Caring for Your Acrylic Nails

Acrylic nails are wonderful, however, the success that you have with them is up to YOU and your at home care. Too often I encounter people who have acrylics that do not take care of them and it creates more work for their technician as well as limits their ability to fully enjoy having beautiful nails.

First, quit picking and playing with them. So often I can tell that someone is picking their nails. It's like the dental hygienist knows if you haven't flossed. I will see someone picking right if front of me and say something only to hear "That's not picking!". Ah, yes it is. Picking, is picking at edges, running your nail under the free edge, separating the nail from the acrylic, all of the above.

Next, keep them out of your mouth! Quit chewing on them! Do you realize that 85% of people have feces under their nails at any given time? It's like having a "Poopsicle" in your mouth!

If you get lifting or lose a nail, for goodness sakes, DON'T glue it! If you trap bacteria between the nail and the acrylic, you WILL get a greenie, which is a bacterial infection. Call to have your nail repaired. If you can't get in to get it repaired, keep the lifting dry or but a band aid on the finger.

You MUST use oil daily. Period. You will FAIL with acrylic nails if you do not oil daily. I do not state this just to sell you oil, heck for two years I gave everyone oil to prove how important it is. Oiling keeps your acrylic flexible. It keeps it from drying out. It keeps your natural nail from curing away from the acrylic. Oil should be applied to cuticles and under the free edge at least twice a day, especially right before bed.

Ask yourself......Is my acrylic brittle, is the free edge of the natural nail pulling away from the acrylic, do my cuticles look crusty? If so, you aren't using enough oil!!

Finally, you MUST wear rubber gloves when your hands are in any harsh cleaning products. A good rule of thumb is if you wouldn't wash your face with it, you should be wearing gloves. Bleaches and cleaners will breakdown the acrylic. I am talking RUBBER gloves, not the latex gloves. If you are wearing latex, you may as well wear nothing. Don't forget gloves when gardening as well!

In conclusion, don't pick, don't chew, don't glue. Wearing acrylic nails and not oiling daily or wearing gloves when cleaning or gardening is like getting $500 of dental work done, then never brushing your teeth again.

Is Your Nail Salon Safe?

Is your salon safe??Do you have rings of fire? The picture at the left shows a nail that has a "ring of fire". It was damaged by a person using an electric file improperly.

You should never feel burning and a new sanding band should be used on every client. Electric files are safe when a properly trained, technician uses it, ask for their certification!

It's your safety! Know what you SHOULD expect and expect NO LESS!

Do you have MMA (Dental Acrylic) on your nails?

Why should MMA not be used?

There are four main reasons:

• MMA nail products do not adhere well to the nail plate. To make these products adhere, nail technicians often shred up (etch) the surface of the nail. This thins the nail plate and makes it weaker.


• MMA creates the hardest and most rigid nail enhancements, which makes them very difficult to break. When jammed or caught, the overly filed and thinned natural nail plate will often break before the MMA enhancement, leading to serious nail damage.


• MMA is extremely difficult to remove. Since it will not dissolve in product removers, it is usually pried from the nail plate, creating still more damage.


• The FDA says don't use it! This is clearly the most important reason. The FDA bases their prohibition on the large number of consumer complaints resulting from the use of MMA nail enhancements in the late 70's and they continue to maintain this position today.

MMA is a widely used monomer with a long history of safe use in medical and dental products. It is fine for making bulletproof windows and shatterproof eyeglasses. However, we believe that artificial nails should not only be beautiful, they should not damage the natural nail. They are enhancements, not replacements!

We also believe it is the responsibility of all professional nail technicians to protect the health of their client's natural nails. A good place to start is by using responsibly formulated products and to learn safe and proper techniques. (Information courtesy of Douglas D. Schoon, Chemist Creative Nail Design)

How do you know if your salon or technician is using MMA?

• MMA has an unusually strong or strange odor which doesn't smell like other acrylic liquids. Odor is present during application and when filing cured product (for fill-ins or repairs).


• Enhancements which are extremely hard and very difficult to file even with coarse abrasives.


• Enhancements that will not soak off in solvents designed to remove acrylics.


• Cloudy or milky color when cured. Severe yellowing will appear after a couple of weeks.Additional warning signs though less definitive:
  


• Low price of fills and full sets (MMA cost 1/3 of EMA)


• Dust or ventilation masks used (many technicians use dust masks today who do not use MMA)


• Unlabeled containers - technician will not show or tell the client what brand of product is being used.

For more information on MMA, please visit this site: Beauty Tech This site has many articles relating to nails for the consumer, and is very informative.

This information is provided by the Hooked On Nails site