What cracks me up is this.......
GMTV know Charles Worthington....he has been on there more times than I have seen rings fire...... he is and has been their consultant, advisory, Stylist aso. You can't tell me that they don't know that he has also got MarianNewmanNails@CharlesWorthington............ All it takes is one expert not 1/2 doz my claime to fame wannabee's.
Of to write them an email what a load of twaddle..............
Right must dash,gotta boil a huuuuuge vat of water so I can sterilize my clients... you think a quick dip is enough or shall I wait till the skin peels off.

SO annoying.
I was reading a back issue of Scratch yesterday too, the bit that made me feel good at the time was where it was reported that
New Zealand have banned the use of MMA. Cool I thought, can't be long before we finally get that one sorted...I did'nt expect the national news to so fully get hold of the wrong end of the stick.

That's one of the real problems though isn't it - they ban one product that shouldn't be used on nails anyway and it gets reported that all nail extensions will make your fingers fall off!! It's almost better if they say nothing.... as info like this stops people who care going into any nail salon. The people that don't care go to NSS anyway.... the more discerning clients will listen to this info and be scared by it

What with this and the snobby beauty editors who brand our entire industry as chavs & it's a wonder we've got a job at all..... .

I'm printing this thread so I can counter any of this info with my clients using Samual's words!

My Email to them:

I was shocked to hear some of your chosen experts oppinions..... and the lack of knowledge they displayed..... MMA a glue???, No, MMA is used for Dentures, Artificial Limbs, Bullet proof vests aso.
Sterilizing clients hands? yep righty ho... how much boiling water do you think I need ? Sanitise is the correct term.
Why didn't you get real Experts to comment on the issues portrait..... Marian Newman@Charles Worthington just to name one,would have been an exellent choice...But then facts don't get the ratings up do they..... a bit of drama mixed with a bit of half truths and you have yourself a news snippet.

Ruth Fordham
CND Master Technician
www.nailsinlondon.com

(Fanks Rooffieee for your confidence x)

I didn't see the program but Samantha was on the phone straight after so I heard! (I also read the Mail yesterday)

For what it's worth my take on this is: I would not have gone on GMTV. This is because it is a 'hype' of the moment and nothing and no one will change the sensationalism even a live program. An 'expert' reacting to this type of hype will never look good because the media do not want the 'news' looking good. Only bad news is good. If you start telling the real story forcefully you just get interupted etc (I say this from experience and I can be very forceful!)

You have all heard about the government funded research into salons. This will only be positive. There is another (possibly with bigger implications) project about to happen that I cannot give details about and I am involved in both (so is Samuel) When those results are in I will be doing my best to represent the industry in the media with real facts, figures and approved scientific research.

Unfortunately, stories like these that are half-baked, inaccurate are just hype, make no one look good and some flock for their 5 minutes of fame. Why do you think HABIA (the Industry Authority) or people like me (Nail Services chairman) don't get asked?! Because we'll kill the story if we get a chance and the level of interviewers on GMTV are not so good at the 'interrupt' without them looking silly. They prefer an 'easy' interview that falls perfectly into the story, i.e. bad and with no real supporting and incontravertable facts.

Just wait; people that really care are actually bevering away. Patience is a virtue and hitting at the right time has so much more effect. This was a 'knee-jerk' and will be forgotten. What is to come will not be ignored or forgotten.

Come on people.... only 19 replies to the thread
This our industry ... your livelyhood!
Please, it doesnt matter what your experience or how eloquent you are... PLEASE contact GMTV and make your feelings known.
Im not the best at putting myself across ... especially when fired up, but heres my email...

Dear GMTV,
Please, please would you be prepared to feature an industry professional on your programme to redress the balance of your feature regarding the dangers of visiting a nail salon.
The UK does indeed have a problem with what we in the industry term as NSS (non-standard salon).
Your viewers and the public in general need to be educated in what to look for in salon, not scared off by silly untuths such as MMA being a glue?
Our industry has two publications of its own, Professional Nails (editor Kathryn Hanks, tel:020 7471 1618) & Scratch Magazine (editor Alex Fox, tel:01763 263 113).
You do not have to take heed from someone like me who struggles to advise misinformed clients but, please do your viewers a favour and contact one of these editors, they will be only to pleased to put you in touch with the likes of Samuel Sweet, Marian Newman, Gigi Rouse. These are industry icons, educators and authors who have worked with the likes of Vogue, Charles Worthington, New York/London Fashion week. They KNOW how to educate the public and not scaremonger.
There is a Professional Beauty show at Earls Court this weekend, why not send someone along to see how the industry works & the HUGE education we have in place. Samuel Sweet will be there on the Creative stand, Im sure he'd be more than happy to talk to you.


There, I maybe didnt make the best or biggest noise but, I made a noise.... make sure you do too!

I saw it this morning and to tell the truth the woman they had in the studio certainly wasn't doing any favours was she??

Unfortunatly when i first had falses put on the person doing my nails used an electric file. Needless to say my fingers were pretty bruised for a couple of days.

I don't know what they done to them but when i had them soaked off two weeks later (by a very good salon) they were all scuffed up and hadn't grown!

I think it's good that they are highlightiong that there is a problem with some nail bars. And the laws realy should be put in place to protect the consumer and also the owner of the business. No one wants to employ a cowboy then have that persons failures refelct on them.

So kinda mixed about this one.

Marian, do you really think it will be forgotten by the public in a hurry? Im not so sure.
I hope what you have up your sleeves is something really cool ..... and not too far away!

Hi Glo

This sort of think has happened so often in the past. The good thing is that it is mentioning the EH conference where nail bars are being discussed. That will give you a big clue. It is a major concern all over the UK now (at last)

I believe the results of these current projects will enforce some major changes and ones that genuinely good technicians (like you and so many on this forum) will welcome with open arms! And I'm doing my damnedest to make sure thats what happens

Thinking about this again and trying to put a positive spin on it,maybe the public are not taking as much notice of this as we are because we are so passionate about this !?!?

For example,there have been numerous articles in regards to hair tint causing an adverse reaction,has it stopped us dyeing our hair,i think not.

I know it is bad press,but is it better than no press at all ?

As i said i am trying to see this from a different perspective and thinking out loud !

Just thought on,it could even be beneficial,my clients come they are not harmed or injured and their service is carried out hygienically,they say ooo you're not like them on the telly,that's got to be a good thing,no ?

If this is the case,my reputation remains a good one,yes i agree nss should be shut down,but i have to think about number one and as long as i know i am doing my job correctly in every way,then this shouldn't affect me in theory !?????

The major problem in the short-term IMO is that this kind of bullsh*t that the press/tv is spouting will damage our businesses because people do take notice of it, especially when they don't know any different!

I'm rather pissed off to be honest that this has been shown in such a bad light without some 'big names' being there to stand up for our industry, it's ok to say it's a kneejerk reaction BUT how hard of a kneejerk is it?
Some HSS are suffering already due to the current NSS trend and as far as I can see the recent press coverage will do nothing more than add to the already dwindling client lists that some of us are suffering!

Is there a date we can look forward to when this 'card' will come out of the sleeve with the news we're all impatiently waiting for?

Here's what I have done - I have copied this item onto the home page of my website, I have attached a "blog" for people to discuss it - hopefully members of the public who surf by my site will read it and maybe ask questions.

I can but try.

I think some very valid points have been raised and specifically Marians. It is next to impossible to unslant and balance a situation like that during an interview. The truth doesn't sell, people only want the dirt and we pay them via magazine subscriptions and advertising revenue to dish out ONLY what we want. If you think back to the Watchdog MMA programme several years ago - most of my time there was spent trying to keep the story in perspective and on track and still it was sensational (hopefully I helped to make it much less so).

The fact is, in this situation no one can put together a sensational story about the truth of the situation to counter the damage that has been done - therefore it will never be newsworthy. This is a sad fact of reality world wide. People don't care about a story unless there is 'juice' which is something you need to think about when you are reading magazines, watching 'news' programmes and such. All you are getting is dirt, because that is all that we as the public want to pay attention to.

What this will do is raise consumer awareness and give us the platform to move forward on. Face it, the government is not bothered about our industry issues until public awareness forces them to look at it (in other words, when the voters start to demand a solution).

This will leave a black mark on our industry, however the positive side will be the backing to do something about it.

In the meantime - focus on pro active education of the public around you (customers and non customers). I wouldn't waste too much time trying to change the minds of editors and producers. After all, it was a snapshot where about 10 salons didn't meet H&S requirements or didn't have qualifications. Thats 10 out of HOW FREAKING MANY? My thoughts are it could have still happened with 1.

Why all secrecy around what is "in the pipeline". If something is about to happen to the industry why can't we all be told what the heck it is?

If we are truly intrested in the H&S of the public and there is something about to happen that will increase standards in the industry, wouldn't it be better for all the NSS to know about it so that they can prepare and maybe try and meet the criteria?

The secrecy just makes me think that we will end up with another piece of red tape that will only have a cost impact on us decent techs.

A decent PR campaign by the industry telling the public "What to look for in a good nail technician" would go much further and would help heal the damage that has been done to the decent side of the ndustry by the media over the last few days.

There is no secrecy or red tape. There is active involvement from key people in the sector to try and establish guidelines that will benefit the industry. You have to get standards established before you can do a mass media PR campaign.