. A los seis meses del lanzamiento comercial de este producto, los usuarios empezaron a desarrollar picores en la piel, enrojecimiento y otras molestias. Al cabo de poco más de un año, esta empresa de uñas quebró, lo que no fue una sorpresa, dados los problemas que estaban teniendo.
Education is the key. Information is the best way to ensure proper and safe use. When they use the right information wisely, nail techs can avoid issues related to irritación o alergia. Por supuesto, esto también dependerá de lo bien que el fabricante haya redactado las instrucciones y advertencias, así como de lo bien que haya diseñado su lámpara UV.
Hopefully, those selling DIY nail kits will learn from these mistakes and not repeat them, e.g. using an ineffective UV nail lamp to cure the coating. My biggest concern is a company developing a retail nail lamp that they improperly designed, which did not properly cure the nail coating. This could likely lead to excessive adverse skin reactions. Unfortunately, not enough understand the important role that UV nail lamps play and why ensuring proper cure of the nail coating is an important part of safe use.
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